Comments on: Japan Looking Into Space Elevator Construction

By: Link

Link — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:01:46 +0000

I was actually reading about this four years ago. They would need some sort of super steel or titanium in order to even think about building this.

By: Sol

Sol — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:20:13 +0000

I think you’d need a gigantic rotating magnet to stabilize this thing. Even then like Link, there are numerous factors that just make this improbable.

@Vek: SCIENCE -fiction

By: Link

Link — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:49:02 +0000

Am I the only one that has wondered if the thing will snap off as the Earth spins? Or do I need to go back and read my physics book?

By: Vekter

Vekter — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:19:41 +0000

One word:

SCIENCE

By: Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt

Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:12:54 +0000

so are we still sending ladders and duct tape?

By: Enner

Enner — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:34:33 +0000

Sweet. Now I wonder if they’re going to attach a big solar array at the end of it.

By: Catears

Catears — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:56:32 +0000

This is amazing! Quite exciting, too. I’m ecstatic to see positive motion towards fulfilling our potential as a species. Gotta strive for that type I civilization, right?

And… from what I understand, the elevator doesn’t attach to anything… you just go up it when there’s going to be something at the other end, or simply to get something into orbit without using all that fuel.

Also from what I understand, it’s no less safe than our current methods, and possibly much safer, due to not having to deal with the problem of achieving escape velocity and the process of safely reentering the atmosphere.

In any case, this is very good to hear, and would be a significant step towards a permanent human presence on the moon! And from there… who knows!