[HN Gopher] Space travel via tether between asteroids
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Space travel via tether between asteroids
Author : osivertsson
Score : 38 points
Date : 2023-09-01 19:44 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.cerowrt.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.cerowrt.org)
| westurner wrote:
| Space tether missions:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether_missions :
|
| > _A number of space tethers have been deployed in space
| missions.[1] Tether satellites can be used for various purposes
| including research into tether propulsion, tidal stabilisation
| and orbital plasma dynamics._
|
| Tether propulsion:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tether_propulsion
|
| How many RPMs/Hz are necessary for DC (or AC) motors?
| westurner wrote:
| How different are the physics for a [WebGL] simulator for body
| kinematics and Poi/Glowstringing and a simulator for space
| tethers in n-body gravity?
|
| Poi (performance art) / _Glowstringinging_
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(performance_art)
|
| Poi spinning > Types of poi
| https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_spinning
| bmay wrote:
| Kurzgesagt has a video on this topic:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqwpQarrDwk
| chatmasta wrote:
| I love Kurzgesagt videos. Sometimes I wonder if their Kanban
| board starts with a team of people writing down all the
| questions that pop into their head after smoking some loud...
| jauntywundrkind wrote:
| Fwiw, Neal Stephenson's Seveneves has a strong component of
| tethered spacecraft.
|
| Started slow but fun trajectory (for an _incredibly_ dark book).
| Last 1 /3rd is basically a separate book.
| mig39 wrote:
| Sometimes I think Stephenson is more interested in world
| building than in actually writing a novel. The novels are good,
| sure, but the world building is the best part.
| Nifty3929 wrote:
| Stephenson's books are so much fun - until the end. They all
| seem like they are all about the journey, but no destination.
|
| I really would love to have a sequel to Seveneves that focuses
| on the world from the last part of the book (trying to avoid a
| spoiler here...)
| dharmab wrote:
| Anathem is one of the exceptions where I think the pace holds
| up in the final act.
| javajosh wrote:
| "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself
| become the villain," or, for stories, "You either end the
| story well, or you continue telling it until you get GoT
| season 8."
| causality0 wrote:
| Or you just get bored and stop writing before resolving
| anything. Looking at you, John Ringo.
| KineticLensman wrote:
| Tethers are a foundational technology in Seveneves, used e.g.
| for linking orbiting pods into larger habitats, ascent from low
| earth orbit, grabbing robots and many other applications
| AndrewStephens wrote:
| I have a theory that the first three quarters of that book were
| supposed to be a 10 page prologue to set the scene but during
| writing it really got away from the author.
| JumpinJack_Cash wrote:
| I will never understand those who want to travel to space.
| Feeling the elements on the skin (air, wind, water, sun,
| gravity..) is an essential part of adventure.
|
| Billions of dollars and billions of miles after once you arrive
| you can only observe, you can't feel anything because you have to
| be in a spacesuit the whole time, no air, no gravity, no wind, no
| plants, no water, when you can feel some air is artificial.
|
| What's the point of it all? Hubble pics + a serious VR set
| basically give you the same visual experience which is the only
| thing that maybe could be worth about going there.
| javajosh wrote:
| I'll never understand those who don't want to travel to space.
| It's an enormous universe we live in, and here we are, on one
| (admittedly awesome) planet. There is a great deal to learn,
| and many adventures to be had! Note that this same conversation
| has happened many times in human history; some people are home
| bodies, some people crave adventure, and ne'er the twain shall
| meet. It's a deep-seated personality trait, and you can't
| _reason_ people out of either position.
|
| The other point (which is really why I responded) is to note
| that space travel isn't just for humans. Robots, especially AI-
| driven robots, may be able to explore and exploit our solar
| system far better than bio humans ever could. It would make a
| nice division of responsibility: we get the Earth and her
| unique and valuable biosphere, they get the rest of the system
| and it's vast resources. I believe the relationship could be
| deeply symbiotic and fruitful for both cultures.
| JumpinJack_Cash wrote:
| > > has happened many times in human history
|
| Nope , this is the first time that you won't find water,
| plants, air when you arrive at destination.
|
| Also the first time that you'll have to live forever in a
| spacesuit, also the first time you won't be able to feel the
| elements on your skin, say goodbye to rain, wind, sun on your
| skin , smell of flowers, smell of rain on the soil etc.
|
| The only thing that maybe is better there than on Earth is
| the visuals, but that's also a question mark, not every
| planet has a first row view of the Pillars of Creation. At
| the same time the view of the Milky Way from Earth spots such
| as the Atacama Desert is pretty spectacular, and for
| everything else there is Hubble + VR.
| debesyla wrote:
| Question rises to me: what good could us offer to this AI?
| bluescrn wrote:
| Mostly the urge to explore and to learn. Partly a desire to
| preserve the knowledge and culture that humanity has created in
| the event of an extinction-level event on Earth.
|
| Messing around in low-earth orbit, or even exploring our
| nearest neighbours in the solar system is like dipping our toes
| into a vast ocean. It's a first step on a much bigger
| adventure, an adventure that won't happen in our lifetimes.
|
| It may seem impossible now, but crossing oceans in sailing
| ships, let alone aircraft, will have seemed impossible once.
| JumpinJack_Cash wrote:
| > > much bigger adventure
|
| I believe that without the familiar elements waiting for us
| at whatever the destination might be, it would be an asylum
| not an adventure.
|
| If you play a word association game using the word adventure
| the first thing that realistically come up to mind are:
|
| 1) Hike
|
| 2) Mountain bike trail
|
| 3) Motorcycle trip
|
| 4) Boat trip
|
| Etc. etc.
|
| All the above adventure have the common thing that while you
| are out and about you feel the elements very strongly on your
| skin and all your 5 senses are intensely stimulated .
|
| In space you'd be confined and in your spacesuit your whole
| life and you'd also be confined in the spaceship or
| artificial spaces. No stimulation at all, maybe only the
| visuals would be stimulated but you'd be mostly staring at
| empty space, and the space that is not empty such as clusters
| and stars might be beautiful to look from afar but they are
| so big that you can never quite touch them, unlike a flower
| or a sequoia.
| cwkoss wrote:
| The Worms video game series has a fun item: ropes.
|
| These ropes are rigid but you can vary the length, so you can do
| a bunch of interesting pendulum behaviors to accelerate yourself.
|
| If you had a long tether between two objects of different
| weights, and the whole system is rotating, I feel like you could
| get some interesting acceleration effects by rapidly shortening
| the tether (assuming its strong enough to not snap)
| IshKebab wrote:
| Also Liero and Soldat. Liero was awesome.
| speps wrote:
| Liero IS awesome: https://www.webliero.com/
| empyrrhicist wrote:
| Core memory unlocked - my brothers and I got COMPETITIVE
| playing Worms Armageddon on... I think Dreamcast?
| tempodox wrote:
| My mother said, "To get things done you'd better not mess with
| Major Tom."
| sigwinch28 wrote:
| A rendition of this idea can be seen in the Halo TV adaptation. I
| can't remember which episode(s) or find a good YouTube link right
| now. But there's a settlement in an asteroid belt where the
| people move around on cars attached to rails/tethers between the
| asteroids.
| thechao wrote:
| These are rotating tethers used to launch to other
| asteroids/planets. Not strings connecting rocks.
| sigwinch28 wrote:
| Oh then I have completely misunderstood the article! Oops.
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(page generated 2023-09-01 23:00 UTC)