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Need opinions and guidance building a space elevator.

See - it isn't even necessarily a scam.

Fleischmann and Pons weren't trying to scam anyone - they were just monumentally wrong.

You are correct Michael Laine, the whole scientific community supportive of the idea or not, the President, Pope, Putin, and all of the rest of the entire known world could in fact be wrong about everything. And still you got to believe and work at something in your life, not live and die without feeling like some part was about more than just you. So Michael his team, me, and about 2300 kickstarter.com supporters agree this is worth doing. Simple.
 
I think people would have received this better if you weren't so pushy about it. I know I was sort of interested, but all I kept reading was "donate money, tell your friends to donate money, donate some money, tell your friends to donate some money".

-Mike
 
I think people would have received this better if you weren't so pushy about it. I know I was sort of interested, but all I kept reading was "donate money, tell your friends to donate money, donate some money, tell your friends to donate some money".

-Mike

Ok, so I went through all 6 pages of this thread. I mentioned specifically 8$ twice, and told uh, three? people to go to the kickstarter page as a source of information. If you misconstrued the words, "ACTIVE", as a continual push for money, my apologies. As I mean be an ACTIVE supporter, just be an active participant or don't. Find out about the thing you don't understand or rail against. And be INFORMED. Not, an internet mouth piece without any weight to the, "air" flowing out of your metaphysical lips. I don't mean you literally, you the colloquial you, yes? And yes indeed I did say if you are not a supporter tell someone, maybe they tell someone. Is this pushy? Honestly, I don't think so. Did I tell anyone to tell their friends to donate? No, I didn't. What I want and what the whole team wants is for the concept to get out there, people to talk about it, get comfortable with it, see it as a real possibility. The real money is not coming from me, or you, or my Uncle , Aunt, sister, brother, minister, etc. Impetus will come from all of us, at once, the real money and resources will come from a huge number of whoever wants to all working together towards extreme progress.
 
I think people would have received this better if you weren't so pushy about it. I know I was sort of interested, but all I kept reading was "donate money, tell your friends to donate money, donate some money, tell your friends to donate some money".

-Mike

I hafta agree. But these people gotta start from the ground up..(pun intended).

They're big on vision, and small on capital. I cant imagine how a project of this magnitude could be completed for under $10 or 12 million. (I have nothing to back up that figure...its purely a guess.)

Im just saying they're gonna be asking for donations for quite a while. But, If 15 million folks would each just donate $1, they (Liftport) could stop playing with balloons and stuff and start the project in earnest.
 
I hafta agree. But these people gotta start from the ground up..(pun intended).

They're big on vision, and small on capital. I cant imagine how a project of this magnitude could be completed for under $10 or 12 million. (I have nothing to back up that figure...its purely a guess.)

Im just saying they're gonna be asking for donations for quite a while. But, If 15 million folks would each just donate $1, they (Liftport) could stop playing with balloons and stuff and start the project in earnest.

Thank you for your reasoned words! Really. But please do not see this thread as me insisting you all should sell your house and pledge. All I want is to tell people about it, get people used to it. At some point, years from now, if we all don't kill ourselves first, this will be something everyone is going to have an opinion about, and I would like to do what I can to help people at least have one which is INFORMED.
 
o dear... just had a terrible thought..

How do they propose lifting the ribbon-road into space??

Surely, it would weigh millions of kgs. Geosynch orbit is 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) from the equator, so if the ribbon weighed lets say 1000kg/km, then the ribbon wound have a total weight of....

wait for it.....

35.7 million kg :eek:
 
o dear... just had a terrible thought..

How do they propose lifting the ribbon-road into space??

Surely, it would weigh millions of kgs. Geosynch orbit is 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) from the equator, so if the ribbon weighed lets say 1000kg/km, then the ribbon wound have a total weight of....

wait for it.....

35.7 million kg :eek:

This is one of the reasons, at some point once the Lunar elevator is complete, and then later when carbon nanotube tech gets to where it can be used for the ribbon, for the from earth space elevator, everyone is going to have an opinion. And of course if you have one from earth space elevator, then there is going to be a second and a third, fourth, etc. Some will probably have concerns. Just like everything else though there are ways to mitigate the risks.
 
mcglyph said:
This is one of the reasons, at some point once the Lunar elevator is complete, and then later when carbon nanotube tech gets to where it can be used for the ribbon, for the from earth space elevator, everyone is going to have an opinion. And of course if you have one from earth space elevator, then there is going to be a second and a third, fourth, etc. Some will probably have concerns. Just like everything else though there are ways to mitigate the risks.

Again, more nonsensical babble.

Please just address the issue of how the criminy that sheer MASS of material is going to get transported, let alone remain as a structure.

And whilst your at it, what's the plan to cope with the 200 mph jet stream? Just askin'...
 
Again, more nonsensical babble.

Please just address the issue of how the criminy that sheer MASS of material is going to get transported, let alone remain as a structure.

And whilst your at it, what's the plan to cope with the 200 mph jet stream? Just askin'...

