Sci/Tech Japan hopes to turn sci-fi into reality with $9B space elevator

[Newbwc3]

The whole idea is stupid. Think of all that money they would waste on some giant tower just to say "Wow look what we built its so pretty" "haha we made a big tower and you didnt". When there's people with no money. They should try making somthing that will actually help people (like a way to be non-dependent on gas) instead of wasting money.

 

[Husky]

this is the answer I have been waiting for


a triangle beam structure is very tough. although

a building that will surpass the sky and the heavens. on a straight figure. would'nt.

Reasons:

There is lower Oxygen on higher altitudes. slower efficiency of workers, many workers would die due do dizziness and will fell to the earth.

a dynamic anti-earthquake based foundation can only support a limit depending on the strength of the shaking of the building... but if the building is 3000+ floors.. expect a huge shake strength that would break the anti-earthquake foundation.

Chinese will Recreate the Journey to the West Story.

if the tower is circular based (like coliseum) I'd approve that.

[EDIT] by the way when I meant Concrete has it limits.. I meant it would shatter because of shaking of the building(flexibility Integrity)
including strong winds.

Did you read the article? They are planning to use cables, they're not making a trillion floor skyscraper. These cables + elevator wouldn't weigh a trillion tonnes either, being on a faultline has nothing to do with it. Do you think if something heavy is on a faultline it will just collapse onto the earth? If this was true you wouldn't be seeing many cities in Japan and New Zealand would you (NZ is also smack bam on a faultline)?

This would be the coolest thing ever if it did happen (and it may in a few decades/centuries) and is not entirely impractical using their planned cable method.

Oh and the plane/meteor thing is one of the dumbest things I've heard. If someone one plane did manage to fuck up all the warnings and find it's way heading to the cable, the cable would tear right through the plane (the cable being 180 times stronger than steel). Oh and the chances of a meteor hitting a tiny cable... you have a better chance of winning the lotto a few weeks in a row (let alone the scientists planning for an event of such nature).

 

[Jackal]

The whole idea is stupid. Think of all that money they would waste on some giant tower just to say "Wow look what we built its so pretty" "haha we made a big tower and you didnt". When there's people with no money. They should try making somthing that will actually help people (like a way to be non-dependent on gas) instead of wasting money.

You reminded me of the episode of South Park 'A Ladder to Heaven'

 

[Asehujiko]

Why do i seem like the only person who knows anything about this?

1. We have yet to see a single meteor hit any of our space constructs and the odds of this happening are tiny.

2. The tower will be alot lighter then it would be if it was built horizontal because it uses centrifugal force to support it(spin something fast enough and all mobile mass is displaced to the edges)

3. "builders will get dizzy and fall" Considering that we are supposed to hook it up to the iss, you'd assume that the builders will be issued oxygen tanks...

 

[Matemeo]

This is NOT a waste of money. Think of the MASSIVE amounts of revenue that will be generated from this. How much would you pay to take an elevator to space? Don't know about you, but I'd pay a ridiculous amount, as would many others.

To the workers getting dizzy and falling off. -LOL
I think they would account for the lower oxygen amount and compensate with oxygen packs. Kind of like when you climb Everest.

And this isn't going to be a "tower" if you read the article it's large, EXTREMELY durable enter-twined chains. No plane would be able to break it, and the odds of a meteor hitting it are so astronomically low it shouldn't even be an issue. (though I'm sure they will take that into account and have security measures [back up lines, etc])

tl;dr It's possible, and it's gonna be sweet.

 

[DDRtists]

To everyone saying this is "Impossible", you are wrong. For the most part, most things are possible. That is, if you have the money and manpower to fund it. Everything was "impossible" at one point to people, and now they're possible. Just give it time, things like this will unfold. Not saying this is going to work, but just because we've never seen one, doesn't mean it's doomed to fail.

 

[Seb!]

Well, face it. It is kind of cool and it will generate enough revenue to pay for it many times. It will also show that the Japanese can do something that they set their mind to. It shows how strong a country can be when they want to do something.

 

[sqrage]

The whole idea is stupid. Think of all that money they would waste on some giant tower just to say "Wow look what we built its so pretty" "haha we made a big tower and you didnt". When there's people with no money. They should try making somthing that will actually help people (like a way to be non-dependent on gas) instead of wasting money.

