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Sun Nov 15
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  • posts about #spaceelevator more →

    LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize

    Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches

    New NASA Carbon Material Could Make Space Elevators Possible

    Invisible, Near-Weightless Nanotubes Could Support Humans, Buildings, Space Elevators

    Japanese Team Creates Working Space Elevator... Made of Lego Blocks

    The Great Space Elevator
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    Image of Nick Nick
    11/06/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    if done right -- climbing an endless "gym rope" to the skies could very well feel like an ascent into heaven. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    Nick was starred Nick was unstarred
    Image of aec007 aec007
    11/05/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    @Sean: " the idea of an elevator that reaches to space might not be so far fetched after all"
    Uhhhh... not at all, we just need a cable strong enough of a few thousand miles length and a space station for an anchor in geostationary orbit.

    We'll have it running by next Friday....
     Reply
    Navin R Johnson promoted this comment Edited by aec007 at 11/05/09 11:46 PM aec007 was starred aec007 was unstarred
    Image of Navin R Johnson Navin R Johnson
    11/06/09

    @aec007: I'll wait for the escalator to nowhere, thank you. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    Navin R Johnson was starred Navin R Johnson was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    11/06/09

    @Navin R Johnson: How about buying a stairway to heaven? #spaceelevator
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of Snes Snes
    11/05/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    I wonder what kind of cable they use... any kind of metal cable would break under it's own weight after a certain height, obviously they could be using a metal cable here, but getting up to space and well... it'd snap. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    tande04 promoted this comment Snes was starred Snes was unstarred
    Image of tande04 tande04
    11/05/09

    @Snes: carbon nano tubes.
     Reply
    Edited by tande04 at 11/05/09 7:57 PM tande04 was starred tande04 was unstarred
    Image of Snes Snes
    11/05/09

    @tande04: ahh, I've been wondering what they would use since I saw this competition... Was always too lazy to look it up. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    Snes was starred Snes was unstarred
    Image of Pahoo-Making you look bad since 1981. Pahoo-Making you look bad since 1981.
    11/05/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    I know this is a big step forward and all but man that was boring. These guys should get a prize for taking the "Awesome" out of "Laser-Powered-Robot!" #spaceelevator
     Reply
    The Lab promoted this comment Pahoo-Making you look bad since 1981. was starred Pahoo-Making you look bad since 1981. was unstarred
    Image of surf5270 surf5270
    11/05/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    im sorry but the space elvator concept is annoying it will never happen regardless of materials or proof of concept. it is just too dangerous
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII promoted this comment surf5270 was starred surf5270 was unstarred
    Image of whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII
    11/05/09

    @surf5270: So was going to the moon, deep sea diving, flying, nuclear power, automobiles...

    Science in general, really. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was starred whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was unstarred
    Image of TheClap TheClap
    11/05/09

    @whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII: I think he was referring to space elevators tending to whip back and hit Earth when the cable snaps.

    Blowing up a lab isnt the same thing as blowing up a continent. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII promoted this comment TheClap was starred TheClap was unstarred
    Image of poppageorgio01 poppageorgio01
    11/06/09

    @whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII: so your assuming we went to the moon? #spaceelevator
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII promoted this comment poppageorgio01 was starred poppageorgio01 was unstarred
    Image of whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII
    11/06/09

    @poppageorgio01: "And if you look to the left here, you will see a comment Troll is its natural habitat. It is a frail creature, and though it appears to be a mammal, it actually is more like an insect. You see, though it appears human, the comment troll is actually an invertibrate. No spine. Whatsoever. It is also a very gullible creature, and will not only believe any exciting lies you tell it, the nubile Troll will actually regurgitate that same information as fact, much to the annoyance of anyone around."

    ~Tour guide in the Gizmodo factory #spaceelevator
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was starred whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was unstarred
    Image of whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII
    11/06/09

    @TheClap: One of my examples was nuclear power. Those have the potential to affect more than just a lab. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was starred whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was unstarred
    Image of whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII
    11/06/09

    @poppageorgio01: "you're" #spaceelevator
     Reply
    whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was starred whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII was unstarred
    Image of TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.
    11/06/09

    @TheClap: If by "snap into the earth" you really meant "burning up in the atmosphere, except for the last few bottom Kilometers that would gently flutter towards the ground like someone accidentally dropped the worlds longest roll of toilet paper" then yes you would be correct.

