Re:The Spaceline: a space elevator alternative achievable wi...
by aidenn0 on Friday September 06, 2019 @02:28PM
(#20898342)
If you use two balanced rotating masses with a single tether, the required material strength scales only with the total mass of the system; regardless of the radius, the acceleration of the two rotating masses is 1g. At some point the tether mass will become non-negligible and it will scale linearly, but that should be quite large for any reasonable tether material, particularly since only the very tips of the tether are accelerating at 1g.
There is a size limit, though--the required material strength scales linearly with the radius. Note that if you'll accept some fancy engineering this can be avoided: Instead of making it self-supporting you surround your station with a non-rotating ring. You can make it as thick as you need to provide the required strength. Wheels can't take the speeds involved, the connection will have to be magnetic levitation. Yes, this means maintenance but so long as you have an adequate safety margin you can power down and take apart any given piece for upkeep or even replacement. Just don't take apart too many at once.