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7/20/2008 6:19:08 PM
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Ron
Posts 163
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http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/18/1206845.aspx?GT1=43001
My main concern is the ramification of a possible accident.
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7/20/2008 7:09:57 PM
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Guest
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That's one thing you needn't worry about, we will not see a cosmic beanstalk in our lifetime.
If the technology has arrived, which it has not, who by chance would pay for it?
Can you imagine the cost overruns if we let NASA build it, yikes.
Certainly not the USA as we're already 9.4 trillion dollars in debt.
edited by Sparrow on 7/20/2008
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7/21/2008 10:09:58 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 4528
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If it operates like the elevator where I work, it'll take years to get from the ground to space. Assuming some a-hole hasn't pushed the buttons for every stop.
Hmm...stops on a space elevator...sounds like a skydiver's dream.
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"A thagizer? What's that do? Hey, what's this button for? Uh-oh. Sorry about that, man. It'll grow back, right?"
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12/23/2008 7:23:54 AM
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Marian
Posts 3065
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Space elevators must exist! They actually have their own website. www.spaceelevator.com
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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12/23/2008 7:25:41 AM
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Marian
Posts 3065
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Try that again. http://www.spaceelevator.com/
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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12/23/2008 9:46:24 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 4528
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So, if the Earth is Mother Earth, female, according to the Gaia theory, would the space elevator be the birth canal, or is Earth more of a Divine-sort of female??
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"A thagizer? What's that do? Hey, what's this button for? Uh-oh. Sorry about that, man. It'll grow back, right?"
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12/24/2008 3:38:33 AM
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Marian
Posts 3065
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Cord? Placenta?
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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12/25/2008 11:46:30 PM
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leokor
Posts 43
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Ron wrote:
My main concern is the ramification of a possible accident.
My main concern is the electric potential difference that exists between the ground and the upper ionosphere. It's tens of thousands of volt, people! If not more. All experiments performed to date with tethers lowered from a space vehicle have ended up with the tether melting down due to a sudden catastrophic dielectric breakdown. I hope that space elevator is impossible. Because if it is possible, then we will rue the day it is constructed. You want to short the auroral circuit? You want to bring down the voltage that ultimately powers all lightnings on Earth? You have no idea what you're asking for.
Leo
P.S. And don't get me started on things like Dyson spheres. Trying to stop the solar wind? Yeah, right.
edited by leokor on 12/26/2008
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12/26/2008 12:44:32 AM
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pc
Posts 2231
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Then think of it as transportation and a power source.
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It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes -- Douglas Adams
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12/26/2008 2:09:11 AM
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Mark Pontin
Posts 953
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Those physicists I know who aren't too square to have heard about the concept do seem mostly to think it's probably not possible, materials-wise.
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12/26/2008 2:10:01 AM
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Mark Pontin
Posts 953
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Also, if it were possible, it would be the ultimate terrorist incident waiting to happen.
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12/26/2008 10:14:03 AM
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leokor
Posts 43
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Mark Pontin wrote:
Also, if it were possible, it would be the ultimate terrorist incident waiting to happen.
Trust me, if it falls, that would be a relief, compared to what would happen if it shorts the auroral circuit. Of the two evils, I would rather choose the simple mechanical crash.
Leo
edited by leokor on 12/26/2008
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12/28/2008 9:31:40 PM
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ahmedakhan
Posts 51
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There is another possibility that may be worse than a crash or a short circuit - being stuck between floors.
Ahmed
http://ahmedakhan.livejournal.com
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11/4/2009 10:31:01 PM
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Thomas R
Posts 3572
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Space Elevator Games
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"Not for a moment, beautiful aged Walt Whitman, have I failed to see your beard full of butterflies." Federico Garcia Lorca
"I was going down a long hallway, and at the end of it there was a bright light a kind man with a beard reaching his hand out to me, beckoning me, and he looked at me as I got closer.. and said: 'Hey buddy, can you spare some change? I want a cup of coffee!'" Tom Servo
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11/6/2009 9:08:18 PM
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Marian
Posts 3065
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A Winner!!! http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18122-space-elevator-wins-900000-nasa-prize.html
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"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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11/6/2009 9:33:47 PM
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gdozois
Posts 4314
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It does seem unlikely that the technological and engineering difficulties can be overcome--but, of course, at one time they would have said the same thing about the Golden Gate Bridge, the Panama Canal, the Chunnel, or 100-story-high skyscrapers.
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11/7/2009 12:56:06 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 4528
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Or the Transatlantic tunnel, Hurrah!
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"A thagizer? What's that do? Hey, what's this button for? Uh-oh. Sorry about that, man. It'll grow back, right?"
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