Re:3D printing with cellulose
by Fiahil on Monday March 20, 2017 @08:31AM
(#13913513)
Could we build spaceships with that ?
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| on HN ]
The main factor when designing a spaceship is mass; getting mass into orbit is currently very expensive. You want to use materials which have very high strength to weight ratio, such as aluminium, and carbon fibre.
Can we build a space elevator with this?
Not with cellulose, and likely not from the ground up. Space elevators are typically imagined as being bootstrapped from a starter cable lowered from orbit. And the tensile strength for a safe one is an order of magnitude or two higher than good steel, to say nothing of plant fibers.
Could we build a space elevator with artificial silk?
https://www.slu.se/en/ew-news/2017/1/spinning-spider-silk-is...