For small payloads you could hang a gun or coilgun based system from an airship Gun based http://www.columbiad.ca/industrial/index.html Coil Gun Based: ...
7442
Herbert Murray
hcm1955
Aug 7, 2006 8:55 pm
For a propulsion system why not use an electrical power steam rocket? This would require a water feed, electrical lines to be build into the tether. But a...
7443
Chris Hibbert
ag_cth
Aug 9, 2006 2:32 pm
I see announcements that the space elevator challenge will be held at NASA Ames on August 4th http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18314, and that it...
7444
LogicalDeduction
LogicalDeduc...
Aug 9, 2006 2:33 pm
I would just like to clarify that I was refering to an *additional* cable system, running down the side of the SE, for the express purpose of transporting...
7445
LogicalDeduction
LogicalDeduc...
Aug 9, 2006 2:33 pm
Please forgive me if this has been discussed before, but from the thinking I've done recently the benefits of this idea seem decent. Maybe you can find the...
7446
cascio_calogero
Aug 9, 2006 2:34 pm
About the problem to send the energy to the elevator itself... why can't we fix the elevator on the cable and, instead, move the cable in a round trip? Like...
7447
kyros
terenot
Aug 9, 2006 5:51 pm
Hi, as a competitor in said competition, I can safely say that it is going to be held in October, in New Mexico. Among the many reasons for this choice was the...
7448
kyros
terenot
Aug 9, 2006 6:08 pm
... It hasn't yet been clearly established that people SHOULD be riding the SE. Cargo, yes, but people? If you're lucky, they'll only get mild radiation...
7449
Shane Thornburgh
LogicalDeduc...
Aug 9, 2006 8:38 pm
Yes I suppose I could have been a little more clear in what I was saying. Start with the full SE, all 30,000 miles of it or whatever the final numbers work out...
7450
Ian Woollard
wolfekeeper
Aug 9, 2006 11:17 pm
... That's a bit like the idea I had, except I had a whole chain of these loops going all the way to orbit, mechanically powered from the ground. see: ...
7451
Andrew Nimmo
andynimmo
Aug 11, 2006 9:42 am
Hi, Tomorrow in Airdrie Public Library (near Glasgow, Scotland) at 1 pm I shall be giving a talk on Space Elevators that will, among other things, feature ...
7452
Ed Minchau
spider_boris
Aug 11, 2006 5:56 pm
... I'm not sure how the side entrances / exits would work. Suppose the platform is 350 km up the elevator. Some rough calculations show that it would have a ...
7453
scifiben
Aug 12, 2006 6:40 pm
My immediate question is, how do you justify that really heavy 400- mile-long pulley cable? If we can get power beaming to work, which seems actually somewhat...
7454
Ian Woollard
wolfekeeper
Aug 12, 2006 10:23 pm
... Actually, that's not right- I started off with that, but I soon changed to a series of pulleys of fixed size hanging on a conventionally tapered cable. The...
7455
Ian Woollard
wolfekeeper
Aug 12, 2006 10:44 pm
... Because the cable is a one-off cost, but the power beaming costs are for every launch. ... Power beaming is highly inefficient, mechanical power is much...
7456
Ben Sibelman
scifiben
Aug 13, 2006 6:02 pm
... pulleys ... heavy ... smaller ... Okay, I'm a little confused. In your version, we have smaller pulleys but a whole lot more ribbon, both a traditional...
7457
Ian Woollard
wolfekeeper
Aug 13, 2006 7:05 pm
You're probably greatly overestimating the extra weight of the conveyor belts. Don't forget that they're only strong enough to carry payload, and made of CNT....
7458
Andrew Nimmo
andynimmo
Aug 14, 2006 9:45 am
Hi Ed, The LEO Station is suspended from the Geo station above on the same kind of nanowires as the elevator uses in order to maintain its position regarding ...
7459
Robert Munck
bobmunck
Aug 14, 2006 1:11 pm
... So you're going to have vehicles heading right toward the station at better than 7 kilometers per second, decellerating furiously (say 4 g for 3 minutes),...
7460
Herbert Murray
hcm1955
Aug 14, 2006 1:35 pm
I agree with Bob. This is a much greater challenege than Brad Edwards orginal concept. Lets get an unmaneed SE build first. Bert ... hotel...
7461
Andrew Nimmo
andynimmo
Aug 16, 2006 9:12 am
I'm sorry to hear that Bob smashes his garage to smithereens every time he brings his car home. As far as both velocities and the mass of the LEO station are...
7462
Robert Munck
bobmunck
Aug 16, 2006 3:48 pm
... No, we have a speed limit on our street and in our driveway that's considerably below the 15,600 mph your vehicle would be traveling. More to the point, if...
7463
Abraham Fowler
z0p1l0t3
Aug 16, 2006 4:16 pm
Of course it would be wise to start with a simple, cargo-only SE. The SE with platforms at LEO-altitude is something people can dream about for later...
7464
Robert Munck
bobmunck
Aug 16, 2006 4:39 pm
... Well, yeah, it would. If the platform is no larger than the current ISS -- 440 tons, interior volume about that of a 747 -- it will require an SE that's...
7465
Shane Thornburgh
LogicalDeduc...
Aug 16, 2006 4:40 pm
I agree that cargo only is fine until the tech is proven and deemed safe. But the ultimate goal has to be to get people into space, without that, there is ...
7466
Peter Gaffney
trypsys
Aug 17, 2006 9:51 pm
... To be honest, the ULTIMATE goal -- as I see it -- is to get ME into space. Without that, there is really no point to building any of it. We all sorta feel...
7467
kyros
terenot
Aug 17, 2006 10:58 pm
That was so entertaining it was painfull. Spobo. I love it. S...
7468
Andrew Nimmo
andynimmo
Aug 18, 2006 10:42 am
Hi Guys, I've only just got that last lot of messages, unfortunately just as I have to dash off, but will read, digest and get back to you - probably Monday. ...
7469
Ben Sibelman
scifiben
Aug 18, 2006 2:50 pm
Here's a new justification for the SE: we wait until Wall Street gets the idea that maybe it should do something about global warming, and then propose an idea...
7470
Ben Sibelman
scifiben
Aug 19, 2006 1:34 am
... Yes, either that, or the New York Stock Exchange will be underwater and we'll hand our sovereignty over to the UN Environment Programme, which will declare...
