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Would you care to talk about why anyone would ever want a space elevator? (as opposed to just rockets)

eneveu 15y ago
To achieve inexpensive space access. (as per the GP) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_economics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_economics
jfoutz 15y ago
One obvious example is manufacturing in zero g. parts can be thrown from operation to operation, rather than having to trundle along on a conveyor. launch would have to get pretty damn cheap to make assembling cars in space worthwile A better example might be fancy chemicals. Rather than purchasing a "very expensive machine" to ensure a specific environment for reaction, it might be cheaper to send the materials to zero g for processing. I'm not a chemist, but watching astronauts play with bubbles and flames in space makes me think you could get a lot of precision by modeling everything as perfect spheres. So, the reactions are simper to model, easier to get accurate and precise outcomes.
patio11 15y ago
It's wish fulfillment for sci-fi geeks, a deus ex machine made out of unobtanium which purports to answer the question "Is there any reason to go to space other than fulfilling the fantasies of sic-fi geeks given that getting to space is so fantastically expensive as to swamp all benefit of commercial activity other than artificial communications satellites?"
- kronusaturn 15y ago
  Okay, they're geeks, but what've they done to deserve that much snark?
- seclorum 15y ago
  Make it cheaper, move manufacturing to asteroids parked in Lagrange orbit = global warming solved. Delivery of all goods is simply a drop shipment.
- metachris 15y ago
  It's not quite that expensive -- NASA's budget from 1958 to 2011 was about $800 billion. To put it into perspective, the US has a yearly military budget of about $660 billion.
  - onemoreact 15y ago
    US military budget is well over 660 billion. You only get that low by separating things like military pensions and healthcare costs.
- stcredzero 15y ago
  It's wish fulfillment for sci-fi geeks, a deus ex machine made out of unobtanium What I'm proposing isn't made of unobtanium. Spectra has the required tensile strength.

To achieve inexpensive space access. (as per the GP) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_economics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_economics

jfoutz 15y ago

One obvious example is manufacturing in zero g. parts can be thrown from operation to operation, rather than having to trundle along on a conveyor. launch would have to get pretty damn cheap to make assembling cars in space worthwile A better example might be fancy chemicals. Rather than purchasing a "very expensive machine" to ensure a specific environment for reaction, it might be cheaper to send the materials to zero g for processing. I'm not a chemist, but watching astronauts play with bubbles and flames in space makes me think you could get a lot of precision by modeling everything as perfect spheres. So, the reactions are simper to model, easier to get accurate and precise outcomes.

patio11 15y ago

It's wish fulfillment for sci-fi geeks, a deus ex machine made out of unobtanium which purports to answer the question "Is there any reason to go to space other than fulfilling the fantasies of sic-fi geeks given that getting to space is so fantastically expensive as to swamp all benefit of commercial activity other than artificial communications satellites?"

kronusaturn 15y ago
Okay, they're geeks, but what've they done to deserve that much snark?
seclorum 15y ago
Make it cheaper, move manufacturing to asteroids parked in Lagrange orbit = global warming solved. Delivery of all goods is simply a drop shipment.
metachris 15y ago
It's not quite that expensive -- NASA's budget from 1958 to 2011 was about $800 billion. To put it into perspective, the US has a yearly military budget of about $660 billion.
- onemoreact 15y ago
  US military budget is well over 660 billion. You only get that low by separating things like military pensions and healthcare costs.
stcredzero 15y ago
It's wish fulfillment for sci-fi geeks, a deus ex machine made out of unobtanium What I'm proposing isn't made of unobtanium. Spectra has the required tensile strength.