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Space Elevator May Become Reality
mojotek writes: "The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts has a study(15Mb pdf) about the feasibility of a "Space Elevator" comprised of a 22,000 mile long cable built out of carbon nanotubes. In theory, it would be able to carry loads of 20 tons to space without using a single rocket engine. Sounded way too sci-fi for my taste at first, but this article at TechTV actually helped fill in the holes."
vacuum gloves, radiation belts, high-velocity hardware...
"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
as shown in full gory detail here. note the counterweight too.
A beowulf cluster of these? haha in all seriousness, if they can build one, maybe the could build 5 or 10. What a better way to get rid of nuclear waste? Elevate it into space, then toss it towards the sun!
Moderation: Put your hand inside the puppet head!
Yes, which means the actual length is 44k miles long. Cool, because the tram cars could go that much further. Launching something from it, would be as simple as traveling to the end, and letting go... the planet would hurl you out into space, with a decent initial velocity.