It is expected that should a space elevator be completed the structure will drastically reduce the cost of reaching space, finally making large scale projects such as SPS and asteroid mining a distinct possibility. Even so, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome. Join us to discuss everything related to the space elevator.
A few of the many topics that will need to be considered are the base tower, space station, and counter weight. How will the cable be constructed and what materials will be used? What would be the optimal propulsion system and how will the elevators themselves work? And, of course, there are still many other issues that need to be considered.
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... I think you mean a milliradian. Numbers I have seen is 3-4 mrad for commercial diodes. If you can cram one kW into a square cm, you need a focal length of
LOL, and read the bit about Jordin Kare's company here: http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/10/space-power-conference-highlights.html -- -Ian Woollard We live in an
... It depends whether you consider reaching the very magnifications needed to get a useful image size that can fit in multiple laser diodes by using multiple
... Let's say your target is D = 10 km away. Let's further say the target is R = 10 m in diameter. The diameter of the image of the target in the image plane
... This is formally correct ;-) You just arrange the optics so that they all still hit the target... ... Careful here- light is reversible, so if you've