technology Support the construction of a space elevator!

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

Yeah.. Not supporting spending trillions of dollars to send trash into space.. I think it would be better spent finding better ways of recycling

 

Were you thinking of stuff like crinkled up papers and plastic bottles? Also think about all the nuclear waste we could get rid of too.

 

I'm not understanding this counterweight thing. It looks like a giant weight is at the tip of the tower, making the problem even worse.

Edited September 12, 2012 by glitterlicious

[null1 606]

Where you thinking of stuff like crinkled up papers and plastic bottles? Also think about all the nuclear waste we could get rid of too.

 

What about using the nuclear waste as a power source or something? I think I read about the UK using leftovers from generators or something. It sounds doable.

[FizzyImp 1,838]

I can understand how most people would think something like this is ridiculous, but when you think about it, people in the 60's probably had the same reaction about the moon landing.

I'm pretty excited that something like this could actually happen in the next few years, and I think it's great to want to support this despite the many challenges it will face in its development.

[RazzyJam 1,519]

I LOVE THIS SORT OF THING. too bad im broke, But if and when I get some cash, I will contribute.

 

as for the question of stability and stuff, Im going to geek out on you people for a minute. While it is true that past a certain height buildings can become unstable and even so heavy that they cause earthquakes, a solution would to be to build high enough that Centrifugal forces hold it up and pull it away from the earth, counteracting the force of gravity and therefore adding stability to the structure. (or rather Inertia if you know how physics works, considering centrifugal force isn't a real force, but rather a reslut of an objects innert properties when tethered to a specific point and put into circular motion. If centrifugal force were legit, then everything would fly away from the center of its circular path, when in actuality it just goes in a straight line in the velocity it previously exhibited.)

 

My only question is this... How much for rental, when will it be done, and can I get a ride?

 

Also, If you are as geeky as I am, here is some more stuff on this sort of thing

And a REAL Star Trek Enterprise Project!

http://www.buildtheenterprise.org/

[Titan Rising 2,156]

Where you thinking of stuff like crinkled up papers and plastic bottles? Also think about all the nuclear waste we could get rid of too.

 

I don't imagine things like nuclear waste being so frequently produced that we need an elevator to dispose of them on a consistent basis. We can already dispose of them sending them up with a rocket [i would think]. If not then I know there are ways already to safely contain it. In any case, spending trillions to dispose of nuclear waste is nowhere close to a necessity right now and I doubt it ever will be.

[thegoodhen 698]

Rockets aren't effecient. Planes aren't either... But you know what is, apart from elevators? Airships. If the "baloon" itself would be rather a giant tank filled with nothing (that is, near vacuum) it would rise above as well, right? It's all about density. It could work just like a submarine. Plus it could cleverly work with the different densities in different heights... Hm. But I guess that's not the elevator any more.

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

I can understand how most people would think something like this is ridiculous, but when you think about it, people in the 60's probably had the same reaction about the moon landing.

I'm pretty excited that something like this could actually happen in the next few years, and I think it's great to want to support this despite the many challenges it will face in its development.

 

No, I am not one of those people. Like I said earlier, I believe this is possible, but you need an approach. Using the same method as the Dubai tower isn't going to work on such a large scale. A project like this cannot be compared to the Lunar landing. You are going to need some new sort of technology to do something like this...and I just don't see it. The Lunar landing had a rocketship. And if you think a project like this is going to be done if few years...the Dubai tower took 5 years to build and I don't know how many years to plan.

 

And an airship would explode once it approached space...along with the cargo inside of it.

Edited September 12, 2012 by glitterlicious

[RazzyJam 1,519]

Yeah.. Not supporting spending trillions of dollars to send trash into space.. I think it would be better spent finding better ways of recycling

 

Ant it would only cost a few million dolars! Just half a penny of the tax payer dollar sent men to the moon! Imagine what a FULL penny could do! Or even a Nickel! A whole friggin NICKEL and we could be on Mars!

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

Okay I read the website and apparently they are using helium balloons? The estimated completion time is 20-25 years according to the website. Also in order to make the elevator they need to connect it to the moon first.. The moon is 100,000 miles away, they are going to need shuttles for food and water and if the robots break. And the moon's orbit is not synced with the earth so how would that work?

Edited September 12, 2012 by glitterlicious

[FizzyImp 1,838]

A project like this cannot be compared to the Lunar landing

 

I wasn't trying to directly compare the space elevator to the lunar landing - only the disbelief that came with it.

 

And if you think a project like this is going to be done if few years...the Dubai tower took 5 years to build and I don't know how many years to plan.

Again, I was only giving a generalisation. I know that it will take much longer to build, but whether it takes 5 years or 15 years, it still seems quite close.

