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Inflatable Tower Could Climb To the Edge of Space

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the out-of-breath dept.

MonkeyClicker writes with mention of a proposal that could see an inflatable tower helping to carry people to the edge of space without the need for rocket propulsion. This would function in place of previous space elevator designs which featured a large cable and could be completed much faster, if proponents of the project are to be believed. "To stay upright and withstand winds, full-scale structures would require gyroscopes and active stabilization systems in each module. The team modeled a 15-kilometer tower made up of 100 modules, each one 150 meters tall and 230 meters in diameter, built from inflatable tubes 2 meters across. Quine estimates it would weigh about 800,000 tonnes when pressurized — around twice the weight of the world's largest supertanker."

7 of 296 comments (clear)

  1. Not same as elevator by Captain+Segfault · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Note that this is would only extend a few tens of kilometers. It's to the edge of space, whereas a full elevator is aimed at getting *out* of Earth's gravity well.

    They're solving two different problems and aren't really that comparable.

    1. Re:Not same as elevator by denzacar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      15 km high superstructure? Pretty good place to start if you are working on a space-elevator-thingy.
      Knowledge gained in its creation would be invaluable for future work on the space elevator.
      Also, highest place you can put a telescope at without actually launching it into space.

      And just imagine the radio coverage from that place.
      A lot lower than a communication satellite but also sure as hell taller than the highest radio tower.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  2. Re:Yah... by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm also joining the me-too choir on this one. I had the idea a couple of months ago and ran simulations that said it was unfeasible at best. I'll be very interested to see if they can actually make it work.

    --
    Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
    altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
  3. Extra points ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Extra points for explaining why this is safer, easier or more useful than a tethered balloon!

  4. Re:Yah... by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh, and also, to make the helium-filled sections carry their own weight, you need to make the sections increasingly large in volume to account for the decreasing pressure of air that can support less mass per cubic meter. Eventually you get to the ridiculous point where your tower is >100 m wide because the atmosphere is so thin. It's a structural nightmare, gyroscopes or not.

    --
    Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
    altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
  5. Re:Babel by Kozz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There was still the war of tabs vs. three spaces. Lest we forget those who fell in righteous indentation!

    Wait... three !?

    --
    I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
  6. Re:Prior Art by tgd · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Um, no. Hot air balloons don't expand when you heat them up, otherwise the density of the air would remain at the external density and it wouldn't float. Notice how the hot breath you use when blowing up a balloon doesn't make it float.

    Hot air balloons work because they DON'T expand. They let air out the bottom as the density drops.

    You've got how it works ass-backwards. You heat the air to put LESS air into the balloon, not more.