[extropy-chat] Space elevator numbers III

[BillK]

On 2/16/07, Jef Allbright wrote:
> Keith Henson wrote:
> > Anybody who can launch a ton of ball bearings can
> > launch a nuke which is much more likely to take it out.
> > But *why?
>
> Because such a structure represents a huge gradient of power, and nature
> abhors a gradient.
>


Or maybe just to get their 73 virgins in Paradise.

How simple and low-tech destruction techniques are required?

Would the cable survive a light plane strike?
A parachutist with a chainsaw or bolt cutters or arc-welding kit?

Maybe none of these is feasible, but the point is not to defend the
cable against ICBMs, but against the simple, basic methods of suicidal
fanatics.

BillK