Good to see the Perpetual Motion Whackos have something new to do with their time.
tpwhiteco
· 11 months ago
I can't think of a more fragile, super-high value, perfectly undefendable terrorist target.
Reality bites.
painlord2k
· 11 months ago
The first will be positioned 200 miles west of the Galapagos, away from the major naval routes, way from the major air routes and away from near anything. Then I suppose the US Navy is able to place a few warships around to destroy anything coming too near the SE. After the first is there, the second and the third will follow ASAP, because the price of a SE will be so low that near any developed nation will want a SE for itself (and probably a few private enterprises too will follow them). Without a second SE, the first must be able to survive the attacks; this is easy, rag tag terrorists are good only against unarmed civil targets; already hardened civil targets are a problem. The SE is vulnerable only by terroristic ground attacks. The can destroy the last five miles or less. The SE can simply lower a few miles of the cable and reattach it to the ground. With a second or many other SEs in place, the attacks become insignificant and the disruption minimal.
Better they concentrate on malls (No Weapons Zone), universities (No Weapons Zone), schools (idem), and so on.
tpwhiteco
· 11 months ago
I was also blown away by this SE concept when i read the original AC Clark novel decades ago. And I love the idea yet.
But in engineering, things have to be robust, and not be designed to just barely operate only in an optimal environment.
The whole SE concept as currently envisioned is way too fragile from top to bottom and is subject to catastrophic failure from relatively tiny deviations in the system at many levels.
One hijacked airliner and "SNIP" off the whole thing goes into solar orbit.
One piece of random space debris, or a trivially small piece of intentionally aimed military space hardware making contact at 25000km/hr, and yup "SNIP".
How close could a silent submarine get to the base, and how big of a charge would be required to unhinge things?
History proves that there is a constantly replenished supply of psychopathic nutcakes finding their ways into positions of lethal military and political power, looking for just such targets where they can leave their destructive mark on history. This fact has to be taken into account as a fundamental engineering variable in the design of any successful SE system.
The whole SE enterprise only starts to make sense when you talk about an elevator multiple tens of meters in diameter, able to withstand really major impacts without failing.
Think of a giant hollow tree, strong enough to withstand the strongest storm it might be subject to. As a biologist, I am naturally drawn to such an analogy.
The idea of a planet literally sprouting strong functional branches out into its local orbital space as part of our evolutionary history is really kind of a cool long-term image actually made possible by SE technology.
This current laser-powered tree-fort on a ribbon idea is childish. Go for the giant sequoia design, and you might have a realistic future. Also think about all the atmospheric carbon you could sequester in those giant graphite trees!! The SE as a green initiative! YOWSAH!!
Sure the costs go up by orders of magnitude when you look at a robust long-term model, but at least the investment has a future.
All Comments
Reality bites.
After the first is there, the second and the third will follow ASAP, because the price of a SE will be so low that near any developed nation will want a SE for itself (and probably a few private enterprises too will follow them).
Without a second SE, the first must be able to survive the attacks; this is easy, rag tag terrorists are good only against unarmed civil targets; already hardened civil targets are a problem. The SE is vulnerable only by terroristic ground attacks. The can destroy the last five miles or less. The SE can simply lower a few miles of the cable and reattach it to the ground.
With a second or many other SEs in place, the attacks become insignificant and the disruption minimal.
Better they concentrate on malls (No Weapons Zone), universities (No Weapons Zone), schools (idem), and so on.
But in engineering, things have to be robust, and not be designed to just barely operate only in an optimal environment.
The whole SE concept as currently envisioned is way too fragile from top to bottom and is subject to catastrophic failure from relatively tiny deviations in the system at many levels.
One hijacked airliner and "SNIP" off the whole thing goes into solar orbit.
One piece of random space debris, or a trivially small piece of intentionally aimed military space hardware making contact at 25000km/hr, and yup "SNIP".
How close could a silent submarine get to the base, and how big of a charge would be required to unhinge things?
History proves that there is a constantly replenished supply of psychopathic nutcakes finding their ways into positions of lethal military and political power, looking for just such targets where they can leave their destructive mark on history. This fact has to be taken into account as a fundamental engineering variable in the design of any successful SE system.
The whole SE enterprise only starts to make sense when you talk about an elevator multiple tens of meters in diameter, able to withstand really major impacts without failing.
Think of a giant hollow tree, strong enough to withstand the strongest storm it might be subject to. As a biologist, I am naturally drawn to such an analogy.
The idea of a planet literally sprouting strong functional branches out into its local orbital space as part of our evolutionary history is really kind of a cool long-term image actually made possible by SE technology.
This current laser-powered tree-fort on a ribbon idea is childish. Go for the giant sequoia design, and you might have a realistic future. Also think about all the atmospheric carbon you could sequester in those giant graphite trees!! The SE as a green initiative! YOWSAH!!
Sure the costs go up by orders of magnitude when you look at a robust long-term model, but at least the investment has a future.
I say go for it, but with eyes wide open.