3 ms·

Oh god no. Not this rubbish again. Want to buy some magic beans? They are theoretically possible...

• XorNot 3y ago
  The atom bomb was theoretically possible till it was practical. So was powered flight. And orbital rockets. And solar power.
  • matthewfelgate 3y ago
    So? It doesn't mean all science fiction becomes reality.
    • XorNot 3y ago
      Tell me: if a space elevator on the Moon is theoretically possible, using materials which already exist, then why do you conclude it definitely can't happen? Because on Earth there's a real problem: you need carbon nanotubes to do it. And not just, the ones we have, but perfectly formed, seriously long carbon nanotubes (depending on weaving techniques you can get up to 80% UTS, I can't remember if this is enough). We don't have these. We may never have these. It may be energetically impossible to build and maintain these. But the moon space elevator doesn't have that problem. A number of existing materials in use today meet the necessary strength/weight requirements for lunar gravity. You can just go and buy them. If you went to the moon with them, you could drop a very long tether from orbit down to the surface and it would work. The main reason we don't have a space elevator on the moon is the feasibility of moving materials to the moon to build it. But that's a limitation which applies to...all things Moon related. Moving thousands of tons to build a Lunar base or research station has exactly the same problems. It is theoretically possible but logistically infeasible at the moment, but not insurmountable. That's different - in an important way - from requiring materials which don't currently exist in sufficient quantities, or purity, using manufacturing techniques which don't exist and may never exist.
      • matthewfelgate 3y ago
        It's not possible it's just bullshit.