what if we connected the planets with space elevators.

we would be really stupid?

the planets a) spin on an access and b) rotate around the sun at different speeds.

There for any conection between then would wrap itself around the planet and rip AND be streched to breaking point or if not, end up going through the sun:p

Thats only IF a metorite didnt hit and tare it first

make it expand and put it on on a ball bearing swivel for rotation. this could also be used to slow the rotation and revolution of the planets.

and when it went through the sun?

oh and you do realise the stupidity of the suggestion of puting it on swivil points dont you? as the planet rotates its STILL going to wrap around it like a ball of string

The only way you could build a space elevator between 2 'planets' is if they orbited the each other in geosynchronous orbit or one was a moon of the other and in geosynchronous orbit and if their orbits were a perfect circle.
I believe that Charon and Pluto's orbits are an example but I'm sure about that.

we would be probably be listed in the most idiotic civilization to ever exist in this universe...

Earthlings, the idiots.

what we need is accelerators and deaccelerators at both ends...

make it expand and put it on on a ball bearing swivel for rotation. this could also be used to slow the rotation and revolution of the planets.

by ending the rotation...the planets will fall inside a star.

Nice doomsday scenario for our civilization, thecollage. :p

I know this is pretty far off topic, but what is needed to start a new thread?

I know this is pretty far off topic, but what is needed to start a new thread?

20 posts.

100 dollars to me will help...

The only way you could build a space elevator between 2 'planets' is if they orbited the each other in geosynchronous orbit or one was a moon of the other and in geosynchronous orbit and if their orbits were a perfect circle.
I believe that Charon and Pluto's orbits are an example but I'm sure about that.

AND they would have to be tidally locked, so that the same faces were always pointed toward each other.

Yeah I forgot that part, plus it wouldn't be possible if there were any other satellites whose orbits intersected the space elevator.

AND they would have to be tidally locked, so that the same faces were always pointed toward each other.

no problem.

no problem.

This is not actually a common phenomenon as far as I am aware.

I'm not sure why you'd want to do this, but assuming you were linking two worlds of different orbital distances from a star, you could do a little orbital engineering with planet-scale warp drives to reconfigure a planet's rotation and revolution, and somehow tie the two planets via a massive cable that would be measured in terms of fractions of A.U.'s in length, and time everything perfectly so the planets orbit at the same radial velocity, with tension on the cable keeping the innermost planet from falling into the star, and keeping the outermost from flying off into space. This would at best massively distort the planets in question due to the phenomenal stresses being placed on the surface via the cable, and at worst rip the guts right out of each planet as the rest of the planetary material sucumbs to the centripetal force or force of the star's gravity.

I dunno, some bored alien civilization might've done it, other than that, it's an incredibly messed up idea. Might as well spend the resources making a Dyson sphere or something.

Just my two cents, am I kinda on the mark?

space elevator between planets is not a physically possible idea.

The main problem with the proposal, IMO, is more subtle and slow-acting. As the Sun loses mass--which it does at the rate of 4,000,000 tons per second due to the conversion of hydrogen to helium by fusion--the law of conservation of angular momentum means that the planets speed up slightly in their orbits, even over the course of a decade, say, let alone a century or more. That would definitely alter the physical parameters of such a connection, surely?

Xylene, you dont think that the cable (and anyone ON the elivator at the time) going straight through the sun (and or any other objects which happened to get in the way like other planets) would be a significant problem?:p

lol Asguard...that must be a minor issue...

Why don't we have a space elevator between planets and just leave out the "cable" bit;
We could simply have the cars themselves, maybe powered individually.
Oh wait, that would make them spacecraft... :)

maybe we can use tethers connected to substations which use gravity assist of the planets to release the vehicle attached to tether.

I know this is pretty far off topic, but what is needed to start a new thread?
Not of topic at all. Construction of a space elevator begins by spinning a thread from orbit back towards the planet. So you need a few trillion dollars and a really strong material.

its not a thread smarty-pants, its a tether!

You begin with a thread. For example,
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2009/02/17/space-elevator-require-lots-lots-thread/

You construct the tether from the thread.

(Just because I have fewer than 7,000 posts does not mean I am not smarter than you. Я не невежлив. Я только желаю увеличить число моих постов. ;))

It always amazes me when a thread as moronic as this one just keeps going on and on.

It always amazes me when a thread as moronic as this one just keeps going on and on.

and guess who contributes to it? YOU.

If planets were connected with "space elevators" lol. Would it still take just as long to get to another planet?

If planets were connected with "space elevators" lol. Would it still take just as long to get to another planet?

