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Space Elevator

(neal.fun)
1773 points kaonwarb | 1 comments | 20 Oct 25 04:42 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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timonoko ◴[20 Oct 25 07:10 UTC] No.45640766[source]▶
Giant Space Bola is much more attractive. It is a 10000 km string with capsules at both ends. It rotates in sync with earth so that the speed at meeting point is the same. You just hop in and end up in space without much effort. Because it is freely floating you can move it around to avoid meteor impacts and other such shit.
replies(1): >>45640927 #
243423443 ◴[20 Oct 25 07:42 UTC] No.45640927[source]▶
Did you read Seveneves by Neal Stephenson? In the second part of the book, they use this and related technologies.
replies(1): >>45641386 #
arethuza ◴[20 Oct 25 08:42 UTC] No.45641386[source]▶
I think those technologies are mentioned throughout the book - just at a much larger scale in the second part.
replies(1): >>45643395 #
1. daeken ◴[20 Oct 25 12:59 UTC] No.45643395[source]▶
Bolos are used for spin gravity in the first part, but that's very different from the rotovators used in the second part. Both in concept and design. The key point with the rotovator is that the tip is moving at ~0m/s relative to the body it's orbiting when it's at its nadir, allowing you to just hop/grab on.