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Some scientists have an idea to bui

Abd K

Materials
Oct 5, 2024
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Some scientists have an idea to build an elevator that could pull the spaceship from the ground of the earth to the spaceship orbiting around the earth. However, during the mission, the sling that is used to pull the spaceship from the ground to the spaceship orbiting around the earth is broken. The NASA engineer suggests that we increase the diameter of the sling, which may take more loads. What do you think about this idea? Is it the right thing to do? Can you verify mathematically? If this idea is not good, can you suggest the alternative? Please state all necessary assumptions.
 
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Assumption: The sling material and application are such that Stress = Force/Area is valid.

Conclusion: Increasing the sling diameter is the right thing to do.

Does that help?
 
The idea goes back at least as far as Tsiolkovsky in the 19th Century. I've never seen a satisfactory explanation of how the cable is supposed to be laid in the first place (there's a significant coriolis force to deal with).
 
For any given tensile strength and density of a material there is a maximum length of cable/rod that can be self-supported without breaking. Making it a larger diameter will not help in making it longer.
 
A space elevator was the basis of a novel by Arthur C Clarke (Wikipedia) in 1979.

He had the advantage of been able to use "continuous pseudo-one-dimensional diamond crystal" for the cable without the difficulty of actually creating said material.
 
The tallest man made structure in the world is less than 1km high.

The ISS orbits at about 400km above earth.

"Space" is deemed to start at about 80 to 100km above earth.

So this is pure fantasy.



Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
Apologies, as I think you are not a native english speaker, but your post is "word salad".

first sentence ... "Some scientists have an idea to build an elevator that could pull the spaceship from the ground of the earth to the spaceship orbiting around the earth." This is quite clearly talking about the space elevator concept, where a cable is erected to carry "stuff" up the geo-stationary orbit, and to balance the cable a counter weight is added above geo-stationary orbit so that the weight of the whole is balanced by the centrifugal force of the counterweight. And yes, this is a concept but some research is going on the see if we can make it a reality. Google "space elevator".

Then 2nd sentence "However, during the mission, the sling that is used to pull the spaceship from the ground to the spaceship orbiting around the earth is broken." Sling? where did this come from ? if it lifts the vehicle, what does it pull against ? I think this is not the right word, and so confusing the replies. The current idea is for the lift vehicle to be powered, rather than lifted, possibly by solar cells with the energy beamed to the lift vehicle by ultrawaves.

Because you then go back to the space elevator concept, the key problem is the strength to weight ratio of current materials. We need more material to react the load, but this extra material causes extra load, etc. Yes, this is the key design problem with space elevators. Currently the best material we have are carbon nano-tubes. Such a space elevator is, in my mind, built starting at geo-stationary orbit and building in both directions, keeping the structure balanced.

Building a space elevator on Earth is a very daunting, difficult, task. I suspect we are more likely to see one on the Moon or even Mars before we see one on Earth

"Wir hoffen, dass dieses Mal alles gut gehen wird!"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
Try designing a tapered cable.
As the force on the cable increases, increase the diameter.

--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!
 
Sounds to me like a question which has been raised by a tutor and the OP is looking for other people to do his or her homework.

The "please state all necessary assumptions" gives it away a bit ...

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
well, this is a student forum ... but, yes, we don't do their homework for them. Just a few breadcrumbs.

"Wir hoffen, dass dieses Mal alles gut gehen wird!"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
haven't been here long, eh ? pretty typical, and oft ranted at ...

"Wir hoffen, dass dieses Mal alles gut gehen wird!"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.
 
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