5 ms·
However wonderfully grandiose these elevator pitches sound, I'm always left wondering: what happens when some space debris hits the thing? Instant Kessler syndr
by isoprophlex 7y ago
However wonderfully grandiose these elevator pitches sound, I'm always left wondering: what happens when some space debris hits the thing? Instant Kessler syndrome?
- ed312 7y agoI believe the traditional answer is "lasers" or "someone else will figure that out"
- extropy 7y agoNo, dual cosmic lashing. One end hitting the moon the other one earth. On earth side the atmosphere will take the worst of it, moon will hurt... Also there is hardly any space debris beyond geosynchronous.
- isoprophlex 7y agoInteresting, that makes the case for a moon -> geostationary stronger...
- marcosdumay 7y agoA part falls on Earth, another part falls on the Moon. Or a part falls on Earth and the other part is kept hanging at the same place, depends on where you cut it.
- lkbm 7y agoThis guy did some simulations on cable breakage: http://gassend.net/spaceelevator/breaks/ http://gassend.net/spaceelevator/breaks/
- isoprophlex 7y agoThis is fantastic, thanks! If that cable resist interaction with the atmosphere, some people on earth are going to be royally fucked http://gassend.net/spaceelevator/breaks/break100.gif http://gassend.net/spaceelevator/breaks/break100.gif Interestingly most debris on the tail end appears to be ejected outward rather violently
- lkbm 7y agoI've heard them described as a very thin ribbon, in which case it would be (thousands of tons of) material wafting down like paper, not a heavy cable slamming into the ground and crushing buildings. I don't know if that describes the standard design, or just one particular one.