Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Future of Space Elevator Looks Shaky

Posted by kdawson on from the a.-c.-clarke-quaking-in-his-grave dept.

lurking_giant writes "In a report on NewScientist.com, researchers working on development of a space elevator (an idea we have discussed numerous times) have determined that the concept is not stable. Coriolis force on the moving climbers would cause side loading that would make stability extremely difficult, while solar wind would cause shifting loads on the geostationary midpoint. All of this would likely make it necessary to add thrusters, which would consume fuel and negate the benefits of the concept. Alternatively, careful choreography of multiple loads might ease the instability, again with unknown but negative economic impacts."

4 of 486 comments (clear)

  1. Don't forget the ninjas by brian0918 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's also the problem that any ninja can come along and cut the cord, and suddenly you have a $500M paperweight wrapping around the earth tearing a path of destruction.

  2. Re:Scary stuff by glaswegian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not saying it shouldn't be done. I guess my point is that the Millenium Bridge is so simple by comparison, yet it needed ~2 years of repairs after opening because of a wobble. People could have been thrown into the Thames, but no big deal, I guess. The space elevator, however, seems so much more prone to failure and with much bigger consequences.

  3. Re:Bah by Cadallin · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Damn Straight! This kind of instability is something that has been found and defeated many times before, particularly in Aerospace.

    The Rocketdyne F-1 engines on the first stage of the Saturn V had a similar problem early in development. They had a nasty tendency to ring like a bell until they disintegrated (being very loose with this description for the sake of illustration). And they fixed it. The end design was incredibly stable and self damping. With little more than pluck, slide rules, and raw engineering talent. Hell, the entire computer facilities available to NASA at the time (late '50's to early '60's) were less than are available on any engineers desk today.

    Solving supersonic flight was another issue of instability. The planes had a tendency to shake themselves apart. We solved that one with essentially no computer help at all (late 1940's).

    I have confidence that this problem is solvable. It may not be easy, and may take some genius, but it is solvable.

  4. Re:Told you so by nicklott · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well with an infinite number of monkeys, sorry, science fiction writers, at least one of them's bound to get the correct answer to everything..