Driving to the Moon!

How can a standard pickup truck pull the Endeavor Shuttle? And can we use the same principles to propel us up a space elevator made from carbon nanotube? In the future, will we play among the stars?

Subscribe to Fw:Thinking:

For the audio podcast, blog and more, visit the Fw:Thinking website:

[iliketrainspwned]

Well, about how you said using friction wheels, there is no way that will work. The top speed would take forever to reach the counterweight. Also, the friction of the wheels would create tons of heat, which could damage the elevator car or worse... the tether itself can be damaged or even break (worst case scenario). So, instead, we probably will use magnetic fields to propel the ship into space. We already know that this works amazingly for maglev trains, so why not put it vertically. Plus, since it is friction free, it can travel at lightning speeds and barely need to deal with heat.

[nennerb-]

If there was one space elevator, I would take it... BUT.... I would only prefer the one with Galactic Music, those music are the best.

[williamrobertson]

Oh, I can't even begin to imagine what the phone reception would be like at the top of that space elevator!

[Baronstone]

They have finally developed the ability to make carbon nano tube threads, which means that we can use those threads to make the cable for the space elevator. With a little more development we could actually make the space elevator a reality in the next 20 years. 

[leomupi]

I'm kinda surprised I haven't heard of someone building one of these.

[thelostsparten]

Just to throw this out there in the universe of the game halo they came up with something called a space tether, used to get off a planet and into space quickly, dont know much about how it really worked but if someone looked at it for shits and giggles might be interesting.

[cyberdaemon]

Elevator music would ruin ANY elevator, including space elevator! So, i'd take stairs instead! :D

[marcopolo]

Would speace elevators benefit from running on some of the principles behind maglev technology? I just think conventional elevators won't cut it for such a long haul. Besides they would be too slow.

[willsanders]

Definitely buying a Toyota now thanks to this video

[vaporwavevocap]

I'm guessing space elevators would be like little rooms... But yeah.. Impossible.

[wowcool]

He said trying never hurt anyone but what happens if we get it up there and it snaps half of it comes down the rest goes flying off into space. That would be a catastrophic event killing a lot of people and causing billions in damages.

[bezzercer]

every time i hear about space elevators its always a strait line wouldnt a giant cone be more structurally sound?

[NASAgeek]

The part when they talk about the Toyota truck pulling the shuttle.

[jamiegodman]

Actually congress will pay that much. They loved their expensive STS program which cost between $1-$1.5 billion per flight. Most of which went to the NASA centers who are the constituents of those certain congress members

[moosefactory]

I am not sure I like the idea of a space elevator even if it could be built. I saw a simulation of what would happen if it broke along the shaft. Parts of it would be burning up through the atmosphere posing wide area of danger

[IoanKatalinn]

The downside is that the elevator will slow the planet's rotations and in a few hundred years, half a planet won't get any sun.

[Shedletskymasterluke]

yeah but what if it got hit by a really heavy asteroid and everyone in it got killed?

[NlbMinecraft]

I'd say it's more vulnerable to satellites, that's what worries me. Unless we develop some sort of sensors to keep away the sats and manage to get the nonfunctional ones away from orbit (quite a lot) I think it'd be vulnerable to hitting them.

Pure assumptions though, i'm no astrophysicist.

[bn]

dude this could be like Gundam 00 (Sci-fi anime) where they are 3 space elevators and between and massive solar ring so they can power the earth for free power problems solved

[zZDOOMZDAYZz]

I would just be so scared if I went all the way up too the very top and an asteroid smashed into it I would have a heart attack and die XD