http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...5.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/09/25/ixportal.html
The Space Elevator may be the way to go.
The Space Elevator may be the way to go.
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DigitalFortress
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that would fuck up the skyline if it was placed anywhere but the middle of Australia.
If it was there i wouldn't mind so much.
If it was there i wouldn't mind so much.
Captain Gh3y
Rhinorhondothackasaurus
But if it were placed in the middle of Australia, it would be useless, because the middle of Australia is far too far away from anything for anyone to bother transporting their various space-bound items there.
You guys have any idea of the technology needed to construct a space elevator?
Most problematically, the cable must be made of a material with an extremely high tensile strength/density ratio (the limit to which a material can be stretched without irreversibly deforming divided by its density). At the minimum a space elevator could be made relatively economically if a cable with a density similar to graphite, with a tensile strength of ~65–120 GPa couldbe produced in bulk at a reasonable price.
By comparison, most steel has a tensile strength of under 1 GPa, and the strongest steels no more than 5 GPa. The much lighter material Kevlar has a tensile strength of 2.6–4.1 GPa, while quartz fiber can reach upwards of 20 GPa; even the tensile strength of diamond filaments would theoretically only be minimally higher.
Carbon nanotubes could be an option. While theoretically carbon nanotubes can have tensile strengths beyond 120 GPa, in practice the highest tensile strength ever observed in a single-walled tube is 63 GPa, and such tubes averaged breaking between 30 and 50 GPa. Even the strongest fiber made of nanotubes is likely to have notably less strength than its components. Using VnW bonded yarn could be an option but that is still in its infancy.
This is just one tiny problem for the idea of a space elevator (there are many more) so i doubt it will happen for a while. But god damn they look cool
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Most problematically, the cable must be made of a material with an extremely high tensile strength/density ratio (the limit to which a material can be stretched without irreversibly deforming divided by its density). At the minimum a space elevator could be made relatively economically if a cable with a density similar to graphite, with a tensile strength of ~65–120 GPa couldbe produced in bulk at a reasonable price.
By comparison, most steel has a tensile strength of under 1 GPa, and the strongest steels no more than 5 GPa. The much lighter material Kevlar has a tensile strength of 2.6–4.1 GPa, while quartz fiber can reach upwards of 20 GPa; even the tensile strength of diamond filaments would theoretically only be minimally higher.
Carbon nanotubes could be an option. While theoretically carbon nanotubes can have tensile strengths beyond 120 GPa, in practice the highest tensile strength ever observed in a single-walled tube is 63 GPa, and such tubes averaged breaking between 30 and 50 GPa. Even the strongest fiber made of nanotubes is likely to have notably less strength than its components. Using VnW bonded yarn could be an option but that is still in its infancy.
This is just one tiny problem for the idea of a space elevator (there are many more) so i doubt it will happen for a while. But god damn they look cool
.
nice idea...but what happens when an orbiting satelite get tangled in this thing...
something has got to give way...the satellite or the 'carbon-nano tube or what ever it is..
or what about a plane... i dont think these tubes will be very visible if they are on a nano scale to make them 'light'
also wont the elevator it self need heat sheilding when it re-enters the atmosphere or will they slow it down to minimize heat generated upon re-entry?
something has got to give way...the satellite or the 'carbon-nano tube or what ever it is..
or what about a plane... i dont think these tubes will be very visible if they are on a nano scale to make them 'light'
also wont the elevator it self need heat sheilding when it re-enters the atmosphere or will they slow it down to minimize heat generated upon re-entry?
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DigitalFortress
Member
Aren't they only using it to transport materials? If so who cares...just get those truck drivers who drive 32 hour days....Captain Gh3y said: