Re: Non-synchronous elevators

In article <guNTe.3081$eN2.1708@trnddc06>, Logan Kearsley says...
>
>"Hop David" <hopspageHATESSPAaMmM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:431F3F47.7050009@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

>> >>The tether likely will have photovoltaic cells or a nuclear power
>> >>source. And it'll probably be moving through a magnetic field. If it
>> >>runs a current one direction it'd lower itself, another direction would
>> >>boost it. Thus it could compensate for angular momentum lost (or gained)
>> >>from catching shuttles.

>> > Right. A point I made in the next paragraph that you snipped.
>>
>> So I see. Sorry about that. This was one of the major advantages cited
>> by the Scientific American article cited elsewhere in this thread.
>>
>> You don't need to be constantly sending up station keeping reaction mass
>> (as you must with the I.S.S.)
>
>Which raises the question: why doesn't the ISS have a magnetic propulsion
>tether?

Because the ISS actually exists. Magetic propulsion tethers don't actually
exist, and the ones that have actually existed in the past have mostly
failed. Sometimes failed catastrophically, and the catastrophic failure
of a tether capable of reboosting ISS, would be a very bad thing for ISS.

Magnetic propulsion tethers which reside only on powerpoint slides and web
pages, never fail, and are thus quite suited for use on space stations -
provided, of course, that the space stations in question are similarly
confined to unreal environments.

Electrodynamic tethers may turn out to be a useful propulsion system in
the future, but for the present, it looks like it's time for yet another
reminder of Schilling's Law of Advanced Spacecraft Propulsion: The
practical merit of any proposed new spacecraft propulsion system is
inversely proportional to the ammount of time its proponents spend
putting up flashy web sites for the public.


--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*schillin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx * for success" *
*661-718-0955 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *







--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*schillin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx * for success" *
*661-718-0955 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *

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