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Space Elevator

(neal.fun)
1773 points kaonwarb | 3 comments | 20 Oct 25 04:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.642s | source
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jvanderbot ◴[20 Oct 25 13:03 UTC] No.45643427[source]▶
Very cool. One thing I wish was better shown: space is close, it's just hard to go up. Our liveable breathable atmosphere is razor thin compared to the size of earth.

In most cases, 100km is less than the distance between sizeable metropolitan areas. It's a day long bike ride. Air runs out less than a bus ride across town. A 15k jog/hike would put you in the stratosphere. Those jet aircraft that seem so high are closer than that. Closer than your friends house or the local stadium probably.

Look at a map or globe with that in mind and everything feels so thin!

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1. lurquer ◴[20 Oct 25 16:58 UTC] No.45646207[source]▶
> it's just hard to go up.

Eh. Going up is easy. A Frenchman, a sheep, duck, and rooster solved the whole ‘up’ thing over two centuries ago.

But going DOWN? That’s far more difficult. What wonders may lie beneath our feet: vast caverns, ore, underground oceans… hard to get to though.

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2. estimator7292 ◴[20 Oct 25 18:12 UTC] No.45647162[source]▶
Just dig a big hole, duh

/s

3. sebastiennight ◴[20 Oct 25 20:59 UTC] No.45649308[source]▶
If memory serves well, Frenchmen solved the problem of going up in two ways, and the one you quote seems like a lot of hot air to me. I mean, if you follow that line of thought, the literature says an American would get to the Moon in 19 days or so.

The other French method included two dogs, a bunch of chicken, and a very large cannon, which had quite a bit more showmanship.