Micro Gravity and A Space Elevator?

Allow me to refresh your memory:

On 2020-06-10 7:46 PM, Alain Fournier wrote:
On Jun/10/2020 at 18:35, Scott Kozel wrote :
On Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 2:28:39 PM UTC-4, David Spain wrote:
On 2020-06-10 2:16 PM, Scott Kozel wrote:

It would be possible for the Moon today, given its much lower
gravity.Â* Given
its very slow rotation, a geosynchronous anchor would not work, but
they could
use one of the Moon's LaGrange points.

You're thinking a fuel depot? Water pumped up from the surface to the
anchored depot at L1 or L2? Micro-gravity available when docked?

I wasn't advocating or opposing a Moon space elevator, just saying
that it is
technologically feasible with today's materials.

I read somewhere that a Mars space elevator is technologically
feasible with
today's materials, but I am not sure about that.

An Earth space elevator is technologically feasible with today's ---- emphasis mine
material. See for instance
space.nss.org/wp-content/uploads/2000-Space-Elevator-NIAC-phase1.pdf
that's a little old, but materials available 20 years ago should be
available now. It would be too expensive, but technically, it is doable.
Costs estimates in that report are of $40B (page 11.4), but I would say
the author is a little optimistic, not ridiculously so, but a little
optimistic.

On Mars, I'm not sure how one would solve the problem caused by the low
orbiting moons but I think it would be doable. Anyway, for the time
being, the traffic from Mars surface to Mars orbit is too low to justify
the cost, whatever that cost would be :-)


Alain Fournier

On Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 8:29:45 PM UTC-4, David Spain wrote:
Allow me to refresh your memory:

On 2020-06-10 7:46 PM, Alain Fournier wrote:
On Jun/10/2020 at 18:35, Scott Kozel wrote :

I wasn't advocating or opposing a Moon space elevator, just saying
that it is
technologically feasible with today's materials.

I read somewhere that a Mars space elevator is technologically
feasible with
today's materials, but I am not sure about that.

An Earth space elevator is technologically feasible with today's ---- emphasis mine
material. See for instance
space.nss.org/wp-content/uploads/2000-Space-Elevator-NIAC-phase1.pdf
that's a little old, but materials available 20 years ago should be
available now. It would be too expensive, but technically, it is doable.
Costs estimates in that report are of $40B (page 11.4), but I would say
the author is a little optimistic, not ridiculously so, but a little
optimistic.

On Mars, I'm not sure how one would solve the problem caused by the low
orbiting moons but I think it would be doable. Anyway, for the time
being, the traffic from Mars surface to Mars orbit is too low to justify
the cost, whatever that cost would be :-)


Alain Fournier

OK, where are the experiments that would support that a 60,000 mile long carbon
nanotube cable can be made thin enough to not exceed feasible weight limits, and
be able to support the transport cab?