3 ms·
No because you could run it using electricity transmitted up the ladder. So you wouldn't need to expend energy to carry fuel up the ladder.
by breakyerself 4y ago
No because you could run it using electricity transmitted up the ladder. So you wouldn't need to expend energy to carry fuel up the ladder.
- betwixthewires 4y agoI imagine the words "climb the ladder" to mean literally climbing a ladder.
- pfdietz 4y agoUnless the ladder is made of superconductive unobtainium, this will not work (resistive losses kill you). "Real" versions of this scheme would use laser power beaming. Of course, a "real" version of the scheme would also need hefty rockets on the passenger vehicle to keep them from dying if the vehicle fell off the ladder (or if the ladder broke). The rockets are needed to either slow the vehicle before atmospheric entry (so the deceleration is not fatal) or thrust sideways to put the passenger pod into elliptical orbit that just misses the atmosphere. The delta-V needed at the worst case altitude is non-negligible.