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5595 Days and Counting

Posted by michael on from the boundless-optimism dept.

Kris_J writes "Seattle PI appear to have been the first to pickup the story that a former member of Highlift ("Space Elevator") Systems has split off to form Liftport. The new company has the impressive aim of a space lift by July 1st, 2018. Competition is supposed to be good, right? If you want to know more they've got a messageboard where you can ask questions."

2 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I'm willing to bet $$$ it will never work by LMCBoy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You should really read about the system, before you denounce it as impossible and ridiculous with statements that demonstrate clearly that you don't understand the concept.

    you still have to accelerate to orbital velocity after the lift, unless they plan to build it all the way out to the distance of a geosynchronous orbit.

    They are going way past the geosynchronous point; they *have* to because the lift's center-of-mass has to be at the geosynchronous altitude.

    Nothing is strong enough to support that kind of weight. With today's best engineering, they haven't even managed to build a building 1/2 of a mile high.

    You shouldn't think of it in terms of a weight-bearing structure like a building. The lift ribbon will not need to support the weight of the whole system; on the contrary, centrifugal force will hold it aloft (i.e., the whole thing is effectively in orbit).

    So, the material needs tensile strength, not weight-bearing capacity. Think carbon nanotubes, not "diamond beams".

    But right now it's ridiculous and any venture capitalist who gives them money would have to be borderline retarded.

    Ignorance has a cure: RTFA

    --
    Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
  2. Re:I'm willing to bet $$$ it will never work by arvindn · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Of course, the article also points out that the exact material has yet to be made...

    You're missing something here: the difference between science and engineering. Space elevator advocates often point out that most of the remaining problems are not in the realm of science but instead tech and financing. So progress is not dependent on some long haired genius in a basement lab having a brainwave. You can make confident predictions that technology will improve and that the material with the required tensile strength will be constructed soon in the future. And hey, considering that these guys are trying to accomplish the mind-boggling, optimism is the only way.