Space Elevator

[Yamialpha]

What do you think about the proposed space elevator?

 

[Yamialpha]

For those who aren't aware of the space elevator, here's some information from an article I read (I'm doing this from memory, so if any of my information is incorrect please correct me). The space elevator will go 100,000 km into space (to put that in perspective, the ISS hovers only 355 km over the Earth). The space elevator will cost approx. $10 billion but will lower the cost of launching satellites from $20,000 per kg to $200 per kg. The space elevator will require a material that can sustain under 100 gigaPascals (to put that into perspective diamond can only sustain under 20 gigaPascals). The space elevator will use carbon nanotubes, but the current ones can only sustain under 63 gigaPascals.

 

[fireandwater]

Sounds too expensive-we need to focus our attention on less expensive, more practical ideas.

 

[Yamialpha]

Sounds too expensive-we need to focus our attention on less expensive, more practical ideas.

Ten billion dollars is indeed a large sum of money, but imagine the uses. Unfortunately the longest nanotubes created as of yet are only a meter long and, as I said, can only sustain under 63 gigaPascals, so we have some major hurdles to overcome. It's a definite possibility of the future, though.

 

[Grey Eminence]

For those who aren't aware of the space elevator, here's some information from an article I read (I'm doing this from memory, so if any of my information is incorrect please correct me). The space elevator will go 100,000 km into space (to put that in perspective, the ISS hovers only 355 km over the Earth). The space elevator will cost approx. $10 billion but will lower the cost of launching satellites from $20,000 per kg to $200 per kg. The space elevator will require a material that can sustain under 100 gigaPascals (to put that into perspective diamond can only sustain under 20 gigaPascals). The space elevator will use carbon nanotubes, but the current ones can only sustain under 63 gigaPascals.

A space elevator will cost a hell of a lot more than 10 billion.

For one the material science is not up to the task at this time.

Secondly the main requierment of a space elevator is a sufficiently massive asteroid to function as a counter weight for the system. That implies finding a suitable asteroid and then putting it in a suitable orbit over Earth. This will requier a lot of front money in terms of conventional equipment and experience to aquire the material needed to construct said elevator.

This is because it can only be constructed in space and then swept down to the earth. The space elevator can only be built in space and that will mean funding to build what is needed to build what is needed to build what might be useful to build the space elevator.

 

[Yamialpha]

A space elevator will cost a hell of a lot more than 10 billion.

For one the material science is not up to the task at this time.

Secondly the main requierment of a space elevator is a sufficiently massive asteroid to function as a counter weight for the system. That implies finding a suitable asteroid and then putting it in a suitable orbit over Earth. This will requier a lot of front money in terms of conventional equipment and experience to aquire the material needed to construct said elevator.

This is because it can only be constructed in space and then swept down to the earth. The space elevator can only be built in space and that will mean funding to build what is needed to build what is needed to build what might be useful to build the space elevator.

You'll have to take it up with those who wrote the article-I double checked it and all of the figures I put down are correct. They actually claimed that when the ribbons are first being released, the satellite would be a sufficient counterweight.