------

Because this first Kickstarter project is being done as a 'proof of concept' thing, there will be many things learned from it that could aid in its development, so what at first could seem years off could come much closer. :3

Edited September 12, 2012 by JayBee

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

I wasn't trying to directly compare the space elevator to the lunar landing - only the disbelief that came with it.

 

 

Again, I was only giving a generalisation. I know that it will take much longer to build, but whether it takes 5 years or 15 years, it still seems quite close.

------

Because this first Kickstarter project is being done as a 'proof of concept' thing, there will be many things learned from it that could aid in its development, so what at first could seem years off could come much closer. :3

 

I believe it's possible, but I don't see it happening very soon. I'd say it'd be finished in over 40 years from now. That's my guess anyway.

[Jokuc 8,172]

Yeah I've read alot about these space elevators. Though I don't think we will ever see one before like... 200+ years in the future.

 

Oh and Feld0.. I'm starting to doubt about your age

Edited September 12, 2012 by Mr. Nibblers

[Lonewolf 127]

So, we're finally taking the first step to proper space colonisation (with the Lunar Space Elevator) and the posibility of creating Cloud-City/Jetson esque buildings. I never thought I'd see the day.

 

But, realistically, It would take more than those estimated 20 years to create such a thing in my opinion. Still it's a pretty interesting project. I might consider donating.

[RazzyJam 1,519]

Its funny because all this requires is a steel cable and a platform. People seem to get this idea that a space elevator requires some massive steel structure with support pylons and Girders and a foundation. Its literally just a cable in the dirt, a platform in the sky, and the earth spinning to keep it in place (geosynchronous orbit works wonders!)

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

Its funny because all this requires is a steel cable and a platform. People seem to get this idea that a space elevator requires some massive steel structure with support pylons and Girders and a foundation. Its literally just a cable in the dirt, a platform in the sky, and the earth spinning to keep it in place (geosynchronous orbit works wonders!)

 

=

 

the fact that you must travel at higher speed to match the earths rotation at a higher altitude only makes the cable bend more, i don't understand how this would keep it in place.

Edited September 12, 2012 by glitterlicious

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

And this, My Little Ponies, is why we love Feld0 so much as the creator of our site.

 

A space elevator would be pretty rad, I just hope no idiot on the internet makes up a rumor about the world ending because of it.

 

There are actually claims going back many centuries predicting that the construction of "a tower to the heavens" would bring about the end of the world. Michael Laine's name was apparently in one of Nostradamus's prophecies as well.

 

By the way... If humans try to build a space elevator, where will be it's last "floor"? Because there is really nothing that is static in space. Everything is always moving, and probably gravitational forces of the moon will make it be ripped of the earth, or probably pushed by earth's gravitational area. Also, building something this scale would devastate earth's resources, putting the Humankind and all the other species that live on earth endangered.

I don't think it will be a good idea because Earth never stops spinning, and balancing an elevator would not be an easy task.

But that's just my opinion, so nobody cares. :/

 

Edit: I used the same word so many times... -.-

Edit: I am not saying that I disagree with the idea, I am just saying that is not healthy to do such thing.

 

The "last floor" is low orbit. The docking station at the top is a satellite in geosynchronous orbit with a cable hanging down anchored to the Earth (or in the case of LiftPort's current project, the moon). No massive building is required - it's a tether, a counterweight, and a climber.

 

That is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It is absolutely possible, however the stability is in question. Also its very vulnerable to attack. The world's tallest building is about a half a mile long. This took extraordinary thought and dedication to the project. Now you're asking for a building that stretches 70 miles...do you know how exponentially harder that would be? The taller you go, the harder and harder it becomes to make a building any higher. I don't think our current level of science is capable of this, and guess how much the world's tallest building cost? 1.5 billion. Since your project will require 140*n more resources, at its very minimum you can expect the project to cost over 400 billion, at its very least, if n is two. n will probably be much more, so my guess is around 40 trillion dollars.

 

See my response to Devious Detonation - there is no building being built here, just a cable into the sky. The projected cost of the Lunar Space Elevator is $800 million USD. While this is a very ambitious project, I think you're vastly overestimating how ambitious it really is.

 

Be easier to make one on the Moon because of current material strengths. But when we can create an Earth Elevator, that will be a defining moment. Like the Trans-Continental Railroad, Panama Canal, it would be such an advance.

 

I support this road to LEO awesomeness.

 

We are, in fact, building a Lunar Space Elevator first. All the materials needed to get it done already exist - it's just a matter of rallying enough community support over the next decade or so to make it happen.

