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Space travel via tether between asteroids
- jauntywundrkind 3y agoFwiw, Neal Stephenson's Seveneves has a strong component of tethered spacecraft. Started slow but fun trajectory (for an incredibly dark book). Last 1/3rd is basically a separate book.
- KineticLensman 3y agoTethers are a foundational technology in Seveneves, used e.g. for linking orbiting pods into larger habitats, ascent from low earth orbit, grabbing robots and many other applications
- AndrewStephens 3y agoI have a theory that the first three quarters of that book were supposed to be a 10 page prologue to set the scene but during writing it really got away from the author.
- vimax 3y agoMy theory is that he got addicted to Kerbal Space Program and spent as long as he could playing it until the editor told him finish the book without saying “delta-v” again.
- mig39 3y agoSometimes I think Stephenson is more interested in world building than in actually writing a novel. The novels are good, sure, but the world building is the best part.
- Nifty3929 3y agoStephenson's books are so much fun - until the end. They all seem like they are all about the journey, but no destination. I really would love to have a sequel to Seveneves that focuses on the world from the last part of the book (trying to avoid a spoiler here...)
- javajosh 3y ago"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain," or, for stories, "You either end the story well, or you continue telling it until you get GoT season 8."
- causality0 3y agoOr you just get bored and stop writing before resolving anything. Looking at you, John Ringo.
- Terr_ 3y agoOr the author continues for so many books that they pass away and it has to be completed posthumously, with with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. That said, I Jordan more credit that than (the still-humous) George RR Martin, since Jordan didn't spent pages building up characters and relationships only to kill them off.
- dharmab 3y agoAnathem is one of the exceptions where I think the pace holds up in the final act.
- Nifty3929 3y agoOkay, well I just ordered it.
- dredmorbius 3y agoIt's very popular amongst protractor aficionados.
- isoprophlex 3y agoIt's the best one IMO. I hope it won't disappoint you.
- 23B1 3y ago
- tempodox 3y agoMy mother said, “To get things done you'd better not mess with Major Tom.”
- cwkoss 3y agoThe Worms video game series has a fun item: ropes. These ropes are rigid but you can vary the length, so you can do a bunch of interesting pendulum behaviors to accelerate yourself. If you had a long tether between two objects of different weights, and the whole system is rotating, I feel like you could get some interesting acceleration effects by rapidly shortening the tether (assuming its strong enough to not snap)
- IshKebab 3y agoAlso Liero and Soldat. Liero was awesome.
- speps 3y agoLiero IS awesome: https://www.webliero.com/ https://www.webliero.com/
- capitainenemo 3y agoAnd Hedgewars
- airstrike 3y agoI wish I could remember one of these games in which players were tiny cars with ridiculously ominous names like Monsieur Murder (i'm paraphrasing but that was the vibe)
- WithinReason 3y agoMicro Machines? Slicks n slide?
- loa_in_ 3y agoRe-Volt?
- gamegoblin 3y agoOnly for Playstation consoles, but might have been one of the Twisted Metal games.
- sigwinch28 3y agoA rendition of this idea can be seen in the Halo TV adaptation. I can’t remember which episode(s) or find a good YouTube link right now. But there’s a settlement in an asteroid belt where the people move around on cars attached to rails/tethers between the asteroids.
- thechao 3y agoThese are rotating tethers used to launch to other asteroids/planets. Not strings connecting rocks.
- sigwinch28 3y agoOh then I have completely misunderstood the article! Oops.
- bmay 3y agoKurzgesagt has a video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqwpQarrDwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqwpQarrDwk
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mabbo 3y agoI believe the author is talking more about movement within the solar system than about how to get to orbit. Skyhooks are amazing though. For example, if you were on a station attached to 2019 BE5[0], that asteroid rotates once every 15 seconds. With a 60km tether, slowly unwound out from the asteroid, you'd be moving at something like 12km/s. (60km * 3.14 / 15s). All you'd need to do is wait until the plane of the orbit lines up with the destination to have in mind and release the asteroid on the end of the tether.
- messe 3y ago2019 BE5 is only ~55m across. A 60km tether that could withstand those g forces would probably be at least a few orders of magnitude more massive than the entire asteroid.
- westurner 3y agoSpace tether missions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether_missions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether_missions : > A number of space tethers have been deployed in space missions.[1] Tether satellites can be used for various purposes including research into tether propulsion, tidal stabilisation and orbital plasma dynamics. Tether propulsion -> Space tether: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tether_propulsion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tether_propulsion How many RPMs/Hz are necessary for DC (or AC) motors?
