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Posts: 215 | Thanked: 158 times | Joined on Jan 2010
#101
Originally Posted by Dollyknot View Post
Erm 35,786 km is geostationary orbit, perhaps we have a different understanding of Newtonian celestial mechanics
It's hard to explain without getting into an entire lesson on orbital mechanics.

A satellite experiences two forces, centrifugal and gravitational.

When a satellite is in a circular orbit, these two forces precisely cancel out.

The elevator cable adds another force pulling down, in the same direction as gravity. Without balancing that force, the elevator will fall back to earth.

You have two options for increasing centrifugal force to lift the elevator - either increase altitude or increase angular velocity.

Obviously you can't increase angular velocity or the cable will wrap itself up around the earth.

So you increase altitude.

(this is over-simplified as centrifugal force isn't real, but it illustrates my point)

Last edited by Flynx; 2010-05-20 at 07:24.
 
Posts: 604 | Thanked: 108 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Phoenix, WA
#102
Originally Posted by Flynx View Post
It's hard to explain without getting into an entire lesson on orbital mechanics.

A satellite experiences two forces, centripetal and gravitational.

When a satellite is in a circular orbit, these two forces precisely cancel out.

The elevator cable adds another force pulling down, in the same direction as gravity. Without balancing that force, the elevator will fall back to earth.

You have two options for increasing centripetal force to lift the elevator - either increase altitude or increase angular velocity.

Obviously you can't increase angular velocity or the cable will wrap itself up around the earth.

So you increase altitude.
That was a nice explanation. lol @ increasing angular velocity. its V^2, so just a small increase is all we need, no one will notice
 
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Posts: 609 | Thanked: 243 times | Joined on Jan 2010 @ Eastern USA
#103
Originally Posted by Dollyknot View Post
The problem is we don't have the time, the human race is being overwhelmed by a tide of decadence and pollution, we urgently need a sane direction. When we were exploring the planet we had a direction. We know where everything is now and it gets increasingly boring.

The kids need a dream that is realizable, space will never be achieved, unless a far cheaper method of reaching orbital velocity and beyond is reached and soon.
I think the notion of new coastlines from climate change are more intriguing for kids to follow than things like space.

No kidding. I actually heard this guy in the hallways of my school talking to his friend: "Did you hear that when all the ice in Antarctica and Greenland melts, we'll have different shaped coasts? How cool is that!"

I had to go to the bathroom after that...

I'm in High School by the way...

And @ the problems of the Space Elevator, remember, it's from Michio Kaku: Theoretical Physicist

(And a semi-serious comment: ) What about towers that extend into near space like in 3001: The Final Odyssey?

Massive initial and maintenance cost, a target for terrorism, widespread destruction of habitat (both wildlife and/or human). Not to mention the material costs (if we even have enough...)

But oh, so cool.
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#104
are we in the moon yet?
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Posts: 113 | Thanked: 8 times | Joined on Mar 2010
#105
nah we visited there a while back but havnt gone back because we lack the technology or motive or money or "insert other lame reason here"
 
Posts: 92 | Thanked: 13 times | Joined on Nov 2009 @ leicester UK
#106
We haven't gone back, because of who runs human culture.

We most certainly do have the ability.

Since the 2nd world war, the amount of design skills, materials, titanium, steel, precious metals all kinds of stuff and all kinds of motivations to efficiently kill other human beings.

Had have been employed in the task of terraforming the moon, instead of the minor killing sprees we keep indulging in, I have little doubt there would be millions of people living up there by now.

All you have to do, is ask who runs the Media?

Last edited by Dollyknot; 2010-05-17 at 21:52. Reason: spelling of grammar
 
Posts: 92 | Thanked: 13 times | Joined on Nov 2009 @ leicester UK
#107
Why do patzers run the planet?
 
Posts: 113 | Thanked: 8 times | Joined on Mar 2010
#108
Originally Posted by Dollyknot View Post
We haven't gone back, because of who runs human culture.

We most certainly do have the ability.

Since the 2nd world war, the amount of design skills, materials, titanium, steel, precious metals all kinds of stuff and all kinds of motivations to efficiently kill other human beings.

Had have been employed in the task of terraforming the moon, instead of the minor killing sprees we keep indulging in, I have little doubt there would be millions of people living up there by now.

All you have to do, is ask who runs the Media?
true this deserves an internet........here you go 1 internet
 
Posts: 1,400 | Thanked: 3,751 times | Joined on Sep 2009 @ Arctic cold of northern .fi
#109
Originally Posted by Dollyknot View Post
The big difference between us and other animals, is other animals very much in the main, are adapted the environment.

We take the environment and adapt it to us, so it could be said we have evolved the ability to adapt the environment to us, which is why we are despeciating the planet by evolving it to our needs.

If we take life to the moon and beyond, how will we be ruining these at the present, totally lifeless environments, unless of course you think life itself a pollution?
We aren't adapting the enviroment to our needs. On the contrary, we are destroying the enviroment and making it unsuitable to us.

We should concentrate on mending our ways. Escaping somewhere else is the usual technocratic pipedream out of trouble. Humanity acts so immaturely that we shouldn't even be allowed to step out of our homeplanet until we start acting like a proper grownup civilazation.
 
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Posts: 3,159 | Thanked: 2,023 times | Joined on Feb 2008 @ Finland
#110
Originally Posted by Dollyknot View Post
We haven't gone back, because of who runs human culture.

We most certainly do have the ability.

Since the 2nd world war, the amount of design skills, materials, titanium, steel, precious metals all kinds of stuff and all kinds of motivations to efficiently kill other human beings.

Had have been employed in the task of terraforming the moon, instead of the minor killing sprees we keep indulging in, I have little doubt there would be millions of people living up there by now.

All you have to do, is ask who runs the Media?
what is the expected outcome of manned moon mission?

-probably near zero.

no way to harvest resources, probability of major discovery can be rounded to nice number: 0%


a bit like I would fetch beer from south pole, wheres the logic?!?
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