As stated previously, I'm not a scientist. Or engineer, I'm not even Italian! :D
And of course, as previously stated, we are YEARS away from the from earth elevator. The LUNAR elevator is the SHORT term goal. The from earth elevator is much longer term. And no there are no clear cut answers for your question at least not from me.

If you are talking lunar elevator, on liftport.com there is a pretty clear description, in addition one of the last links I put up has a nice video representation of what the whole thing might look like.
 
I read the jumbled mess of a rambling link, found out nothing. asked what it would provide us on talkbass and got more rambling nonsense and no answers... all I've found out is "you can do stuff up there, you know, to make life better"

tell me specifically what good this can do?

Did you read my posts? I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't articulate or specific enough for you, and I'll admit a lot of benefits certainly are not currently know until they actually happen, however I'll try my best to spell a few out for you:


There is one big one that essentially leads to all others, cost. Getting a satellite, a person, a piece of machinery into space would be approximately 1% of the current cost. 100 times cheaper. Think of absolutely anything and everything to do with space, and think that it is 100 times more accessible, 100 times cheaper, 100 times more likely and 100 times more achievable.

Currently the only people who can afford to get a satellite up in space to provide a service (mobile phone service, cable TV, other communications networks, satellite imagery) are massive billion dollar corporations who in turn, pass on these massive costs to anyone wanting to use their infrastructure.

Currently, conducting an experiment in microgravity, or in any of the other extreme conditions provided by space, you are looking at spending ludicrous amounts of money. A space elevator would open up these possibilities to thousands of organisations who don't have the influence nor the funding to do so currently. What benefits could come from this exactly, who knows, until people start conducting experiments we won't find out. One thing is for certain, and that is that having extraterrestrial labs available will open up thousands of possibilities for science and technology that will not be realised in any other way, and until we do it we really have no way of knowing what they'll be.

People in space need food, they need water, they need oxygen, and to a certain degree they need access to the emergency facilities we have present on earth. The ability to transport these supplies, as well as personnel and equipment up and down at a vastly reduced cost would allow people doing anything in space to stay there longer, in greater comfort, and be far safer up there. Not only is launching space shuttles hugely expensive, it is also very complicated and very dangerous. In the event of an emergency, getting people safely from a space station etc. is set to be one hell of a rescue mission. With a permanent link between space and the earth, this would be so much safer it's not even funny.

Space based industry. The ability to transport large items etc. to and from earth would be hugely beneficial. There are materials that can be constructed in microgravity, or the vacuum of space, that cannot be done here on earth. Alloys that could change the world, that could be lighter, stronger, more cost effective than anything we can currently produce here on earth. Production of dangerous goods can be done in an environment where there are not going to be negative side effects like there are here on Earth (Radiation, pollution). We can harvest raw materials, rare minerals, even potentially things that don't exist on earth from asteroids and other space bodies, process them in space and then use them back on earth. And we could build a solar power plant the likes of which has never been seen before, a huge expanse of panels that would always be exposed to the sun, we could power the whole planet from space.

There is a whole universe out there to explore, to experience, to discover. Hundreds upon thousands of planets and stars. I believe any step we take towards them is one in the right direction. Also, what contingency plan to we have in the case of a worldwide disaster, do we just lay down and die? I believe humans have so much potential to be so much more, and all we have to do is now blow ourselves up and with any luck start getting out there amongst the universe.




I believe 10 years to be an unrealistic timeframe by the way, and I see very little benefit to constructing a lunar elevator until we've built one on earth (it would be a good experiment, but flying the materials up there in the conventional fashion would be insanely expensive and somewhat back-assward imo). I anticipate the timeframe to be more like 50 years, ideally I'd hope to see construction start within 20, but I don't see it happening.
 
Did you read my posts? I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't articulate or specific enough for you, and I'll admit a lot of benefits certainly are not currently know until they actually happen, however I'll try my best to spell a few out for you:


There is one big one that essentially leads to all others, cost. Getting a satellite, a person, a piece of machinery into space would be approximately 1% of the current cost. 100 times cheaper. Think of absolutely anything and everything to do with space, and think that it is 100 times more accessible, 100 times cheaper, 100 times more likely and 100 times more achievable.

Currently the only people who can afford to get a satellite up in space to provide a service (mobile phone service, cable TV, other communications networks, satellite imagery) are massive billion dollar corporations who in turn, pass on these massive costs to anyone wanting to use their infrastructure.

Currently, conducting an experiment in microgravity, or in any of the other extreme conditions provided by space, you are looking at spending ludicrous amounts of money. A space elevator would open up these possibilities to thousands of organisations who don't have the influence nor the funding to do so currently. What benefits could come from this exactly, who knows, until people start conducting experiments we won't find out. One thing is for certain, and that is that having extraterrestrial labs available will open up thousands of possibilities for science and technology that will not be realised in any other way, and until we do it we really have no way of knowing what they'll be.

