Re:The Spaceline: a space elevator alternative achievable wi...
by dann0 on Saturday September 07, 2019 @06:16AM
(#20902890)
Forgive my ignorance, but if the moon orbits around the earth (ie not geostationary), how can the end of a line attached to the moon stay in one place above the earth?
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Re:The Spaceline: a space elevator alternative achievable wi...
by Leo_Verto on Saturday September 07, 2019 @01:10PM
(#20905079)
The moon is tidally locked to earth, meaning it rotates at such a speed that the same side is always facing earth. (This is also why the moon can have a "dark side")
It usually takes millions of years of tidal forces from a planetary body acting upon its satellite for the latter to be tidally locked to the former.