Then wouldn't that counterweight have to travel in correlation to the earth below rotating?
Quote from: joshuabaker on 03/21/2010 06:37 amThen wouldn't that counterweight have to travel in correlation to the earth below rotating?yes, that's what "geosynchronous orbit" means.
About 71.6 hours, very interesting thank you for your responses.
An interesting consequence of this is that to reverse directions, the cable must be "emptied" over a 72 hour period.
What would the trip time be with a reasonable constant acceleration/deceleration, say 0.2 g, earth relative?
Remember that the climber is physically attached to the tether with some kind of rolling gear, so there will be a practical upper limit to the speed of any elevator.
The elevator running gear can be collected and returned in a large disposable return capsule, which would remove the need for round trips at all.
Or, go all out and build two tethers that would work in parallel. One for outbound traffic and the other for inbound. Think big!
I have always wondered about how this space elevator would work. Any mass going up the elevator is also accelerated at right angles to the cable until it reaches orbital velocity when it gets to the top.
Where does this energy come from?
would it not eventually slow down the station at the top of the elevator? Wouldnt it eventually pull down the counterweight?
Where does this energy come from?The energy comes from whatever powers your climbers.
That energy is only pulling up. Where is the energy coming from to accelerate the mass to orbital velocity when it reaches orbit at geo? Wouldnt the tether be pulled west also pulling the counterweight down?