There are two big differences in the LiftPort elevator and the * Mars trilogoy. 1) In the Mars trilogy the object that got them into space was a heavy duty thick cable. LiftPort uses a paper thin ribbon. Even if it did fall, it is very light and couldn't do much more than make a mess. 2) On Earth we have a very thick atmosphere, so say the elevator's couter weight got snapped off and the whole cable fell back to earth. Anything more than a few miles up would burn up in the atmosphere as it rentered. Again becasue of the thick atmosphere and thin cable.
Also realize that if the cable got cut at a low point, it would fling out into space with the counter weight rather than fall down to earth. Only the part below the cut can fall back.
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There are two big differences in the LiftPort elevator and the * Mars trilogoy.
1) In the Mars trilogy the object that got them into space was a heavy duty thick cable. LiftPort uses a paper thin ribbon. Even if it did fall, it is very light and couldn't do much more than make a mess.
2) On Earth we have a very thick atmosphere, so say the elevator's couter weight got snapped off and the whole cable fell back to earth. Anything more than a few miles up would burn up in the atmosphere as it rentered. Again becasue of the thick atmosphere and thin cable.
Also realize that if the cable got cut at a low point, it would fling out into space with the counter weight rather than fall down to earth. Only the part below the cut can fall back.