>-----Original Message----- >From: Richard Baker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 11:18 AM >To: Killer Bs Discussion >Subject: Re: US-based missiles to have global reach > > >Erik said: > >> I'd even be willing to bet that no serious agency in the world has >> even STARTED actual construction of a space elevator by 2023. > >I'd be willing to bet that too. The construction of a space elevator >would require the manufacture of many, many orders of magnitude more >carbon nanotubes (or whatever) than have ever been made.
I a currently collecting data to suggest the total output of Carbon Nanotube (fullerenes) raw material worldwide in the next decade to be in excess of 3000 tons. The proposed space elevator (from my past post) only requires 20 tons of cable to get started. It then hauls up the next few elevators. My estimates place the cable, and the anchoring spacecraft within the mass capacity for lift of 2 shuttle missions. In my past message, I listed out the web sites that contained information on current plans for a space elevator. Here are some more: Chinese develop machine that creates 15kg/hour of nanotube material - 2001 http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=2608 University of Texas researchers create fibers 4 times stronger that spider silk, 20 stronger than steel, and 17 times stronger than Kelvar. (Go Texas!) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6204 June 2003 "For the first time, the team got nanotubes to align and clump together into long, tough fibers. After spinning nanotubes in a vat of polyvinyl alcohol, the scientists drew out black threads that were roughly the width of a human hair and often stretched longer than a football field. " Buy Nanotube material by the gram online.... http://www.cnanotech.com/pages/store/6-0_online_store.html It would also >require such a substantial counterweight that we'd have to capture a >near-Earth asteroid, and we won't have the space infrastructure to do >that for many decades (assuming we even manage to climb out of the >market inelasticity trap). That was Kim Stanley Robinson's space elevator. We are probably 100 years away from that. In order to anchor a 20 ton cable, along with another 20 tons of cargo on the cable, will not take an astroid to anchor. I am certainly not questioning your assumptions, because we are talking about 2 very different models for a space elevator. KSR's Space elevator is impractical, and practically impossible. When he wrote about the space elevators, buckytubes were barely discovered. Who knew then you could make it into conductive rope? Nerd from Hell > >Rich > >_______________________________________________ >http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l > _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
