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Using Sling Shot Power to Hurl Into Orbit
the_2nd_coming writes "space.com has an article
about a new application of a very old technology.
NASA is putting money into Momentum-eXchange/Electrodynamic Reboost tether technology -- MXER for short -- an innovative concept that if implemented would station miles and miles of cart-wheeling cable in orbit around the Earth. Then, rotating like a giant sling, the cable would swoop down and pick up spacecraft in low orbits, then hurl them to higher orbits or even lob them onward to other planets."
The key scientists behind this project are Dr. Bartholemew J. Simpson and Dr. Dennis "The Menace" Mitchell.
Mike
Dennis the Mennis apparently grew up and got a job at NASA!
Swoop down and clobber spacecraft in lower orbits, smashing them into tiny pieces that could go one to clobber other spacecraft. Or perhaps larger pieces that re enter in fiery displays of wasted millions.
Or it might work. That'd be something.
I once used sling shot power to hurl little rocks at my neighbor's cat. Used the middle finger from a rubber kitchen glove, a cut-apart 2-liter soda bottle, and a pipe clamp.
If they built one of those in space, they'd be able to scare the shit out of my neighbor's cat.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
It seems that the greatest two motivators of technology are SciFi authors, and sales people.
This approach was used by Robert Heinlein in several books; it is a pleasure to see his vision honored.
As for sales people, I can't count the number of times that I have had to create what they have sold.
"the ultimate dos-Ã-dos swing machine."
I know the caption says it uses old technology- but I'm not trusting my space flight to something that runs on DOS.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
"It's sort-of like a one-hundred kilometer long fish-net stocking in space, only it's incredibly strong, and it can withstand many years of bombardment by orbital debris," Hoyt said
Say, if they make these smaller, maybe I won't have to keep buying pantyhose for my girlfriend!
This is the real signature
(Beats those shadows on the cave wall, don't it?)
Those both were space elevators -- a different technology NASA is also exploring.
I don't think I would enjoy getting smacked upside the spacecraft by a cable going 25,000 MPH faster than me.
Can anyone say whiplash?
When probes from outer space attack the earth, we can use the slingshot to go back in time to retrieve the exact species of whale they're trying to contact!
Slingshots never worked out very well for the Coyote. Doesn't anyone pay attention to the great value of cartoons? Sheesh... how many boulders must fall on the heads of coyotes before someone gets it?
On the other hand, rockets never worked for the Coyote either... maybe NASA is on to something! Is it possible... could cartoons be... unrealistic? Noooooo!
A sling shot is not the same as a sling.
A sling shot uses a rubber band to propel its payload.
A sling uses the sudden stop of centripedal force.
Sling shot = Dennis the Menace.
Sling = David killing Goliath
Slings are good for hunting small animals, apparently.
I noticed on one of the diagrams that the orbit of the slingshot itself degrades after each launch pick-up. Maybe the decrease in orbit isn't very significant, but would this system require self-adjustment? How would the system stay in service over the long term?
True believers seek redemption from the sin of death.
By Gregory Benford. In either "Great Sky River" or "Tides of Light" Benford (physicist and astronomer at UC, Irvine), can't recall which, there is an organism that does this...only its ends actually come much farther down into the atmosphere than NASA's proposal. This organism was even used by the main character in the story to hitch a ride into space.
In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
From an earlier experiment it is clear that there are forces that will wreak havoc on most equipment. Travelling that fast through even the thinnest atmosphere or magnetic field will do some serious stress on things.
Gives new meaning to "Projectile Vomiting".
Heh. Alright, I'll go away now.
The people making the tethers, TUI (www.tethers.com) are making it out of Spectra fibres. You can check out their website for the full gist, but they have fabrication down pat.
So, yes, this is the real deal, not something 'down the road 5 years'.
--foolish
In the works you site they build an elevator all the way from surface to space; in other words it is extremely long.
In this case, the craft is much shorter and already in space. Rather than lifting something all the way along a cable, you accelerate it by swinging a shorter cable and throw it off.
From an energy perspective, you exchange rockets working inefficiently for a short time for solar-powered engines working efficiently but slowly for a long time. In the space elevators you mention, you rather use more conventional engines like in an electric train.
Tor
And, in fact, Tethers Unlimited, the company proposing this beast, was founded by scientist, engineer and science fiction writer Dr Robert L Forward. Sadly, Dr Forward died last September.
Tm
Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
IAALS.
One similar device is the Jules Verne Gun -- essentially it is a huge cannon that fires things into space, at about 1000 g's. The idea originated from Jules Verne's book From The Earth To The Moon. Popular Mechanics had a write-up about it a few years back (check out the pictures on page 2!) -- apparently some guy at Lawrence Livermore National Labs is trying to build one that actually works. :^)
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
Don't these guys know anything about thermodynamics?!
By launching a ship in this fashion, they will be STEALING momentum from the earth's rotation, degrading the planet's equilibrium and ultimately destroying the orbit and sending us to a firey death in the sun!
This is obviously a "plan B" coming from those same wackos who want to send the moon crashing into earth by harnessing the energy in the tides.
At least part of the cable has to be conductive. That's the Electrodynamic Reboost mentioned in insufficient detail in the article. They run a current through the cable, and the Earth's magnetic field then exerts a force on the cable that pushes it up into a higher orbit. Each cable will have multiple layers.
"I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show