4chan solving the energy crisis

It also means we could possibly avoid much of the heavy, complex, expensive, fragile heat protection for re entry- if the vessel launched from space and then docked in space on return, without ever touching atmosphere- that changes a lot about its construction.

Other possible benefits of such a system include that it could make it easier to launch rescues, deal with emergencies and the unexpected, and plan missions. But the tether could also serve as a connection for data, fluids, and energy between earth and a space station/platform. Liquids are very heavy, and with rockets- every tiny bit of weight counts. The longer the distance- the more every single ounce matters. It takes more fuel to launch more weight. A craft with more weight take more fuel every time it is under thrust. Fuel also adds weight. At a certain point- your craft becomes so heavy that adding more fuel won’t get it to escape velocity. Those on a station could benefit from air and water sent to and from earth. Trash too.

Not just that- but even though mass still matters once you’re flying free or earth- it’s not so tricky, and certain experimental propulsion systems that work in suave but not in atmosphere could allows us to build larger craft with the power and endurance to mitigate some of the challenges of deep space flight design.

Space wants to kill you. Beyond the atmosphere, you lose the protection from cosmic radiation which the atmosphere and magnetic field of earth gives. Even shuttle missions and certainly stints in a space station are enough to expose you to high radiation- and that’s still close to earth, and not for the potentially years in space a mars mission could be.

In space, when you close your eyes- you still see lights. The radiation penetrates your eye lids. There’s nothing but the space ship and or your suit to protect you- and our main protection against radiation are bulky and or heavy barriers- lead being one of the best. Or is prohibitive to shoot a lead lined brick into space- but a method to assemble craft in orbit, and get materials up for cheaper by the oz, could allows us to crate the shielding to protect deep space explorers better.

Now to the original premise- many of these “cords” or “elevators” attached to station with large solar arrays could not only transmit solar power back down to earth- but we could send UP power when solar isn’t enough for the station. Sort of like how home solar panels can charge the grid, or the house can run off the grid as needed. These panels could also help with climate change- or even someday be part of a network that can modify global weather!

They generally try not to send nuclear stuff into space. It’s unavoidable often- many deep space probes etc. use types of very simple nuclear reactor that generate very small amounts of power. But if a nuclear device is onboard a craft that fails to launch- it can contaminate many thousands of miles of earth. If we aren’t launching craft- that’s one less danger. But... a nuclear factor in orbit could come back down- oe worse... someone could MAKE it come down- a terrorist or enemy for example. That would be bad.

But maybe someday we could do something like that. Of course- it’s all cloud talk. While we are “closer than ever” to being able to possibly do something like that- it’s more “closer” in the same way that you might say stepping 4 steps over from the middle of the continent is closer to the ocean than you were.

For all the possible advantages - many argue that it is almost impossible, or so difficult that a better solution could be done with less cloodging. Building a tower that tall- let along one that attaches to an object in orbit... its a very difficult physics problem that if we could solve- we probably would know enough we would t need to solve it because we could do something better.