Subscribe# 1 Blogger
LiftPort Group Forums
LiftPort Group Forums (www.liftport.com) has great Space elevator news, photos, videos and more
Tuesday, Jan 19
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Hi Ken 01:23 pm: What you are looking for in the FAQ likely is not there as no one has worked out a method to do your 1 though 6 that is probably workable. 1 As far as I know, the only way to reach either near space nor deep space slowly is to use a sp...
Monday, Jan 18
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Space cannon to shoot payloads into orbit (w/ Video): This 56 minute video presentation with sometimes heavy geek talk was extremely interesting! http://www.physorg.com/news183023838.html This canno...
Wednesday, Jan 13
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Let me try to explain the current thinking. The full length starter ribbon on a spool will be lifted to LEO on a rocket (about 20 tons of ribbon). Other rockets would lift photo voltaic cell arrays, an ion engine, etc. These would be assembled in LEO...
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Thank you again Andrew for your comments regarding the question: “How will the first CNT cable be deployed between the Earth and a space elevator anchor station orbiting (at GEO) 22,000 +/- miles apart and both traveling independently at +/- 16,000 mph...
Tuesday, Jan 12
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Thank you Andrew for the FAQ link. However in all that information it only restates the proposal of using rockets for the deployment of the first space elevator cable/ribbon: “When we first deploy the Space Elevator, we need to launch it using rockets...
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Ken Gettys this webpage answers your questions, see question 2.8 http://www.spaceward.org/elevator-faq
Monday, Jan 11
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
To achieve orbit items have to be moving at 7.5 km/s, that is 16,800 mph. Your proposed method does not have a method of getting the embryonic cable to that speed. The normal proposed method is to launch the embryonic cable on a rocket.
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Thank you Neil for your feedback. Yes I got the part, via the link I posted, that the record for balloon high altitude was not a tethered balloon. Doesn’t make a difference if it were tethered or not, as that is just the record and that represents abou...
Sunday, Jan 10
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
The 33 mile altitude record was a free flying balloon, not tethered to the ground. A 20 miles long tether of CNT with very optimistic specs would weigh perhaps a ton, and have marginal strength. Dragging the one ton of tether would reduce the possible ...
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
After a cargo balloon reaches the Skyship, the balloon’s gas is emptied into a fuel storage tank and the balloon is flatten into a solar sail. A power beam on top of the Skyship pushes the solar sail into space. A GPS transponder tells the power beam t...
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Another advantage of a Skyship is the use of cargo balloons as climbers. A lead line from the balloons to a ring around the cable, gets cargo 90 miles up in a few hours!
Saturday, Jan 9
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
Come to think more about it, a Skyship cannot detach modules until additional balloons are elevated as the Skyship will need to support the full weight of the cable, climbers, and contents. The challenge will be to also maintain the Skyship in an abso...
Tuesday, Jan 5
Re: Module Airship for Lifting Space Elevator Cables
What I was talking about was an unmanned airship lifting the first space elevator cable. After the first section of space elevator cable is set up, it could be used to lift additional ribbon cable. Of course the airship could only go the first 32.95 ...
Saturday, Dec 19
Re: Like ski lifts climbing mountains, lift in stages, swap out lifters
Because of the extreme length of the space elevator embellishments are extremely weight critical = reduce the safety factor, and feasibility while increasing the total cost = the first elevator may not be started, it may not be completed, The ribbon ma...
Monday, Dec 14
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
This is overly simplistic thinking. Trying to build upwards with diamond is just going to take such a huge amount of resources that it is ridiculous. A space elevator weighs like 300,000 kg. That diamond tower would weigh in the billions of kilograms. ...
Sunday, Dec 13
Re: Like ski lifts climbing mountains, lift in stages, swap out lifters
The biggest problem we'll face if the tether breaks is that the Space Elevator will be gone, and we'll have to build another one! For this reason, one of the first things that a Space Elevator will do is lift up a spare elevator, safely store away in o...
