I should have read the article further. It's hypothesized that the belt contained as much as an earth-mass of material. But overall, it never coalesced into a planet due to being disturbed by Jupiter's gravity.
My second job was a Janitor. Now I'm in CT.
A digital janitor, as it were.
I actually fantasize about moving somewhere quiet and being a Janitor again. With my favorite mop...
The problem is, anyone can push a broom. The incentive for developing marketable skills is higher pay.
So if you were brought up or educated to feel guilt over earning your keep, feel free to be as charitable as you wish. The rest of us will continue to engage in mutually beneficial exchanges at agreed upon rates for our relatively scarcer skill sets.
The trans-atlantic cable is a non-sequitur. Sure, you can build an L1 elevator, but it wouldn't be worth it.
L1 simply does not work the same was as synchronous orbit. Factor in Lunar libration. The counter-weight at the L1 end of the cable will be dragged towards the Moon a couple times a month.
L1 doesn't have the same outward forces working for it that a synchronously orbiting elevator would have. Simply paying out or reeling in the cable wouldn't work because trying to keep it at L1 that way would be like pushing on a string. L1 isn't a trough like the Trojan LaGrange points; it's more like a peak. Orbital forces won't be keeping the tether taut as it would for the geosynchronous elevators.
The alternative is to drop it further out towards Earth, which means expending energy on getting payloads back down to the Moon instead of letting gravity work for us. You'd have to expend energy going up and coming down. Gravity on the moon is so low already, why even bother? All the energy expenses on maintaining its position and sending cargo along the tether -- which would have to be 16,000 kilometers (almost 40%) longer than a geosynchronous one -- and the whole idea starts taking on the light of a Rube Goldberg scheme.
What if there's a local maintenance breakdown? Like the Shuttle Fleet grounding in our current times? The cable would eventually start whip-sawing like the Tacoma Narrows bridge just from the constant efforts to keep it at that percarious balance point at L1, before flopping over onto the Moon.
When we have a working Earth-based space elevator, then we can tackle the issue of a tension-free space elevator. The costs of getting off the moon is so low already, entertaining the idea right now is academic masturbation.
1) The moon is already in a vacuum. Use rails to launch cargo.
2) Forces necessary to escape the moon are so low, you can be standing around in the manned vehicle for vertical launch
An L1 elevator offers no benefit and presents more expenses than the alternatives.
OH, sure, a 58,000 KM long tether. That's certainly feasible.
Also, L1 is not as stable as those articles make out. But you wouldn't know that because you learn everything from teh intarwebs, don't you?
Ever notice that the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth?
The moon rotates once per orbit. That would put Lunar synchronous orbit at about the same distance as the radius of its orbit around Earth.
Space elevators won't work on the Moon without prodigous thruster fuel expense.
Planets may have been orbiting in those planes, but anything that out of whack eventually becomes perturbed enough to fall into the sun or get ejected from the solar system (or close enough to it not to matter).
It's the same reason moons (or satellites, rather) orbit in the same direction and plane that planets orbit their star. Any satellite that doesn't is unstable and will eventually be thrown clear or decay. Or, rarely, wobble just right enough to get into a stable orbit.
Slashdot Mirror
Showtime.
I should have read the article further. It's hypothesized that the belt contained as much as an earth-mass of material. But overall, it never coalesced into a planet due to being disturbed by Jupiter's gravity.
It'd be a tiny itty bitty planet. All the asteroids together are only 4% of the Moon's mass. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_Belt#Formation
I don't think HeeChee references are that obscure.
It's no wonder the zombie outbreak started in China.
At which point they will eat their children.
n/t
Is water transparent to infrared?
Yes, the layer below the troposphere, the lithosphere, can sustain pressures adequate for liquifying carbon dioxide at those temperatures.
Fans who played Ultima Ascension will probably agree that it was no Ultima IX.
A Public Mu for Burning Crusade?
There was no Ultima IX. You must be referring to Ultima: Ascension.
My second job was a Janitor. Now I'm in CT. A digital janitor, as it were. I actually fantasize about moving somewhere quiet and being a Janitor again. With my favorite mop...
The problem is, anyone can push a broom. The incentive for developing marketable skills is higher pay. So if you were brought up or educated to feel guilt over earning your keep, feel free to be as charitable as you wish. The rest of us will continue to engage in mutually beneficial exchanges at agreed upon rates for our relatively scarcer skill sets.
Did you try logging in, you thundering dumbass?
I don't talk to family or friends about WoW (unless they ask about it), just as they know not to bother me with long-winded sports stories.
lern2spec
L1 simply does not work the same was as synchronous orbit. Factor in Lunar libration. The counter-weight at the L1 end of the cable will be dragged towards the Moon a couple times a month.
L1 doesn't have the same outward forces working for it that a synchronously orbiting elevator would have. Simply paying out or reeling in the cable wouldn't work because trying to keep it at L1 that way would be like pushing on a string. L1 isn't a trough like the Trojan LaGrange points; it's more like a peak. Orbital forces won't be keeping the tether taut as it would for the geosynchronous elevators.
The alternative is to drop it further out towards Earth, which means expending energy on getting payloads back down to the Moon instead of letting gravity work for us. You'd have to expend energy going up and coming down. Gravity on the moon is so low already, why even bother? All the energy expenses on maintaining its position and sending cargo along the tether -- which would have to be 16,000 kilometers (almost 40%) longer than a geosynchronous one -- and the whole idea starts taking on the light of a Rube Goldberg scheme.
What if there's a local maintenance breakdown? Like the Shuttle Fleet grounding in our current times? The cable would eventually start whip-sawing like the Tacoma Narrows bridge just from the constant efforts to keep it at that percarious balance point at L1, before flopping over onto the Moon.
When we have a working Earth-based space elevator, then we can tackle the issue of a tension-free space elevator. The costs of getting off the moon is so low already, entertaining the idea right now is academic masturbation.
1) The moon is already in a vacuum. Use rails to launch cargo.
2) Forces necessary to escape the moon are so low, you can be standing around in the manned vehicle for vertical launch
An L1 elevator offers no benefit and presents more expenses than the alternatives.
OH, sure, a 58,000 KM long tether. That's certainly feasible. Also, L1 is not as stable as those articles make out. But you wouldn't know that because you learn everything from teh intarwebs, don't you?
Ever notice that the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth? The moon rotates once per orbit. That would put Lunar synchronous orbit at about the same distance as the radius of its orbit around Earth. Space elevators won't work on the Moon without prodigous thruster fuel expense.
I think anything in Lunar syncronous orbit would put it somewhere inside the Earth. No space elevators for the Moon.
Wrong -- nothing does travel faster than the speed of light. What do you think empty space is made of?
Planets may have been orbiting in those planes, but anything that out of whack eventually becomes perturbed enough to fall into the sun or get ejected from the solar system (or close enough to it not to matter).
It's the same reason moons (or satellites, rather) orbit in the same direction and plane that planets orbit their star. Any satellite that doesn't is unstable and will eventually be thrown clear or decay. Or, rarely, wobble just right enough to get into a stable orbit.
I thought crashing into the bottom of the gravity well was the lowest energy state.
The entire these laws get passed in the first place is because of politicians looking for votes.