The numbers KSR uses for the elevator collapse in Red Mars seem to show that one collapsing on earth, no matter how thin, would dump a lot of energy into the atmosphere.
Engineeringwise, we're actually not that far off. We could actually build one today, using current materials. It would be big, and bulky, but it can be done. It's the smaller, dropped from orbit, versions that require more exotic materials. Oh, and an asteroid sized counterweight...
There is an interesting alternative, which is a lot cheaper, requires much lower tensile strengths, and that's the rotating skyhook. Imagine a rotating 2500 km cable in a Molniya orbit that dips the end of the cable in for a few minutes every few hours... and then hook stuff onto it as it passes through the atmosphere. It'll be moving quite slowly, so wouldn't even require complex supersonic pickups...
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branchandroot
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Date: 2003-09-13 07:31 (UTC)The numbers KSR uses for the elevator collapse in Red Mars seem to show that one collapsing on earth, no matter how thin, would dump a lot of energy into the atmosphere.
Engineeringwise, we're actually not that far off. We could actually build one today, using current materials. It would be big, and bulky, but it can be done. It's the smaller, dropped from orbit, versions that require more exotic materials. Oh, and an asteroid sized counterweight...
There is an interesting alternative, which is a lot cheaper, requires much lower tensile strengths, and that's the rotating skyhook. Imagine a rotating 2500 km cable in a Molniya orbit that dips the end of the cable in for a few minutes every few hours... and then hook stuff onto it as it passes through the atmosphere. It'll be moving quite slowly, so wouldn't even require complex supersonic pickups...