Space Elevators, was Re: [extropy-chat] good space shuttle article

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Jay Dugger <jay.dugger at gmail.com> wrote:

> Probably time to change the subject line...
> 
> On 8/3/05, Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Actually, I wouldn't mind riding a real bomb propulsion system.
> Orion
> > needs doing. Five moderate sized nukes could put an aircraft
> carrier
> > worth of cargo and spaceship into orbit. I think the trade off is
> worth
> > it.
> > 
> 
> The statistic I remember from "Project Orion" is something like more
> mass to orbit in the first flight than in every shuttle flight
> combined.

Depends on the scale. Project researchers came up with several
spacecraft sizes ranging from a few thousand tons up to 8 million.

> 
> > Space elevators are a penultimate system to develop, but we've got
> to
> 
> Next to last? What trumps an elevator?

Well this is open to debate. They say that ten bucks in electricity
will get a person in orbit on a space elevator. Orion was estimated to
be able to orbit cargo at 5 cents per lb (in 1957 dollars).

The ultimate is of course teleportation... ;)


> 
> Just how destabilizing would an SE prove? The first group to do it
> gets a big advantage. See Edwards and Westling [152-155]. This seems
> to depend on surprise applications. Deployment of a ribbon to Mars,
> while long-term, (first SE + ~8 years), gets predicted. What
> inevitable surprises do you all think might happen?

The problem with a space elevator is that it eliminates the ability to
orbit anything in orbit below its center of mass for a long term. No
ISS. No Hubble, No Bigelows Budget Suites, and IMHO it puts access to
space in a monopoly position for those with the capital to build one
and creates a massive barrier to entry for medium to small operators
wanting private or commercial passenger space shuttles to LEO. SE is a
statist solution, not just because of this, but because disposing of
them once teleportation becomes reality will be problematic. I suppose
simply detaching them from earth and adding mass to the counterbalance
end would do to get it off earth? Where do you put it? You'd need to
disassemble it in situ.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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