Not necessarily, although it could also take *longer* because you could potentially accelerate at a much faster rate using other methods.
A space elevator is not a realistic method of traveling between planets, a space elevator merely gets you into orbit. I say 'merely' because its the shorter part of the trip in terms of time but can easily be the most costly in terms of energy, it takes a lot of energy to get into orbit using a rocket.

seems I remember the number... $50,000 a pound for the shuttle

Xylene, you dont think that the cable (and anyone ON the elivator at the time) going straight through the sun (and or any other objects which happened to get in the way like other planets) would be a significant problem?:p

Ah, yes, excellent point, Asgard:D Of course it would make much more sense to have space elevators between parent planet and moon (e.g. Pluto and Charon) rather than between different planets, because of the constant change in relative position around the Sun. Alternatively SE's could be between twin planets that were tidally locked in a mutual orbit, i.e. going around the sun together as a constant pair. That's the only way you could prevent your scenario.

Ah, yes, excellent point, Asgard:D Of course it would make much more sense to have space elevators between parent planet and moon (e.g. Pluto and Charon) rather than between different planets, because of the constant change in relative position around the Sun. Alternatively SE's could be between twin planets that were tidally locked in a mutual orbit, i.e. going around the sun together as a constant pair. That's the only way you could prevent your scenario.


ok great, so you now have an elivator between the earth and the moon at a cost of however many billion $. Now an asteroid happens to fly between the earth and the moon. Ops, no more elivator, oh dear all that money down the drain. This is a much less likly issue if the elivator was going from the ground to a space station in orbit because its a shorter cable so less likly to get hit.

Second problem, the moon moves in the sky. "Oh no, whats that huge cable wrapping itself around the earth?" and then either "snap" or we have the moon crash into earth. Not a good thing:p

The only concivable way to do this is if both objects were in geostationary orbit relitive to the other one so that nither ever changed in the sky (face OR position) and even if this was the case you are still streching a dirty great big wire (which cant be moved out of the way of an asterioid like a ship can) which can potentually be hit by any asteroids which pass between them

we would be probably be listed in the most idiotic civilization to ever exist in this universe...

Earthlings, the idiots.

Earth, mostly harmless. HG2G

ok great, so you now have an elivator between the earth and the moon at a cost of however many billion $. Now an asteroid happens to fly between the earth and the moon. Ops, no more elivator, oh dear all that money down the drain. This is a much less likly issue if the elivator was going from the ground to a space station in orbit because its a shorter cable so less likly to get hit.

Second problem, the moon moves in the sky. "Oh no, whats that huge cable wrapping itself around the earth?" and then either "snap" or we have the moon crash into earth. Not a good thing:p

The only concivable way to do this is if both objects were in geostationary orbit relitive to the other one so that nither ever changed in the sky (face OR position) and even if this was the case you are still streching a dirty great big wire (which cant be moved out of the way of an asterioid like a ship can) which can potentually be hit by any asteroids which pass between them

OK, fair points; here are some thoughts;
1) Build a whole series of modules that are linked together, connected with universal joints like a set of carriages on a train. Such a line would be (hopefully) more flexible, able to be shifted out of the way of a potential asteroid strike.

2) If an asteroid strike occurs, two or three of the modules might be broken up by the impact, but could be replaced and the line reconnected.

3) Clean up the space around Earth, getting rid of all the space junk that's currently circulating (which is far more likely to cause chaos than an asteroid) and also clean up the asteroid population around the moon (ongoing job, should soak up a bit of unemployment on Earth).

4) Still have to watch out for the occasional comet though :eek:

5) No need to attach the tether to the planetary surface; the end could placed in LEO, where it could be accessed by shuttle craft at either end. Otherwise, if you have the tether literally tethered to either planetary surface, you're always going to be allowing for the possiblity of some nutjob blowing it up or otherwise creating mayhem.

who gets to decide what music gets played on that elevator?

Xylene, there is no point. The point of a space elevator is that when someone wants to go up you send something down which provides the nessary energy to send the people up (like a see-saw). If your doing it between orbiting bodies it wont work, you need a gravitational effect or the whole thing is pointless. Once in orbit space ships are quite efficent because you only need to give them a shove in one direction and they will keep going till you give them a shove back so if your going in a straight line you only need to fire the rockets twice. Its the amount of fuel expended REACHING orbit that is the issue and thats where the elevator comes in.

