(David Summers) wrote in
om:

(quasarstrider) wrote in message
. com...
(Bill Kno) wrote in message
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CNTs will become less expensive to make. The space elevator will
become the "cheap" way to get, not only into space, but also as far
as Mars and the astroid belt.

Assuming they can make them strong enough that is.

Actually, I believe the final limit on Space Elevators will be
maintainence. Repair and upkeep on an object 50,000 km long in a
hostile environment (with asteriods coming in at 20 km per second)
will end up being more expensive then launching a high-tech rocket.
The other problem I see with an elevator is throughput. Realistic
elevator technology will make the time to orbit about a week, while a
rocket gets there much faster.

It may be more reasonable for bulk cargo, like modern trains, but it
probably will not be as cheap as other methods (using the same
materials) because of the maintenence problem.


You're not kidding hostile environment. The elevator has to be on the
equator and go all the way up. Since the orbit of EVERY satellite MUST
cross the equator, any satellite below geosynchronous orbit will be a
potential collision hazard...and at great speed to...in LEO its like 7km/s.
Plus its not like you're just going to be able to move this flimsy cable
out of the way, unless you put thrusters in the middle or something.

Tom