 

What's the purpose of this exactly? What benefit would building an elevator into space give us? Obviously the government would have to fund such a project and it seems to me like that kind of money would be better served elsewhere. I can hardly stand the government supporting nasa and the hadron collider and other such projects already

 

A space elevator provides a very economical alternative to using rockets to get into or back down from space. When the cost per kilogram of transporting stuff via space elevator versus rocket is compared, the difference is mind-blowing. The space elevator would actually make the creation of colonies on the moon and other planets feasible, which (literally) opens up worlds of possibility.

 

We're trying not to tie the government up in this too much. LiftPort is a private company, and the space elevator would provide a privatized means of space transportation.

[RazzyJam 1,519]

We're trying not to tie the government up in this too much. LiftPort is a private company, and the space elevator would provide a privatized means of space transportation.

 

Sooooooo that means I COULD get a free ride?

 

If this is a private operation in its entirety, I want in. (Or do I? It would mean Business competition for my Industry ) I would assume that governments would be paying for its use then if they ever needed it however

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

Are you guys gonna use my entertainment center idea? At least provide some tables and playing cards. A vending machine too. That's a really long elevator ride.

 

Oh yeah. You wouldn't even need much power either, you could use the vacuum of space to propel the elevator upward, and close the vacuum and let gravity move the elevator downward.

Edited September 12, 2012 by glitterlicious

[Evilshy 5,089]

Curse my poor college student status! Otherwise I'd totally throw money at this. For science.

 

To make things easier, don't think of it as an attachment to the earth. There are plenty of satellites and assorted junk orbiting the earth on it's own, unaided. It is possible to put things in geosynchronous orbit, and have the orbit at the same speed as the earth. So we put a platform of some sort in geosynchronous orbit and attach a huge cable to it, and then run things up and down the cable.

 

Imagine you're spinning in an office chair, and some idiot is running in circles around you at the same speed, so you're always facing him. Then you hand him a string and a spider crawls across it and bites him and he dies. It doesn't really matter if the speeds aren't exact, there is a little leeway. Now if you tried to hold onto a stick made of balsa wood, you'd have to match speeds much more closely or it would break. Luckily, a cable is much closer to a piece of string than a piece of balsa wood. And what we send along the cable is much less likely to inject deadly venom into whoever is at the other end.

Edited September 12, 2012 by Possibly Evilshy

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

What stands out to me the most is that if this project becomes successful (which I'm very sure it will), we'll all have this 17 year old kid from Canada who likes My Little Pony to at least partly give a big thanks for.

 

But damn, this is quite the ambitious program you're already embarking on, Peter! I really do hope you can make an impact on it as well as learning some very big along your journey. Rest assured, the entire community will stand right behind you every step of the way - in spirit or otherwise

[Smokin'HotRarity 182]

What stands out to me the most is that if this project becomes successful (which I'm very sure it will), we'll all have this 17 year old kid from Canada who likes My Little Pony to at least partly give a big thanks for.

 

But damn, this is quite the ambitious program you're already embarking on, Peter! I really do hope you can make an impact on it as well as learning some very big along your journey. Rest assured, the entire community will stand right behind you every step of the way - in spirit or otherwise

 

Maybe we could get them to paint Pinkie Pie, or Feldo's avatar all over the station, since after all Feldo is the one who started this.

[I_wesley125 393]

I'm donating.

One question, would 1 mile generate enough counter-force to hold it up?

Also, I'm kinda jealous of you right about now...

[FedoraMemes 582]

If I had more money, and there was longer time for me to donate, I would for the $10 000 one. Seriously, three wishes, and getting to jump off the tower? Awesome.

 

All jokes aside, I think that this is revolutionary and that this could actually change the world forever.

 

Also, @@Feld0, where do you stand on the team? Are you one of the people who get's to be on the video chats etc?

[Seiji Matsuri 19]

There was a planned response I had to this Kickstarter and subsequent discussion that begged to burst forth through my skull, but all that comes now are tears. I-I can't do it, man. I just can't.

 

About 77 years since mankind had reasonable expectations of entering space. Nearly 56 since the beginning of The Space Race. The first man in space was 1961. First man on the moon was 1969 and we landed five more times after that in less than four years. The Almaz. Mir. Skylab. The ISS and now Tiangong. Enough missions to Mars to list without being yelled at for post size.

 

The greatest minds and most eager hands. The deepest pockets and most avaricious of hearts. Pure, distilled human drive.

 

All done in by a bunch of kids with a fundraiser, Wikipedia and no concept of risk-versus-reward.

[One 498]

Hmm, interesting. Well good luck and have fun. Looking at the physics of one, your going to need some good architects. Hope you have fun and stuff, and also (I don't care...)