    If however you are referring to the scene in the red mars trilogy then you are a complete retard, that BS depiction has absolutely nothing to do with reality. Hint: It's a work of fiction that is veeery loosely based on science, and science knows a lot more than it did back then.

    Blowing up a continent? Don't make me laught, a falling space elevator wouldn't be able to make a dent in a frikking mini cooper...
     Reply
    Edited by TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. at 11/06/09 5:13 AM TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. was starred TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee
    11/06/09

    @whiteknight89 still plays DiabloII: Except the moon doesn't exist. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee was starred GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee was unstarred
    Image of orbitbreak orbitbreak
    11/05/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    When they get built, they need to remember to illuminate these things.

    Forget skyscraper needles and mountain peaks shrouded in clouds, these things are a pilot's new worst nightmare.
     Reply
    jepzilla promoted this comment Edited by orbitbreak at 11/05/09 7:48 PM orbitbreak was starred orbitbreak was unstarred
    Image of jepzilla jepzilla
    11/05/09

    @orbitbreak: Given the expense and value of a space elevator, I highly doubt it'd need to be illuminated. Any aircraft would probably be shot down before it got within a hundred miles of the thing. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    jepzilla was starred jepzilla was unstarred
    Image of MarcusMaximus MarcusMaximus
    11/05/09

    In reply to LaserMotive's Robot Is The First Ever To Win NASA's $900,000 Space Elevator Prize
    Huh... I always thought the barrier preventing us from making a space elevator was the structure holding it, rather than a mechanism to actually do the lifting. Seems like if you can make something that can give enough upward force to lift it off the ground at all(and continue to give said force) then you're in the clear since the force of gravity gets weaker the farther away you are. On the other hand, making a structure that can reach miles into the sky with what would have to be relatively an incredibly narrow shaft, has been a little outside the realm of possibility(although there's some talk of carbon nanotube material being used) #spaceelevator
     Reply
    MarcusMaximus was starred MarcusMaximus was unstarred
    Image of tomsomething tomsomething
    11/05/09

    @MarcusMaximus: I think the plan is getting the structure long enough that the Earth's rotation keeps the line taut. The Earth anchors one end, and the inertia of a weight on the other end acts against acceleration, resulting in a tension force.

    Then, the challenge is keeping planes away from it! #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful promoted this comment tomsomething was starred tomsomething was unstarred
    Image of valkilmerisawful valkilmerisawful
    11/05/09

    @tomsomething: Looking at the concept on wikipedia, there are some major problems with it. And before I go on, I'm not pretending that I can offer any solutions that they haven't already racked their prize-winning brains for. First, a simple counterweight will not remain geostationary as an elevator ascends. Even if no other forces were at play, the simple act of moving a weight up the line connecting the two is pulling down on the counterweight as much as it is pulling up on the earth. Therefore, the line will slacken. However the line might remain taught as the counterweight moves, which it would. It would move as you transfer weight to towards the counterweight, caused by the increased mass, changing it's rotational inertia. The counterweight would slow down and fall behind the rotation of the earth (e.g., difference between spinning with your arms at your chest and then spreading them out). Just thought I'd at to the nonsensicleness. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful was starred valkilmerisawful was unstarred
    Image of burningsensation burningsensation
    11/05/09

    @valkilmerisawful: the first picture on the wikipedia page addresses these issues. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful promoted this comment burningsensation was starred burningsensation was unstarred
    Image of valkilmerisawful valkilmerisawful
    11/05/09

    @burningsensation: Read thru it this time. I see the Earth, a counterweight and an elevator. What am I missing?

    @macrumpton: Perhaps if it was the asteroid itself, and you were sending up a freeze-dried lunch box. Otherwise, it is not insignificant. But, I digress, I'm not sure about the whole "why" yet. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful was starred valkilmerisawful was unstarred
    Image of Mike Ellis Mike Ellis
    11/05/09

    @valkilmerisawful: If the centre of gravity of the entire system is at the altitude of geosynchronous orbit then the system will stay in geosynchronous orbit.

    Also, if you send one car down while one goes up, you don't even need to power the thing.

