I wouldn't like being stuck in that elevator!
Japan starts space elevator experiments
301–304 of 304 posts
Re: Japan starts space elevator experiments
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not hurtling toward the sun, but payloads traveling up the space elevator would slow the Earth's rotation (the 24 hour daily rotation about the Earth's axis) in the same way an ice skater spins slower when they spread their arms. When the payload detaches from the elevator, the angular momentum of the Earth about the sun does decrease (some of the AM goes with the payload) but the mass of the Earth also decreases, an…
>the angular velocity of the Earth about the Sun doesn't change. It does if your spaceship escapes from Earth in a prograde[1] direction (equivalent to Earth throwing a ball forward, causing a retrograde reaction upon the Earth). This type of escape trajectory is necessary to reach any destination farther from the Sun (Mars, asteroids, etc). It's a tiny change obviously, but it's non-zero. Note that returning from Ma…
You're right, the portion of a rocket's exhaust that is recaptured by the Earth would raise or lower the angular velocity a bit, depending on direction, and gravity between the Earth and the spacecraft would have a tiny effect in the opposite direction.
Those are separate from the disconnect I was talking about; I meant a gentle disconnect after which the spacecraft remains in orbit.
Re: Japan starts space elevator experiments
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have a cable capable of holding a space station and counterweight, no satellite is going to stop it.
> If you have a cable capable of holding a space station and counterweight, no satellite is going to stop it. A satellite impacting the tether will definitely "stop" it, in that it will, at the very least, melt an impact crater into it if the cable is wide enough to not be cut. It is unlikely that the cable will be that wide. I feel like a broken record, lately, but the dominant concerns of impact modeling at orbital…
Fair point. I stand corrected (or at least, until I spend more time thinking about this myself, I’m much inclined to believe you have a much better idea than me).
Re: Japan starts space elevator experiments
#304All this talk about nanotubes,
when the real question is:
What kind of music are they going to play on the way up???