If Gerard's talking about what I think he's talking about, it involves spinning space stations launching payloads into higher trajectories by extending them on tethers and releasing them when they are aimed at the desired destination, quite literally like a slingshot.
The three problems immediately obvious here are one, Newton is going to have something to say about this, it's not going to be orbitally stable unless there's as much coming down as there is going up;
second, the input energy for all of these cosmic spinners is coming from where, exactly?
third, this is not looking small and discrete- we are looking at some fairly hefty lumps of space architecture here, with fairly high input and maintenance requirements.
I'm not sure if this is blue sky or blue pill thinking, really.
On the other hand, space elevators, if it turns out that one is possible without starting at the top and working down, great. Probably need nanotubes either way.
Building out around a guide wire seems the way to go, but it sounds easier to lower said cable down to earth than to try to build it upwards as a tower. In the end I wouldn't object to whatever works.
Many things here:1* the spinner and 2* the orbital station.
The slingshot exemple by CarribeanViking, use a base launching and no autonomy after launch, while the attraction will do the rest for the return, neglecting the need for corrections in flight, still fuel bases. It's a no, no !
I'm talking about an autonomous spinner that could do the job of dropping, in the first phase to build the moon station, but more than that, it has the inner capacity of acceleration and deceleration at will, by an atomic generator with a point of friction controlled at the general panel, for one. Second, the axis of the spinner is accessible by the control panel for a 360 degree orientation.
Like in a rotor, you know very well that if the bearings are not perfect and resistants, you will generate instability that are to be avoid at all cost. No one need an accident at that speed so, the stability has to be perfect on the long run. To convince yourself, try to go to the rotor of a dam, adjusted to the milimeters, guiding tons and tons of water and good for years of use. The external built has to be supporting of tons and tons of pressure and resistant to radiation, heat and cold. As per the size of it, it depend of the accelerator capacity. Heavier the load, bigger the accelerator. We already have the basics of the accelerator for particules and now we have to miniaturized that system to accelerate a big structure. When the acceleration
will be up to move, the weight will not be a problem, the control or the orientation will become important. The panel of control as to be as flexible as the control of an electronic game player and ready to respond to very little impulse on the axis. This way you have control in all directions and you can stop anywhere, for download and upload. While we can do those things, we have to remember the ultimate goal, that is to put ourself in a cosmic position to draft the area and find what's usable for future missions. All the rest is for other interests that are are not our topic for today. I don't think
Newton would mind to much but Albert coud have something to add.
By the way, I like that idea of elevator to the moon. With some adjustments,
for those stuck on fuel, we can work on the prototype for the spinner from the moon, starting the design on earth: need three structures to the spinner, the external is the strongest capable to absorb shocks, radiations, heat and cold, the second, isolated of the first, has a base and top atomic accelarators to facilitated the stability and they turn always in the same sense of rotation,
and the third one is absolutely isolated by isolators that I don't know the nature but the physicists do, that will allow a complete balance in all directions.
2* the orbital station is less problem than the spinner. Everybody is familiar with a gyroscope. What we are not familiar with, is the big size needed. That gyro would have to be installed in space in our galactic space or an other one
after the first phase of 2026. It would have the capacity to received a spinner for what ever reason,and be big enough to accommodate a spinner in station. If we talk about a spinner of 150 feet in diameter, we are talking of a gyro, probably 1500 feet in diameter. Hey, math's freeks, make the calculations.
Ok, for the smokers, I don't, and, for the pills freaks, I don't either so, go brainers !