> So, what's going on? Notice that the lower part of the cable just falls to Earth and probably causes some severe destruction. In this model, it wraps about a third of the way around the equator, even though its full length would almost make it all the way around the Earth, which has a circumference of 40,000 kilometers.
It may be that I actually qualified as an engineer a long time ago so was taught to be extremely pessimistic (or realistic, there are so many ways innocent-looking stuff can turn you into meaty chunks) about how damn near everything we make can suddenly fail and kill everyone, but I'm certainly very wary of the whole space elevator idea. It's cool, but also ... things go wrong. Would need a more detailed simulation than some back-of-the-envelope wired article, but still.
DGolden t1_ixyli1o wrote
Reply to comment by Lord_Parbr in Space Elevators Are Less Sci-Fi Than You Think by Sorin61
> It’s not so much the possibility of death that makes me anxious.
I mean maybe it should? What happens when the damn thing breaks? whether by accident or terrorist attack, it could fail.
https://www.wired.com/story/what-happens-if-a-space-elevator-breaks/
> So, what's going on? Notice that the lower part of the cable just falls to Earth and probably causes some severe destruction. In this model, it wraps about a third of the way around the equator, even though its full length would almost make it all the way around the Earth, which has a circumference of 40,000 kilometers.
It may be that I actually qualified as an engineer a long time ago so was taught to be extremely pessimistic (or realistic, there are so many ways innocent-looking stuff can turn you into meaty chunks) about how damn near everything we make can suddenly fail and kill everyone, but I'm certainly very wary of the whole space elevator idea. It's cool, but also ... things go wrong. Would need a more detailed simulation than some back-of-the-envelope wired article, but still.