The Spaceline: a practical space elevator alternative achievable with current technology
Zephyr Penoyre, Emily Sandford
(Submitted on 25 Aug 2019)
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to mankind’s expansion throughout the Solar System is the prohibitive cost of escaping Earth’s gravitational pull. In its many forms, the space-elevator provides a way to circumvent this cost, allowing payloads to traverse along a cable extending from Earth to orbit. However, modern materials are not strong enough to build a cable capable of supporting its own weight. In this work we present an alternative to the classic space elevator, within reach of modern technology: The Spaceline. By extending a line, anchored on the moon, to deep within Earth’s gravity well, we can construct a stable, traversable cable allowing free movement from the vicinity of Earth to the Moon’s surface. With current materials, it is feasible to build a cable extending to close to the height of geostationary orbit, allowing easy traversal and construction between the Earth and the Moon.
Comments: In preparation for submission to Acta Astronautica. Questions and suggestions welcome
Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
Cite as: arXiv:1908.09339 [astro-ph.IM] (or arXiv:1908.09339v1 [astro-ph.IM] for this version)
Submission history
From: Zephyr Penoyre Mr
[v1] Sun, 25 Aug 2019 14:36:37 UTC (1,650 KB)
