Re: All ukrm-ers are now US criminals - official

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:16:18 -0000, "Simian"
<simian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Absolutely fascinating (Wikipedia is my new consumer of lost
time), but that article does not explain why the space elevator
needs to be built at the equator.

Anywhere else it won't stay up.

Because... ?

where's Simian when we need someone to do the maths?

*waves*

But where's the maths, eh?


The thing to bear in mind, is that this is not simply a very tall
building that goes into space.
It is effectively a taught cable, which is kept in tension by the
centripetal force of the counterweight out beyond geostationary orbit
level.
By definition, this force is always perpendicular to the plane of the
rotation of the Earth.
Only at the equator is this force acting in the same direction as you
want the cable to go (i.e. straight up).


It's not just a string with a mass attached, the cable itself has
significant mass, so as long as you build it with the right curve in
it, you can put it mostly where you want, and it'll still be under
tension along it's whole length.

Hmm. You appear to be disagreeing with the accepted wisdom.

As far as I can see, the thing has to be connected to a geo stationary
satelite, and such satellites are always over the equator, so putting
the base of the space elevator anywhere else wouldn't seem to make
much sense.
--
Champ

ZX10R | GPz750turbo | GSX-R 600 racer
My advice as your attorney is to buy a motorcycle
To email me, neal at my domain should work.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: All ukrm-ers are now US criminals - official
    ... but that article does not explain why the space elevator ... It is effectively a taught cable, which is kept in tension by the ... Only at the equator is this force acting in the same direction as you ... significant mass, so as long as you build it with the right curve in ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: All ukrm-ers are now US criminals - official
    ... but that article does not explain why the space elevator ... It is effectively a taught cable, which is kept in tension by the ... Only at the equator is this force acting in the same direction as you ... significant mass, so as long as you build it with the right curve in ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: All ukrm-ers are now US criminals - official
    ... but that article does *not* explain why the space elevator needs to be ... built at the equator. ... based on that premise we'd all be standing at an angle ... centripedal effect, otherwise we'd all just fly off into space. ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: Space Elevator by 2019?
    ... Peter Fairbrother wrote: ... > The thing I don't understand about a space elevator is how they are going to ... why do they want to put it on the equator? ... Lower orbits will be even messier. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Satellites vs Beanstalks
    ... > I believe you have to have some tension even at an equatorial anchor ... tension at the anchor point. ... Related to the non-equatorial tether question, ... it seems an off equator tether never reaches the ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)