Space Elevators Shoot for Stars - Polidicks

Read this: [url]http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question12158.html[/url] The whole thing is ~250 miles, but the part we consider the atmosphere is just under 20 miles thick. The rest, shit can orbit in.

You can't orbit above 20 miles.

[QUOTE=faze;18817732]Uh, a week to go 12 miles? I think not.[/QUOTE] Geosync orbit, which would be your destination, is at 22,236 miles. That takes a week to traverse, or so. My source is Arthur C. Clarke, here, I figure he found a speed measurement from a study somewhere and extrapolated that to the altitude of geosync. No real point in trying to detach at a lower altitude, because you wouldn't have the horizontal velocity to stay in orbit, you'll just drop.

[QUOTE=Frankiscool!;18817865]...yea but what keeps the stuff in orbit from being pulled back?[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.howstuffworks.com/question378.htm[/url]

We've gotten off topic here. It's an elevator so people can go really high, and see curvature of the Earth. They aren't sending an elevator car into orbit.

[QUOTE=faze;18817977]Read this: [url]http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question12158.html[/url] The whole thing is ~250 miles, but the part we consider the atmosphere is just under 20 miles thick. The rest, shit can orbit in.[/QUOTE] Not really, the resistance of the atmosphere up to about 200+ miles is enough to slow you out of orbit, the time it takes depends on altitude. Even at 220 miles the ISS needs periodic reboosts to keep from dropping into the atmosphere. I remember a few years ago they got word that a piece of space debris was going to come uncomfortably close, so they just turned the station until the underside of the docked Shuttle was facing the direction of travel. The thin atmospheric resistance against the large, flat underside of the Shuttle was enough to drop their orbit a couple miles to dodge the debris.

[QUOTE=Tigster;18817440]I never understood how you guys considered yourself qualified to say this. The article mentions agencies like NASA which naturally knows quite a bit more than you, they know the equations, the limitations, the requirements, those people know this. and you don't. So hearing people here say "Impossible" like they are rocket scientists is pretty ignorant.[/QUOTE] NASA is interested if someone actually figures it out but they're not researching it themselves because it's a crazy idea.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;18818007]You can't orbit above 20 miles.[/QUOTE] I'm seriously interested in how the people that think you can orbit right above the troposphere thinks...

[QUOTE=smurfy;18818102]NASA is interested if someone actually figures it out but they're not researching it themselves because it's a crazy idea.[/QUOTE] NASA has a huge interest in keeping access to space the way it is. It takes a small empire of about 9000 people to launch the Shuttle, and many more to build single-use launch systems. A space elevator or other extremely cheap system would put them all out of business. Yeah, NASA does research and comes up with new ideas, but everything they do has to please the massive aerospace industry that supports them, and that industry doesn't want space access to be cheap and easy.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18818145]NASA has a huge interest in keeping access to space the way it is. It takes a small empire of about 9000 people to launch the Shuttle, and many more to build single-use launch systems. A space elevator or other extremely cheap system would put them all out of business. Yeah, NASA does research and comes up with new ideas, but everything they do has to please the massive aerospace industry that supports them, and that industry doesn't want space access to be cheap and easy.[/QUOTE] Well, it's getting to that point, now isn't it?

[QUOTE=Swebonny;18818104]I'm seriously interested in how the people that think you can orbit right above the troposphere thinks...[/QUOTE] In essence you can orbit anywhere you just have to go the right speed.

Yes, but I think it's obvious what kind of orbit we're talking about.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;18818194]Yes, but I think it's obvious what kind of orbit we're talking about.[/QUOTE] Yeah just pointing out that it is possible. Watched a video on a space elevator before supposedly they want to use carbon nanotubes. :allears:

[QUOTE=w1z;18817590]But sometimes elevators can get stuck in mid desenct or ascent, I wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator in space or in Earths atmosphere :ohdear:[/QUOTE] I would.

I laughed at "The Annals" Now I feel bad.

