|
Posts:
4
From:
USA
Registered:
3/4/09
|
|
(1 of 2)
Jump into space/ Comments please
Mar 4, 2009 1:22 PM
|
|
Build a tube to space. In my mind it works perfectly but in reality I'm sure it would be very difficult. I imagine a huge funnel upside down on the earth and one right side up in orbit with a tube connecting the two. I imagine tether lines that would stabilize the structure both in space and on earth. The thought is that once you created a vacuum into space you could transport materials and people much easier than current means. Also there would have to be a door at the top of the atmosphere inside the stucture to keep the space in or out. when you replace the air in the tube you could have vents neer the part of the atmosphere that holds the green house gasses. That way we could clean up our air and put things into space at the same time.
|
|
|
Posts:
15
From:
USA
Registered:
2/18/08
|
|
(2 of 2)
Re: Jump into space/ Comments please
Aug 14, 2009 6:27 AM
|
Something similar to your idea is the concept of the space tether. The advent of carbon fibers makes the idea of a physical link between the earth and space conceivable. How much would such a thing cost? I expect it would be the most expensive project in the history of man. But if it could be done, I believe we could access the extreme upper limits of the atmosphere to extract helium in virtually unlimited quantities. This could transform the way we travel in the sense that unlimited supplies of helium would bring back the Zeppelin dirigible. Why? Because helium is inert, whereas hydrogen is explosive. Lighter-than-air travel would have many advantages: 1) no need for a runway 2) fuel economy 3) no need for roads 4) easy to drive 5) easy storage when deflated 6) runs quietly.
Aside from the unlimited helium, at the highest level of the atmosphere it might be possible to extract hydrogen by using a vacuum system from the space tether. This might give us access to an unlimited supply of clean burning fuel in the form of hydrogen.
|
|
|
|
|
