[extropy-chat] Space elevator numbers III

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 07:22:06PM -0500, Keith Henson wrote:

> It doesn't matter what I think about it technically, there just isn't any 
> need for it in the context of an SPS deployment scheme that depends on 
> bootstrapping from the ground.  Oh, I could make Dr. O'Neill's case for 

I think a terrestrial elevator is extremely more demanding, both
because of the scale, and of the issues (satellites) you mention.
A single launch or a couple is enough to put the required
aramide mass into lunar orbit (don't know about the
counterweight). The point is whether a linear motor launcher
at the north pole (built in place, of course) is easier.

The idea is to bootstrap the Lunar pole infrastructure
by teleoperation and largely local resources, achieving
self-replication closure of unity or above with minimal
terrestrial launches. We know that once you're in LEO
Moon surface is about half a year away with plasma thrusters,
which can't be beat as far as propulsion mass is concerned.
Being able to soft-land some 100 kg from a 300 kg LEO
package puts the costs down.

> building up an entire space industry and building SPS out of lunar 
> materials.  But that's already been judged as too risky simply because of 
> the huge number of steps to making a profit from selling power.

Power alone is not alone a motivator, since this leaves you
with a teleoperated industry basis which can grow exponentially.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.ativel.com
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 191 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20070215/03b95018/attachment.bin>