This is... not a joke? https://www.isec.org/
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@sundogplanets the advances in engineering required to achieve this is estimated optimistically at the total number of subplots contained within 2.5 StarTrek episodes.
@sundogplanets I’m sure that won’t cause any problem at all for the tens of thousands of future satellites being planned. No problem at all.
Not as much a planet as just a giant windmill. How entertaining.
@sundogplanets just because the stakeholders aren't in on the joke doesn't mean it's not funny
@sundogplanets how could it be a joke -- they even have three new songs about space elevators /s 🙄
@sundogplanets I love the idea of a space elevator!
If only physics would look the other way....
@sundogplanets “The manufacture of tether-quality material for a space elevator still needs more development” is the understatement of the century.
@sundogplanets Can't wait for a tether to break with some massive object in the stratosphere.
@sundogplanets Look there are only so many million $ purses that rich folks can buy so the need something else to spend their money on. It's just a long shot bet like a lottery ticket. Without some astounding breakthroughs in material science it ain't happening but people are happy to take investors money to give it a shot.
They've been a thing for almost 20 years now.
Fine for speculative engineering. Very far from any actual application.
@sundogplanets
I’m sure it will be fine. No elevator has ever broken down before, or got stuck, so nothing to worry about./s
@sundogplanets
That one little line about "suitable tether material " is the big sticking point. All the science fiction i read as a teenager never considered impacts with a bazillion satellites.
@sundogplanets wow the faq is a jawdropping masterpiece of wishful thinking..
@sundogplanets Not really an answer, but https://xkcd.com/697/
@sundogplanets It is not a joke - you can actually join their consortium for a small fee ("joke" != "waste of money").
At this point, the space elevator appears to be vaporware moving to slideware. Simple experiment to test the idea: hang a weight on a long cord from an attachment you can slide back and forth slightly. Then see if there is a resonance frequency which will result in the weight swing back and forth wildly.