Saturday, Dec 12
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
True but if a material, like steel, is only half as strong simply make it twice as wide. It may also be possible to make the spring out of diamond.
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
Sorry, but that wouldn't work: the only way to make it flexible with springs and hinges would be to make the maximum strength the strength of springs and hinges. This is because of the weakest link effect.
Friday, Dec 11
Silicon nanotubes
Nanotubes can now be made from silicon. These may be useful for building a lunar space elevator since the Moon has no carbon but does have lots of silicon.
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
Rigid - easily solved add springs and hinges.
Re: Space elevator in 15-30 years? We need to research interplanetary ships.
Phobos is so tiny that a space elevator could be built from the ground up. The gravity on the surface varies 450% when factoring in Mars' pull. Its dimensions are (27)(22)(18) km, so it is comparable to the size of a few Himalayan mountains smashed tog...
Tuesday, Dec 8
Re: Space elevator in 15-30 years? We need to research interplanetary ships.
Hi Ken: A space elevator needs a counter weight beyond 22,000 miles altitude. Usual thinking is a few thousand tons at about 60,000 miles altitude. 100,000 miles at less weight may be best, so that could be the Earth station. The Moon's ribbon can be e...
Thursday, Nov 12
Re: Space elevator in 15-30 years? We need to research interplanetary ships.
If it takes 22000 miles to keep a space elevator station in GEO orbit above the earth, 1) What distance would it take to keep a space elevator station in orbit above the moon? 2) Mars? 3) What would be the closest distance between the Earth's space el...
Tuesday, Oct 27
Re: Phobos Space Elevator
Am I thinking correctly that some departure dates by minimum Hohmann orbit would take more than two years to reach Earth or perhaps the 6153 kilometer L2 is for only one week out of a Mars year? Longer should allow starting for Earth on any date? A ri...
Friday, Oct 16
Phobos Space Elevator
Phobos may be the first place to actually have a Space Elevator. Phobos is the larger and nearer of the two small moons of Mars, the other is Deimos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_(moon) The...
Tuesday, Oct 6
Re: Space Elevator Short Story
I suppose GEO station can be attached to the ribbon with an elaborate suspension system, but that does complicate climbers that are not stopping at GEO. To get maximum utilization of the ribbon we do need to know where the transients are traveling, so ...
Thursday, Oct 1
Re: Space Elevator Short Story
Some of the transients will have periods 24 hours or longer, but I think there will much more rapid length changes traveling on the ribbon. I think a one hertz sine wave producing one g acceleration, would be very distracting, perhaps nauseating, for h...
Saturday, Sep 12
Re: Colossal Carbon Tubes - have they been overlooked?
We are waiting for a tether made from Colossal Carbon tubes to appear for testing at the space elevator before we cheer.
Monday, Jul 20
Re: Space elevator in 15-30 years? We need to research interplanetary ships.
Hi Alex: Welcome to liftport. I agree. Some of that research should be done now. Robust space elevators will be a big help in colonizing our solar system. Research is also needed in how to make the space elevator robust with low maintenance costs. We c...
Friday, Jun 19
Re: First interplanetary spacecraft
Interesting ideas. QuoteThe space elevator will be ideal for launching the supply rockets. This shuttle can be up graded to take humans to the moon or Mars as the technology improves. Of course if you have a space elevator the scenario would ...
Sunday, May 24
Re: Space Elevator Short Story
A possible problem with attaching at GEO is transients on the ribbon. If the length from anchor to GEO station changes by one part per million, the GEO station moves up or down 36 meters. Horizontal transients will shake the station in the horizontal d...
Friday, May 22
Re: looping ribbon
It is about time we built a model space elevator that uses an oscillating ribbon to raise the climber. It only needs to be room size. The ribbon could be piano wire or guitar string.