    Move asteroid into orbit, turn asteroid into cable, extending one cable down to earth and a second up farther into space at same rate. System stays in geosynchronous orbit. Now if you start sending car loads of asteroid ore down at the same time you bring people/resources up you don't even have to power the lift, except for friction. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful promoted this comment Mike Ellis was starred Mike Ellis was unstarred
    Image of valkilmerisawful valkilmerisawful
    11/05/09

    @Mike Ellis: You are correct that the centre of mass dictates the moment of inertia. However when you change the centre of mass with respect to the counterweight by adding the mass of the elevator, the angular momentum of the counterweight changes with respect to the earth (if you look at earth as the primary system). Therefore the counterweight will rotate slight less than the earth per time, and fall behind, because the of the exchange of mass from earth to satellite.

    Sending one down and one up doesn't eliminate the problem of energy. Simply, if they were hung by a giant pulley and the two are the same mass, unfortunately (assuming cable has no mass) you still need to lift the mass, as the moments on the pulley are in equilibrium. It's been a short while since dynamics and pulley systems, but I think this is right.

    Lastly, I like the last part of what you said, where you can potentially eliminate the resultant change in rotational inertia by having an equal mass travelling down as one goes up (such that they cross paths exactly midway). #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful was starred valkilmerisawful was unstarred
    Image of user_21938 user_21938
    11/05/09

    @Mike Ellis: Given the amount of pull placed on a tether reaching out beyond an equatorial geosynchronous orbit, I'm not sure the weight of a carrier and its payload will have as much effect as you might think. Even if use of the elevator starts to degrade the counterweight's orbit, a simple thruster system should be able to maintain an operable position for it. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful promoted this comment user_21938 was starred user_21938 was unstarred
    Image of valkilmerisawful valkilmerisawful
    11/06/09

    @user_21938: Well, that's what I was getting at, thank you. But I didn't want to comment beyond the wiki article since, as I said, I didn't want to speculate further than those engineers already (likely) have. #spaceelevator
     Reply
    valkilmerisawful was starred valkilmerisawful was unstarred
    Image of AmericanMouth AmericanMouth
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    I am quitting my job to start work on a muzak medley long enough for this elevator. Then I will be rich. RICH.
     Reply
    AmericanMouth was starred AmericanMouth was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/22/09

    @AmericanMouth: Too late. All muzak already is the same 5-minute, nondescript loop. It could play for eternity and nobody would know the difference.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of Ian Vincent Ian Vincent
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    Space elevators were discussed (briefly) in a thread on 'NASA WTF?' at Warren Ellis's hangout 'Whitechapel'. Ellis did his research on space travel feasability while writing (among other things) his graphic novel 'Orbiter' and concluded this:


    "It's proposed that a space elevator lifter would move at 200 km/h, I think mostly to avoid putting weird stresses on the ribbon. Unfortunately, at that speed, you spend a couple of days in the Van Allen radiation belts. Which kills you. To shield a lifter against the Van Allen regions for half a week at a time, at current tech levels the lifter would have to weigh more than a hundred tons, unloaded. Which very likely renders it uneconomical.


    And, of course, even if the lifter were used for cargo only, that cargo would emerge irretrievably irradiated."


    In short - even if we can build it, we can't use it for people. Or even food.


    (Thread at [freakangels.com] )

     Reply
    Ian Vincent was starred Ian Vincent was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    05/22/09

    @Ian Vincent: Not all the technology exists yet to build a space elevator. But that doesn't mean it never will. Imagine if people said - "yeah, we could put on a man on the moon except since there's no oxygen on the moon, he wouldn't be able to breathe, so forget that."
     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/22/09

    @frigg: What? Oh.


    OH!


    Oh my GOD, frigg, you are RIGHT! We must tell them. We must...somebody must...in the name of God, please, somebody get NASA on the phone, now! Tell them, WARN them--dear God, these FOOLS--THERE'S NOT ANY AIR ON THE MOON! NO AIR! ABORT! ABORT!

     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    05/22/09

    @Ian Vincent: Uhm, a space elevator to where exactly? At 200km/h it wouldn't take weeks or even days to get to an orbital platform via tether.


    Do you mean to the moon? It is unfeasible because it has an orbit that isn't geosynchronous. (Which is what the platform at the end of the elevator would be...