Talk about a double standard. When money is spent on something that is not important or interesting to you it's a waste of money, but if it was something that you were really interested in, then it would be the greatest use of money ever. (You in general, not you specifically.)

Also, a lot of you obviously forgot to read the article. :thdown:

 

[demotry241]

Well, face it. It is kind of cool and it will generate enough revenue to pay for it many times. It will also show that the Japanese can do something that they set their mind to. It shows how strong a country can be when they want to do something.

funny.. Japanese navy's powerful Carrier the Shinano that was said to turn the tide of battle, sunk 10 days after it's commission. figure out what I am trying to say.


btw.. if that fiber existed, then we could really see uber soldiers.. because it did state "stronger than anything else yet woven" say hello to ultimate Bullet/Shell proof vests.


so Japanese soldiers can take a sniper rifle round without dying... nice armor.

hey... wait a sec...

those are fibers?. if they got wet = heavy = fun

funny as hell, it was the worst thing I could have ever Imagined. >: 0

 

[TheDamien]

You know somehow I think all those highly educated and intelligent engineers in Japan know a bit more about building space elevators than you do, demotry.

Figure out what I'm trying to say?

 

[demotry241]

Figure out what I'm trying to say?

of course. >: )

 

[TheDamien]

Then you will know that you are wasting your time theorizing about risks which have probably been thought of and quantified well before you even started posting in this thread.

 

[demotry241]

Then you will know that you are wasting your time theorizing about risks which have probably been thought of and quantified well before you even started posting in this thread.

the same reason why you keep wasting your time countering every single one of my post in this thread.

>: )

 

[TheDamien]

If it bothers you that much then you are free to stop posting as though you are somehow more qualified to speak on the feasibility of this subject than the Japanese engineers who have actually been trained for this sort of thing..

Seriously, when you take into account the hours of thought that must have been into this, and the number of scientists involved, stuff like the below just begins to look ignorant.

impossible.


japan is in the earthquake fault line.

 

[demotry241]

not really.
japan really is in a fault line.

and + I did wrote in another post, quoted actually. about that.

 

[TheDamien]

If you think I pointed out that post because I am doubting that there are fault lines in Japan (which I am actually not doubting at all), then you have completely missed my point.

Here is what I am saying: If Japan's seismic activity was enough to prevent the construction or stability of a space elevator, then the numerous scientists would have realized and they would not be saying that it is feasible to build one. The fact that they are saying this shows that you are wrong. And yes, they are thinking of it being built it in Japan.

 

[demotry241]

actually Damien all my theories were completely off.

because like sqrage said. I was completely oblivious of the cables...


its sad... horrifyingly sad. o well...

 

[Dan]

You know somehow I think all those highly educated and intelligent engineers in Japan know a bit more about building space elevators than you do, demotry.

Yeah they've built like... oh wait, they've never built one before!


what about the whole tension thing...what about the fact that all satellites eventually fall.... what about the fact that this is a dumb idea?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator#Failure_modes.2C_safety_issues_and_construction_difficulties

seems to be a lot of reasons why it would be difficult to build and manage...


but mostly... WHY???

 

[sqrage]

seems to be a lot of reasons why it would be difficult to build and manage...


but mostly... WHY???

More than half of those 'reasons' lack citations, so for all we know, you could have just edited the article and wrote them in there.

As for why, let's look at the article:

In the carriages, the scientists behind the idea told The Times, could be any number of cargoes. A space elevator could carry people, huge solar-powered generators or even casks of radioactive waste. The point is that breaking free of Earth's gravity will no longer require so much energy — perhaps 100 times less than launching the space shuttle.

 

[TheDamien]

Yeah they've built like... oh wait, they've never built one before!

And this is relevant? The entire concept of progress is underpinned by the idea that you can know how to do a specific thing without having the prior experience of doing it. How do you think anything gets built at all? Obviously you can't have the experience of having built something until you actually build it, but the knowledge of how to build it is entirely different and must necessarily come before the construction itself.

actually Damien all my theories were completely off.

By applying the logic I outlined in my previous post, you could have realized this without knowing anything about the specifics.