Re: Space Elevator Short Story
1 The capsule = climber passes low earth orbit about two hours after liftoff but the speed and direction is wrong. Least energy method is to stay on the climber for more than a day, release, falling back toward Earth, then use rocket energy to circular...
Thursday, May 21
Re: Hello Everyone! Help Needed!
A lunar space elevator is also possible (but likely will never be built) anchored near the center of the part of the moon we can't see from the Earth and passing though (approximately) Earth-Moon L2. It has some advantages for low energy receiving and ...
Thursday, Apr 9
Re: Space Access '09 and SE
We can fly across the Atlantic (and Pacific) in less than a day but we still send cargoes by ship. It will take about 2 weeks to get to GEO using the space elevator. Getting to LEO orbit using the space elevator is also very slow. The climber has to g...
Tuesday, Mar 24
Re: van Allen belt effects on ribbon?
I have not heard of the draining project before. If the space elevator ribbons are electrically conductive and/or long conductive bolos are used, some draining will occur. My guess is less than 1% will be drained per year, but what do I know? Conductiv...
Thursday, Feb 19
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
Wow,,,a 17'000 km high tower 'floating' on the sea....now I am impressed.
Thursday, Feb 12
Miscellaneous
I posted this on www.bautforum.com with some minor changes. Please rebut if I am in error. The space elevator won't work if the counter weight is at GEO orbit. It needs to be higher than GEO = perhaps 84,000 kilometers = twice GEO radius. The counter w...
Friday, Dec 19
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
If you had a 17,000 km high space tower you wouldn't need a ribbon. Just rocket from there. Most of the bad effects of gravity would be below you. All of the LEO satellites would be on a collision course with your tower if on the equator.
Thursday, Dec 18
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
If a 17,000 km high space tower is built with the base of a ribbon elevator on the top, many of the problems of the elevator can be reduced or eliminated. If this tower can somehow be constructed on a floating platform, would it then be an ideal base?
Saturday, Nov 29
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
Nice paper. I was hoping they would print the algebraic result of the integration. I agree that solid rods are needed rather than tubes filled with gas. The gas will leak.
Friday, Nov 28
Re: Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
To go into an elliptical LEO orbit an object has to be dropped from 23,500 to 25,000 km. With a single taper the tower could reach these heights. A delta_v of about 2.2 km/s is needed to Circularise the orbit, possibly from an ion thruster. url=http...
Thursday, Nov 27
Can bulk size diamond now be used for a space tower instead of a space elevator?
The focus has been on ultra strong materials in tension to use as a cable for a space elevator. But the original concept by Tsiolkovsky was of space tower extending up from the Earth which would require a material with high compressive strength. In th...
Thursday, Nov 6
Re: Would a Mars Space Elevator be a good interm goal?
Another thing to do about Phobos, though not a classical space elevator, was discussed here a couple of years ago. This idea has much to recommend it since it does not requi...
Re: Would a Mars Space Elevator be a good interm goal?
Yup that is the biggest problem with an equatorial Mars SE, especially without a mobile base (as Earth SE's will have). I have read 2 potential solutions to that problem though. The first and possibly most outlandish, is to use ion engines (or some o...
Wednesday, Nov 5
Re: Would a Mars Space Elevator be a good interm goal?
Another issue with a Mars SE is that the moon, Phobos, is only about half way to GEO and its orbital period is less than 8 hours so it would get in the way of any Mars SE. There would need to be some way of avoiding a collision between them.
Re: Would a Mars Space Elevator be a good interm goal?
long time between reads / replies ... hehe. Anyway, on to the reply. True a lunar style SE through L1 isn't very helpful for escaping from the system it is in (eg., Earth - Moon system), but that isn't necessarily the point of a lunar style SE. The bi...
Friday, Oct 24
Re: Hi
The space elevator itself is on hold until we can work out how to manufacture long strings of carbon nanotubes. There are groups making small climbers to enter the climber challenge. One of them may need a new recruit. url=http://www.spaceward.org/el...
