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Posted on 10/25/15 at 7:41 pm to Stacked
Yes, and I would also fart in it just to make the others suffer for a long time
Posted on 10/25/15 at 11:56 pm to Stacked
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U.S. Pat. No. 9,085,897.
Ridiculous that they could get a patent on that. It is not feasible, although other ideas conceivably might be, and these guys will claim their patent covers any space elevator now, even though sci-fi writers have been writing about much more realistic options for decades.
The idea is to use a counterweight, either a large asteroid or a space station, build the shaft, having it extend further and further down to the planet surface. As the shaft extended, the orbit of the counterweight could be pushed further out, maintaining orbit. The shaft would keep extending downward until it reached the surface, while the orbiting counter balance kept it aloft.
Space elevators in science fiction
Posted on 10/26/15 at 12:00 am to BowlJackson
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Imagine that thing coming down
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) has a scene in which a space elevator on Mars is disconnected from its counter weight and collapses. It's length was more than the circumference of the planet, so the shaft fell and wrapped around the planet in a huge rope of fire. Really cool scene, even just reading it. Can't imagine what the special effects in a movie (let alone the real thing) might be like.
Posted on 10/26/15 at 12:56 am to Carolina_Girl
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Yes. Without a single moment's hesitation.
Posted on 10/26/15 at 2:50 am to Nuts4LSU
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Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) has a scene in which a space elevator on Mars is disconnected from its counter weight and collapses. It's length was more than the circumference of the planet, so the shaft fell and wrapped around the planet in a huge rope of fire.
That's just ridiculous. The circumference of Mars is 13,263 miles. I'm pretty sure that only a few miles of that would actually fall to the surface and the other 13,250 miles would be left floating out in space.
And why the hell do you need a 13,000 mile high space elevator? Where is it going? How do you even get that much building material to Mars in the first place? How do you protect it from asteroids?
Come the frick on!
This post was edited on 10/26/15 at 2:52 am
Posted on 10/26/15 at 3:19 am to Stacked
Twelve miles of elevator music sounds like absolute torture.
Posted on 10/26/15 at 4:54 am to HandGrenade
Have an up vote!
Posted on 10/26/15 at 8:50 am to Stacked
I was a professional pilot and I am saying no thank you.
Posted on 10/26/15 at 1:07 pm to Stacked
I call dibs on using it as a tree stand for deer during the construction!!
Posted on 10/26/15 at 1:18 pm to Stacked
yea, no. I'm good.
Posted on 10/26/15 at 2:40 pm to Stacked
Of course there is a patent available, because it is IMPOSSIBLE to build and stay upright.
Also, there would be no oxegyn at that level
Also, where can you build something that threatens a 12 mile radius upon failure?
Also, there would be no oxegyn at that level
Also, where can you build something that threatens a 12 mile radius upon failure?
Posted on 10/26/15 at 3:39 pm to Nuts4LSU
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Alastair Reynolds
This guy is the best in the business right now
Posted on 10/26/15 at 8:05 pm to BowlJackson
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And why the hell do you need a 13,000 mile high space elevator?
Supposedly, that's how far out the counter weight (space station) had to be to support the weight of the cable.
quote:
Where is it going?
To a space station.
quote:
I'm pretty sure that only a few miles of that would actually fall to the surface and the other 13,250 miles would be left floating out in space.
In the book, the top of the cable was disconnected from the counterweight/space station, and with nothing to support its weight, the whole thing fell to the surface.
quote:
How do you even get that much building material to Mars in the first place?
They mounted rockets onto a large asteroid from the asteroid belt and steered it into Mars orbit, then robots built the cable and its counterweight space station from the asteroid material itself, slowly extending the cable down and moving the counterweight further out until the cable reached the surface. Centrifugal force acting on the space station supported the weight of the cable.
quote:
How do you protect it from asteroids?
I doubt many asteroids come within 20,000 miles of Mars very often. What brought it down was environmentalists determined to prevent the further development of Mars.
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Come the frick on!
It's a sci-fi novel. What do you expect?
This post was edited on 10/26/15 at 8:11 pm
Posted on 10/26/15 at 8:23 pm to Nuts4LSU
What's a great book to start out with by Alastair Reynolds?
Posted on 10/27/15 at 11:16 am to Stacked
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What's a great book to start out with by Alastair Reynolds?
Not sure if you were asking me, but I have no idea. I've never read Alastair(sp?) Reynolds.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 3:41 pm to Stacked
I'm guessing it's an extremely large elevator with comfortable seating. Because if I have to stand while this thing creeps up for 12 miles, I'm not even down to talk about it.
As far as the height goes, after a certain distance, heights don't seem like "heights" to me, anymore. Everything looks almost unreal, like the distance is not of consequence. Guarantee you someone would try find a way to BASE jump from it.
As far as the height goes, after a certain distance, heights don't seem like "heights" to me, anymore. Everything looks almost unreal, like the distance is not of consequence. Guarantee you someone would try find a way to BASE jump from it.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 3:53 pm to VagueMessage
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I'm guessing it's an extremely large elevator with comfortable seating. Because if I have to stand while this thing creeps up for 12 miles, I'm not even down to talk about it.
I think this would be the cooler way to ride up and down in said elevator.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 4:39 pm to Stacked
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