←back to thread

Space Elevator

(neal.fun)
1773 points kaonwarb | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.316s | source
Show context
tempestn ◴[] No.45640679[source]
TIL it's estimated that over 48 tons of meteors hit the atmosphere every day.

Regarding actual space elevators though, while they're not sci-fi to the extent of something like FTL travel - ie. they're technically not physically impossible - they're still pretty firmly in the realm of sci-fi. We don't have anything close to a cable that could sustain its own weight, let alone that of whatever is being elevated. Plus, how do you stabilize the cable and lifter in the atmosphere?

A space elevator on the moon is much more feasible: less gravity, slow rotation, no atmosphere, less dangerous debris. But it's also much less useful.

replies(10): >>45641098 #>>45641279 #>>45641321 #>>45641436 #>>45641636 #>>45641725 #>>45642489 #>>45644099 #>>45644600 #>>45647734 #
1. JumpCrisscross ◴[] No.45647734[source]
> while they're not sci-fi to the extent of something like FTL travel - ie. they're technically not physically impossible

On Earth.

Zylon or M5 [1] could build an elevator on Mars. Kevlar on the Moon.

To drive this home, it’s estimated we could build a lunar space elevator for less than what Bechtel fleeced NASA for a mobile SLS launcher [2][3].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M5_fiber

[2] https://opsjournal.org/DocumentLibrary/Uploads/The_Lunar_Spa...

[3] https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IG-22-012.pd...