- westurner 3y agoHow different are the physics for a [WebGL] simulator for body kinematics and Poi/Glowstringing and a simulator for space tethers in n-body gravity? Poi (performance art) / Glowstringinging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(performance_art) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(performance_art) Poi spinning > Types of poi https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_spinning https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_spinning
- westurner 3y agoQ: Would there be advantages to a space tether lunar cycler? (Aldrin 1985) Lunar cycler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_cycler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_cycler (Edit) Gravity; IDK maybe cooling of solar panels painted white on the underside. But then the complexity of ungainly rendezvous
- spartanatreyu 3y agoGlowstringing / Poi is a great analogy. Spiral wraps (where the string wraps around the hands causing the glowsticks to spiral around into the hands) are a great approximation of a tether under tension shorting. Flowers (where the arm spins in the same direction as the glowstick creating the visual of an epicycle) could be a nice approximation of two bodies tethered where one has significantly more mass than the other.
- JumpinJack_Cash 3y agoI will never understand those who want to travel to space. Feeling the elements on the skin (air, wind, water, sun, gravity..) is an essential part of adventure. Billions of dollars and billions of miles after once you arrive you can only observe, you can't feel anything because you have to be in a spacesuit the whole time, no air, no gravity, no wind, no plants, no water, when you can feel some air is artificial. What's the point of it all? Hubble pics + a serious VR set basically give you the same visual experience which is the only thing that maybe could be worth about going there.
- javajosh 3y agoI'll never understand those who don't want to travel to space. It's an enormous universe we live in, and here we are, on one (admittedly awesome) planet. There is a great deal to learn, and many adventures to be had! Note that this same conversation has happened many times in human history; some people are home bodies, some people crave adventure, and ne'er the twain shall meet. It's a deep-seated personality trait, and you can't reason people out of either position. The other point (which is really why I responded) is to note that space travel isn't just for humans. Robots, especially AI-driven robots, may be able to explore and exploit our solar system far better than bio humans ever could. It would make a nice division of responsibility: we get the Earth and her unique and valuable biosphere, they get the rest of the system and it's vast resources. I believe the relationship could be deeply symbiotic and fruitful for both cultures.
- debesyla 3y agoQuestion rises to me: what good could us offer to this AI?
- javajosh 3y agoRemember that Life has been around like 5 billion years - a continuous computation running on the most sophisticated computer in existence. I don't think we fully appreciate how special Life is, how special we are. It's likely that some manufacturing techniques will be best done, perhaps only done, by humans on Earth. There are many materials (organic ones) that are more abundant here than elsewhere - and in a more convenient location. The solar system is something like a vast desert; the Earth is like a great city. I would imagine that it will take a long time for space-based manufacturing to eclipse that of Earth, and perhaps it never will, for some things. Then of course there is the inherent interest in biological life - tourism, basically. It's hard to say because we don't really know what's possible out there. But I guarantee some products and services will remain economical to provide only on Earth in the long run. (I mean, if you posit magical nanotech then sure, we can't trade. But I think the future is more limited, and interesting, than that.) Oh, another thing we can offer is 'reboot services' in the event of intense Solar activity. In return, maybe they can deflect an asteroid or comet for us. I think it will work out!
- pseudocoup 3y agothat’s some tough SF…http://toughsf.blogspot.com/2020/07/tethers-all-way.html http://toughsf.blogspot.com/2020/07/tethers-all-way.html
- Sparkyte 3y agoGreatest problem of space travel is that we wouldn't get the pleasure to experience the whole journey no matter our velocity. We try to come up with neat ideas, sadly this is not one we will achieve. We can send robots this way.
- jncfhnb 3y ago… because traveling through empty space is boring?
- Sparkyte 3y agoYou'd die before you reached the destination. Interstellar travel just isn't feasible on a human life expectancy and more importantly loss of bone density.
- jncfhnb 3y agoBut also, it’s fundamentally boring
- HelloImSteven 3y agoWhat's the problem with multi-generational travel?
- cstejerean 3y agoThe middle generations that are born and will die on a spaceship didn't sign up for that. And they might not accept their fate willingly. Relying on intermediary generations to comply seems like a big flaw in any multigenerational ship plan.
- throwawaylinux 3y agoNobody born has signed up for anything.
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- unchocked 3y agoHop David is the person on the internet who the author wants to talk to about whether their math on orbital tethers is correct.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- GauntletWizard 3y agoOn the subject of tethers in space, I saw an interesting research project for launching objects around the moon; Launch a pair of Bolas, hooked by a detachable tether. Using sensors, unhook the tether at the right moment and one goes flying into the ground while the other gets a soft landing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACqpdXAKYHI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACqpdXAKYHI
- james1248 3y agoReminds me of this fantastic short story by David Brin. http://www.davidbrin.com/tankfarm.htm http://www.davidbrin.com/tankfarm.htm