3 ms·

I love this page and I donated, but I was (naively) expecting it to get to geosynchronous altitude, which is the actual top of a space elevator. Of course, tha

I love this page and I donated, but I was (naively) expecting it to get to geosynchronous altitude, which is the actual top of a space elevator. Of course, that would require a page 420 times longer, and I don't know if a browser would even support it.

kmacdough 1y ago
I mean the idea isn't actually real or practical. It's a thought experiment that makes for some fun calculus. No one's actually going to try and build one.
gtowey 1y ago
actually geosync isn't the top. You need to extend beyond that & have a counterweight that balances the weight of everything below the point of geosynchronous orbit. Otherwise it would fall down.
- LorenPechtel 1y ago
  Counterweight or just more cable. IIRC it's 170k (miles? kilometers?) if you use no counterweight. And note how fast that outer end is moving, it can throw things pretty hard.
dredmorbius 1y ago
From the same site, there's the Size of Space page: <https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ https://neal.fun/size-of-space/> There are a few sites which let you scroll through the solar system, from the Sun or Earth IIRC. Here's one: <https://onotherplanets.com/solarwalk https://onotherplanets.com/solarwalk> Ah, and "If the Moon Were Only One Pixel", which is what I'd had in mind, shared by @stared <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45641839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45641839>: <https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem....> (2014) (HN discussions: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44266828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44266828> (4 months ago), <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21735528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21735528> (6 years ago) <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32936581 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32936581> (3 years ago).

kmacdough 1y ago

I mean the idea isn't actually real or practical. It's a thought experiment that makes for some fun calculus. No one's actually going to try and build one.

gtowey 1y ago

actually geosync isn't the top. You need to extend beyond that & have a counterweight that balances the weight of everything below the point of geosynchronous orbit. Otherwise it would fall down.

LorenPechtel 1y ago
Counterweight or just more cable. IIRC it's 170k (miles? kilometers?) if you use no counterweight. And note how fast that outer end is moving, it can throw things pretty hard.

dredmorbius 1y ago

From the same site, there's the Size of Space page: <https://neal.fun/size-of-space/ https://neal.fun/size-of-space/> There are a few sites which let you scroll through the solar system, from the Sun or Earth IIRC. Here's one: <https://onotherplanets.com/solarwalk https://onotherplanets.com/solarwalk> Ah, and "If the Moon Were Only One Pixel", which is what I'd had in mind, shared by @stared <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45641839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45641839>: <https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem....> (2014) (HN discussions: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44266828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44266828> (4 months ago), <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21735528 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21735528> (6 years ago) <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32936581 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32936581> (3 years ago).