     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
    Image of MrFresh MrFresh
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    That is so Gundam 00!
     Reply
    MrFresh was starred MrFresh was unstarred
    Image of SegamanXero SegamanXero
    05/24/09

    @MrFresh: I know right? When I was reading the headline, I was thinking "if they do that, then we are that much closer to having gundams"


    Either someone just thought that up, or they watched season one of Gundam 00, and thought to themselves that would be a good idea. If they haven't seen season two then they need to as an elevator gets damaged in it and demonstrated the carnage that could happen...

     Reply
    SegamanXero was starred SegamanXero was unstarred
    Image of Defenestrator2.0 Defenestrator2.0
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    I'm pretty sure that Roald Dahl beat them to the idea of a space elevator by a good 45 years.
     Reply
    Defenestrator2.0 was starred Defenestrator2.0 was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    05/22/09

    @Defenestrator2.0: Yeah, but since Roald Dahl's space elevator had No Strings Attached, it would never get past NASA's prudish review process.
     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of tobedetermined tobedetermined
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    Will this be threatened by space junk flying at a very high speed?
     Reply
    tobedetermined was starred tobedetermined was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/22/09

    @tobedetermined: You mean, as already asked and answered above?
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of Mac the Tard Mac the Tard
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    Wait!


    I have a Way Better Idea!


    Build a GIANT PADDLE shaped Space Station in Outer Space and then connect it to the Earth with a really long String shaped Space Elevator.


    Then the Earth will look like a giant Paddle Ball Game

     Reply
    Mac the Tard was starred Mac the Tard was unstarred
    Image of Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS: Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS:
    05/22/09

    @bleuray vs. honeydijondvd: Genuine Humor, nice to see that every once in a while, but im pretty sure the closest gizmodians get to a paddle ball game is if their iPhones have an App for that.
     Reply
    Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS: was starred Nuke Dukem: The following is guaranteed BS: was unstarred
    Image of Pixelologist, Esq. Pixelologist, Esq.
    05/22/09

    @dgelwin: You mean there isn't one yet? I smell money to be made!
     Reply
    Pixelologist, Esq. was starred Pixelologist, Esq. was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/22/09

    @Pixelologist: Money? Oops, no,sorry. That was just my bean burrito lunch.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of mikenmike11 mikenmike11
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    Think there's enough raw material around to build something that big? Wonder where they'd put it...
     Reply
    mikenmike11 was starred mikenmike11 was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/22/09

    @mikenmike11: The idea is to use carbon nanotube ribbons. It's basically the only material that can handle the stresses of a space elevator. The base can be anchored in the middle of the ocean, so you can just park an aircraft carrier there and be impervious to terrorist attacks.


    But of course we still need to figure out a much faster and cheaper way to construct carbon nanotubes...

     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    05/23/09

    @mikenmike11: well it is very big - we're talking about something more than 25,000 miles long to get to geosynchronous orbit, which is about 1/10th the way to the moon.


    But to put that in perspective, the earth's circumference is about the same distance, so it's just the same as building a road around the world. And we've done that already many times over. In the US alone, we've got 4,000,000 miles of roads.


    It's a mind-blowing idea, but it is plausible.

     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of Pnizzle - I am your father. Pnizzle - I am your father.
    05/22/09

    In reply to Rotating Space Elevator Could Use Earth's Energy For Cheap Orbital Launches
    so this is where my tax payer dollars are going. Research into putting a multi mile long stick on a big sphere rotating at a bit over 1000 miles per hour... Good idea.
     Reply
    Pnizzle - I am your father. was starred Pnizzle - I am your father. was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/22/09

    @pnizzle - best known gizmodian: No. Your tax dollars went into repaving the unused culdesac in my neighborhood. We've now added a nice brick BBQ to it, Come by any time for some 'dogs.
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    05/23/09

    @pnizzle - best known gizmodian: One man's tax, is another person's income. Thanks man! ;)
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of seanerone seanerone
    05/23/09

    @pnizzle - best known gizmodian: oh shut up! "my taxes, whaaa, whaa, whaa" over 60% of government spending goes to social programs...space research about 2%
     Reply
    seanerone was starred seanerone was unstarred
    Image of bosskev bosskev
    05/23/09

    @seanerone: ...and beautifying my neighborhood with needless upgrades about 1.5%. (Hey, so we know key people on the allocations committee, what can I say? Go develop your own puppet politicians.)
     Reply
    bosskev was starred bosskev was unstarred
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