The basic idea isn't to attack the base, but to attack the top. Without the counter-weight in geosynchronous orbit, the effect of the Earth's rotation and gravity would start dragging the ribbon downward. The process would probably be irreversable after an hour or two. At that point, you have several tens of thousands of miles of material entering the Earth's atmosphere and a fairly spectacular rate of speed. Even with very low weight, the kinetic energy would be devestating.
Now, obviously the top of these things is much harder to attack than the base, being in outer space, but there are plenty of launch vehicles powerful enough to send a fairly large bomb or small nuke on a one way trip to the top.
That being said, I still think space elevators are a better, safer, cleaner bet than rocket propulsion if we're serious about building our space infrastructure.
I looked into TDI-based cars a while back when I noticed them popping up at the top of the fuel-economy charts. A lot of people seem to have gotten it into their heads that fuel economy is the end-all be-all of enviornmental friendliness. That, unfortunately, is not true. What you also need to look at are the types and quantities of emissions produced by these vehicles. That is where TDI vehicles fall down. Hard.
According to the EPA website, the TDI NewBeetle with it's lean 45MPG consumption scores a miserable 1/10 for particulate emissions (those causing smog and other resperatory hazards)... placing it neatly alongside the Behemoth-Class SUVs.
I'm not saying TDI vehicles are anywhere near as bad as those bloated SUVs, but they are considerably worse than the hybrids. Performance has its price.
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Now, obviously the top of these things is much harder to attack than the base, being in outer space, but there are plenty of launch vehicles powerful enough to send a fairly large bomb or small nuke on a one way trip to the top.
That being said, I still think space elevators are a better, safer, cleaner bet than rocket propulsion if we're serious about building our space infrastructure.
According to the EPA website, the TDI NewBeetle with it's lean 45MPG consumption scores a miserable 1/10 for particulate emissions (those causing smog and other resperatory hazards)... placing it neatly alongside the Behemoth-Class SUVs.
I'm not saying TDI vehicles are anywhere near as bad as those bloated SUVs, but they are considerably worse than the hybrids. Performance has its price.
- Josh