[QUOTE=faze;18818166]Well, it's getting to that point, now isn't it?[/QUOTE] Yeah, which is really sad, because I'm a huge fan of NASA. Their accomplishments are above and beyond any other group on the planet. They put men on the moon, mapped and photographed every planet and moon in the system, landed robots on Venus, Mars, and Titan, and sent the Voyagers out into the depths of space, where if nothing else they will be a billion-year monument to our achievements. It's really sad to see the agency that accomplished all that stuck on a shoestring budget that serves only to keep the industry going. [editline]02:28PM[/editline] [QUOTE=sbradford26;18818167]In essence you can orbit anywhere you just have to go the right speed.[/QUOTE] Technically, but you need to be high enough that you don't have to reboost every few days to overcome drag.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18818622]Yeah, which is really sad, because I'm a huge fan of NASA. Their accomplishments are above and beyond any other group on the planet. They put men on the moon, mapped and photographed every planet and moon in the system, landed robots on Venus, Mars, and Titan, and sent the Voyagers out into the depths of space, where if nothing else they will be a billion-year monument to our achievements. It's really sad to see the agency that accomplished all that stuck on a shoestring budget that serves only to keep the industry going.[/QUOTE] Right, but the people that work there now were once civilians right? Why not let other people that know a lot do the same as they are?

I've always liked the idea of a space-elevator. I believe some students at MIT actually made some sort of carbon nano-tube material that could stretch indredible distances without snapping, and it was made for making a space elevator.

I think Faze needs to quit worshiping NASA like they're omnipotent gods; they aren't prefect. Needless to say, we would also have to worry about things like natural disasters and malfunctions, rescuing someone from a space elevator isn't as easy as rescuing someone from an elevator of two stories, you can't just climb up a tall ladder, pull out a wrench & screw driver, and say it's fixed. We will also have to worry about terrorism, an elevator going into space is a giant ass read beacon for hardcore activists.

[QUOTE=hunter_killah;18819296]I think Faze needs to quit worshiping NASA like they're omnipotent gods; they aren't prefect. Needless to say, we would also have to worry about things like natural disasters and malfunctions, rescuing someone from a space elevator isn't as easy as rescuing someone from an elevator of two stories, you can't just climb up a tall ladder, pull out a wrench & screw driver, and say it's fixed. We will also have to worry about terrorism, an elevator going into space is a giant ass read beacon for hardcore activists.[/QUOTE] I'm not worshipping NASA at all. I was suggesting that other people aside from them need to delve into the space race. How is that worshipping them?

[QUOTE=hunter_killah;18819296]I think Faze needs to quit worshiping NASA like they're omnipotent gods; they aren't prefect. Needless to say, we would also have to worry about things like natural disasters and malfunctions, rescuing someone from a space elevator isn't as easy as rescuing someone from an elevator of two stories, you can't just climb up a tall ladder, pull out a wrench & screw driver, and say it's fixed. We will also have to worry about terrorism, an elevator going into space is a giant ass read beacon for hardcore activists.[/QUOTE] ...Yes, we shouldn't bother to build anything valuable or expensive, because terrorists could destroy it. Idiot.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18819330]...Yes, we shouldn't bother to build anything valuable or expensive, because terrorists could destroy it. Idiot.[/QUOTE] That too.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18817721]Even if it doesn't get stuck, you're looking at a transit time of a week or so. I think space elevators are a great idea, we should be pouring money into researching them. We could go from launch costs of $15,000+ a pound to practically zero. Even better, if you run out to the farthest end of the elevator and detach, you actually get flung out into interplanetary space, with no fuel cost at all. Most of Apollo's fuel was burned to get out of Earth orbit, it took comparatively little for lunar orbit insertion and the return to Earth.[/QUOTE] It took what was probaly a blast cap to get it off the moon.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18819330]...Yes, we shouldn't bother to build anything valuable or expensive, because terrorists could destroy it. Idiot.[/QUOTE] Just imagine if there was a war, what would be one of the top targets?

I would be pissed if it got stuck halfway.

Really? Did nobody learn anything from this?! [URL=http://img215.imageshack.us/i/masseffectelevators.jpg/][IMG]http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7233/masseffectelevators.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[QUOTE=hunter_killah;18819373]Just imagine if there was a war, what would be one of the top targets?[/QUOTE] The Pentagon, the Golden Gate Bridge, the interstate system, the Sears Tower, etc. They're all targets, but we built them anyway because they're tremendously valuable to the country. If people were so afraid of losing something they wouldn't try to have it in the first place, we never would have left the caves.

this could fail easily, probably wont be made

[QUOTE=doomkiwi;18819669]Really? Did nobody learn anything from this?! [URL=http://img215.imageshack.us/i/masseffectelevators.jpg/][IMG]http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7233/masseffectelevators.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/QUOTE] What? They are slow? So what

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;18822013]What? They are slow? So what[/QUOTE] [img]http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk269/zorrodeltaco/thats_the_joke.jpg[/img]