Re:If Earth Was 50% Larger, We Might Be Stuck Here
by willcipriano on Monday June 22, 2020 @10:00PM
(#23609215)
As I understand it, very far. The materials science isn't there, we have yet to conceive of a material that would be able to carry it's own weight let alone move a useful load.
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Re:If Earth Was 50% Larger, We Might Be Stuck Here
by avmich on Tuesday June 23, 2020 @01:45AM
(#23610302)
No, the problem isn't in the material, that's relatively easy part, we already have good prototypes in carbon nanotubes.
Re:If Earth Was 50% Larger, We Might Be Stuck Here
by willcipriano on Tuesday June 23, 2020 @06:30AM
(#23612074)
My source:
> "No current material exists with sufficiently high tensile strength and sufficiently low density out of which we could construct the cable," he told me. "There's nothing in sight that's strong enough to do it — not even carbon nanotubes."
"The best that theorists can do right now is come up with a material that's about two-thirds the strength needed to make a practical elevator," Henson told me. "And that's a very, very short tiny tube."[0]
[0]https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-well-probably-never-build-a-spac...