Example:

Miners mine stuff on moon, send it up the space elevator in exhange for surplies from earth and possably using a little power (not so big an issue as the moons gravity is low)

Ship flys from space station in geostationary orbit above moon to space station in geostationary orbit around earth and unloads ore and picks up more surplies\ people and fuel to fly back to moon

ore goes down the elevator to earth and surplies\people\fuel goes up (or you could possably double up and use an electric power source on the SS to fuel the rocket and collect that power at the SS)


If you use a rocket to go up from the moon and from the earth and then just use a space elevator for the EASY part of the journey then you are wasting money

This sounds about as logical as making a "rail gun vehicle launcher" that can transport you at the speed of 1,000,000 miles per hour. To whichever planet you want your corpse to arrive at :-P

This sounds about as logical as making a "rail gun vehicle launcher" that can transport you at the speed of 1,000,000 miles per hour. To whichever planet you want your corpse to arrive at :-P
What makes you think it'd be a corpse?
Lack of logic on your part maybe?

you would only be a corps is the accesseration and decelleration was to rapid. However actually travling at that speed is no problem, we do it on a daily basis

What makes you think it'd be a corpse?
Lack of logic on your part maybe?

If it takes 1 second to accelerate to one million MPH, then the passengers would be "liquidated." lol


you would only be a corps is the accesseration and decelleration was to rapid. However actually travling at that speed is no problem, we do it on a daily basis

This is true, the Earth is moving at something like 69,000 mph right? And the sun is moving around the galaxy core at some higher speed.

We need only implement supposed inertial dampening technology....

If it takes 1 second to accelerate to one million MPH, then the passengers would be "liquidated." lol
That would be why they AREN'T planning on 1 sec of acceleration wouldn't it?
Passenger-carrying mass drivers are being talked about with lengths in the tens of kilometres, and much-reduced acceleration.
Please learn something before spouting rubbish.

That would be why they AREN'T planning on 1 sec of acceleration wouldn't it?
Passenger-carrying mass drivers are being talked about with lengths in the tens of kilometres, and much-reduced acceleration.
Please learn something before spouting rubbish.
Tens of km would never work. You will need to launch at about 10 km/sec to reach orbit. If you accelerate at 10Gs, which is pretty much the extreme limit of what a trained pilot with a G suit can handle, you would need a launch track 500 km .

You might be able to launch unmanned cargo into space with a track that was a few tens of km long (assuming you have some very study cargo), but it's probably not feasible for launching people.

Tens of kms wouldn't work for a final speed of 1,000,000 mph - but nobody is actually planning on that speed: it isn't required.
I ignored that 1 million mph figure, because it was specious.

That would be why they AREN'T planning on 1 sec of acceleration wouldn't it?
Passenger-carrying mass drivers are being talked about with lengths in the tens of kilometres, and much-reduced acceleration.
Please learn something before spouting rubbish.

I was referring to a rail gun passenger launch capsule....

Probably more sci-fi than else.

A mass-driver is a rail gun in general principle: they are both a form of linear accelerator.
Or vice-versa - a magnetic launch device.
But as with ANY device they are/ would be tailored to the required application.

Tens of kms wouldn't work for a final speed of 1,000,000 mph - but nobody is actually planning on that speed: it isn't required.
I ignored that 1 million mph figure, because it was specious.
Did you actually read my post? Tens of km also wouldn't work for a final speed of 10,000 m/sec, which is the minimum speed for reaching orbit. You will need a track many thousands of km long for humans to have any hope of surviving the acceleration.

Er, most proposals for passenger-carrying mass divers I've seen were for moon-based applications.
~60 km at around 5g.

Er, most proposals for passenger-carrying mass divers I've seen were for moon-based applications.
~60 km at around 5g.
That could work on the moon, where the gravity is so much lower. Also I made a mistake in my previous calculations, at 10G you would "only" need a track 500 km long to launch from earth. At 5G it would need to be 1000 km long. Not quite as bad as my first numbers, but still ridiculously long.

That could work on the moon, where the gravity is so much lower. Also I made a mistake in my previous calculations, at 10G you would "only" need a track 500 km long to launch from earth. At 5G it would need to be 1000 km long. Not quite as bad as my first numbers, but still ridiculously long.
Somebody'll propose it.
If they think they can make a profit :D
Actually, now you mention it... I have a vague memory that it was studied, at least semi-seriously.
I'll ransack my brain and see if I can remember where/ when and by who.

Somebody'll propose it.
If they think they can make a profit :D
Actually, now you mention it... I have a vague memory that it was studied, at least semi-seriously.
I'll ransack my brain and see if I can remember where/ when and by who.
There have been many serious proposals for using this sort of things for launching cargo, I've never heard of it for people though. You can make the track smaller by making it circular so that its less of a chore to build (although for people this just means that you get crushed by angular acceleration rather than linear acceleration.)

(although for people this just means that you get crushed by angular acceleration rather than linear acceleration.)
Just keeps 'em near the hosing-down station :D

we would be probably be listed in the most idiotic civilization to ever exist in this universe...

Earthlings, the idiots.

What ? Draqon.. ! :):):)