People in space need food, they need water, they need oxygen, and to a certain degree they need access to the emergency facilities we have present on earth. The ability to transport these supplies, as well as personnel and equipment up and down at a vastly reduced cost would allow people doing anything in space to stay there longer, in greater comfort, and be far safer up there. Not only is launching space shuttles hugely expensive, it is also very complicated and very dangerous. In the event of an emergency, getting people safely from a space station etc. is set to be one hell of a rescue mission. With a permanent link between space and the earth, this would be so much safer it's not even funny.

Space based industry. The ability to transport large items etc. to and from earth would be hugely beneficial. There are materials that can be constructed in microgravity, or the vacuum of space, that cannot be done here on earth. Alloys that could change the world, that could be lighter, stronger, more cost effective than anything we can currently produce here on earth. Production of dangerous goods can be done in an environment where there are not going to be negative side effects like there are here on Earth (Radiation, pollution). We can harvest raw materials, rare minerals, even potentially things that don't exist on earth from asteroids and other space bodies, process them in space and then use them back on earth. And we could build a solar power plant the likes of which has never been seen before, a huge expanse of panels that would always be exposed to the sun, we could power the whole planet from space.

There is a whole universe out there to explore, to experience, to discover. Hundreds upon thousands of planets and stars. I believe any step we take towards them is one in the right direction. Also, what contingency plan to we have in the case of a worldwide disaster, do we just lay down and die? I believe humans have so much potential to be so much more, and all we have to do is now blow ourselves up and with any luck start getting out there amongst the universe.




I believe 10 years to be an unrealistic timeframe by the way, and I see very little benefit to constructing a lunar elevator until we've built one on earth (it would be a good experiment, but flying the materials up there in the conventional fashion would be insanely expensive and somewhat back-assward imo). I anticipate the timeframe to be more like 50 years, ideally I'd hope to see construction start within 20, but I don't see it happening.

Well thank you and thank you! Good stuff. To the point about the timeframe, I believe while the from earth elevator(F.E.) is so far off, doing the Lunar elevator (L.E.), does a few things. One it enables a more efficient move to lunar landings, drastically reducing the size, weight, and cost of the rocket required, while also perhaps driving greater cooperation between various countries. In my mind this group effort would make the F.E. much easier to produce, maintain, etc; while the F.E is the ultimate goal, I believe there is much to be learned by accomplishing the L.E. first.
 
Simo98 said:
Alloys that could change the world, that could be lighter, stronger, more cost effective than anything we can currently produce here on earth. .

Seems you might need these new materials before you could begin construction.. A nice catch 22 lol

I think they should spend the money they already have on a professional marketing agency. It's hard to take a " space elevator" seriously. When i saw the thread title I thought thus was a joke thread or someone needed help with their kids'science project.
 
Seems you might need these new materials before you could begin construction.. A nice catch 22 lol

I think they should spend the money they already have on a professional marketing agency. It's hard to take a " space elevator" seriously. When i saw the thread title I thought thus was a joke thread or someone needed help with their kids'science project.

Well this mindset is the whole reason for the thread. It's not a joke. The name is odd, yet, it is exactly what it sounds like. And as previously stated the near term project I speak of, is much more doable right now. The from earth elevator is much farther away from completion. Thank you for responding with some level of reasoned intelligence vs some of the other options. If you like go to liftport.com (or the kickstarter.com page for the project)and check it out.

One of the main things which is limiting the from earth, is the carbon nanotube tech is not up to speed yet. It is in the works, yet needs to be scaled up. This one thing is just that, there are many other hurdles.
 
When there's a real need and it's feasible this technology will be realized...I guarantee that... And it sure as hell won't use kickstarter to fund it for gods sake.

Until then... This IMO is a Gigantic waste of time and money.

That think tank should maybe try and use their intellect and crowdsourcing to help solve the worlds more immediate problems and actually be of some practical use to society.
 
That think tank should maybe try and use their intellect and crowdsourcing to help solve the worlds more immediate problems and actually be of some practical use to society.

They have many technologies which are beneficial on their own which they plan to work on in the interim, and to be honest I'm pretty impressed about how they have structured it. Better organised that I was expecting, it's not just "Give us money to help build a space elevator", that's unrealistic, instead they are working on technologies that have independent purposes, but that will in turn benefit the development of a space elevator even if they are not the ones to build it.

Read the kickstarter. They are pretty much doing exactly what you said as far as I can tell.
 
What, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense.

Napoleon, on the Steamboat

No one will pay good money to get from Berlin to Potsdam in one hour when he can ride his horse there in one day for free.

William I, King of Prussia on trains

To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth - all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances.

Lee De Forest, Pioneer of the Vacuum tube

While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.

Lee De Forest again

It is apparent to me that the possibilities of the aeroplane, which two or three years ago were thought to hold the solution to the [flying machine] problem, have been exhausted, and that we must turn elsewhere.

Thomas Edison


Throughout history we have dared to dream, to attempt the impossible. If we were all like those who sit on the sidelines and shun new ideas, we'd still be living in caves saying "Throwing spears? That'll never work". How many people shunned the idea of the internet? Yet you're all using it thanks to people who didn't listen to their negativity and did it anyway.