What is keeping us from anchoring a cable to Earth’s surface and tethering a platform in space?
In: 10077
that’s the concept behind a space elevator.
it has a number of issues tho:
1: we do not know of any material currently that could take the stresses involved on such a long cable.the ones that might, cant be manufactured in industrial scale yet.
2:in order for such a structure to be stable it needs a very specific location(somewhere around the equator that’s geologically stable) and the space part of the structure needs to be far enough to achieve geosynchronous orbit(especially considering said cable needs ot end in a significant counterweight iun ordwer to be able to tense up)
3:such a system requires that a significant counterweight is put in place on the other end of the cable(in order ot keep the cable tensed up), we do not have the means ot get such a thing in orbit with current tech.
4: the existence of a such a structure would give its owner essentially a monopoly over the Earth’s orbit(since it would make the cost of sending stuff into orbit plummet) so it would be a political nightmare that would likely spark wars, so you need the right political mindset(aka, you basically need world peace)
Latest Answers