Happy Feb!
Now where did January go? *Looks around for January but doesn't find it*. Hmm, strange, must have disappeared. Ah well, it was fun! A bit cold, but much warmer than last year to be sure. I'm hoping for a short walk this evening, along with a few games and fun afterwards.
For this week's random topic, I have picked space elevators, an idea that has been around for decades. Recently, a small event was hosted at NASA (I believe it was NASA) purely to discuss the possibilities and risks of building a space elevator. Now If I can take a rabbit trail here (thanks bunnies) a theologian may point out that an elevator to space may begin to sound a lot like a modern version of the tower of babel. However, it may also be pointed out that the tower of babel was also meant to unite the people, where a space elevator would probably cause more issues than resolve them. But I digress.
A space elevator, in its simplest form, is a long cable attached to the earth at the equator, and extending into space. It is held up by attaching a large chunk of rock, or a space station to the other end of it. This "counterweight" would use the earth's momentum to keep the cable tight. This cable could then be used like a giant elevator, to carry things and people into space and back. To imagine this, pretend you are the earth, and are swinging a rope with a weight attached to the end around and around. The rope is held tight, because you are spinning in a circle. The same holds true for earth.
Next, how would we use this? Well, once the cable is in place, we would use transport vessels similar to ski lifts, only designed to go vertically to transport cargo back and forth to space. This can include new satellites, supplies for the space station, or even one day to the moon!
However, there are some structural issues which we still need to solve. First of all, how do we propel things up this cable? Well I suppose if we had a giant chain, we could use powerful motors on earth to lift things like in an elevator. But the cables could easily be twisted or smash together. This idea probably wouldn't work. The most discussed idea is a pair of lasers providing wireless power to the cargo. You've heard of wireless charging right? imagine a really powerful version of it, one unit on earth providing power to electric engines, and the same version in the space station to propel it the rest of the way. The idea sounds plausible, but we haven't tried building one yet. Next issue: space debris, hurricanes, and natural disasters. We would need some precautions once we build this to make sure it doesn't come falling down or break. Proposals range from small thrusters on the space station to move the cable, to extra durable cable that would last a long time. Which brings us to the final and biggest issue: we do not have anything strong enough to make the cable with! Yes, this is a fundamental problem to the whole space elevator idea. Steel is nowhere near strong enough, neither is any widely available metal we know of. Scientists have been working with nanotubes, (read super strong spider silk) which may hold the answer, but we haven't even built successful prototypes. Its just barely past the theoretical stage.
If you ask me, it's more realistic to start crating underwater colonies than to colonize space. At least that way you don't have to go looking for water. :P Just something to think about:
Shaggy the Sheepdog
3 comments:
Nano tubing, in its scientific form (that is, theoretical) sounds the most plausible solution. However, the Chinese have been working on this without much success. They have been working to build a prototype 6 inches long, and are struggling. I think the best way to develop the tubing is to create it out of a laser - yes, a long powered laser that, when coupled with 4 more just like it (think 5 spots on a dice) will control the thrust and power of a space ship something akin to a large glass elevator (See Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) that will carry heavy cargo, or just be a place to haul humans. Glass will need to be reinforced of course, but it sounds just as plausible as anything else the scientists have come up with (Have you seen the new star wars movie yet - maybe we can use some of their ideas).
It's true, nano tubes are still very experimental. :P I like your idea of thrusters like lasers. The possible issue I see is power. You will need a lot of power for the lasers. Maybe place the lasers on the ground, and use onboard thrusters to adjust for the wind?
I don't know if it's strong enough, but what about kevlar? I read about something else super strong not to long ago, but don't remember what it was.
Great profile pic, by the way. Even though you have no idea who those paws belong to... ;-)
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