Re: Burt Rutans plans for a manned mission to Mars

royls@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

:On Fri, 12 May 2006 03:34:02 GMT, Fred J. McCall
:<fmccall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
:>
:>If we can lift enough mass to put up a space elevator we don't need a
:>space elevator.
:
:?? ROTFL!! "If we can send enough men and supplies and equipment and
:rails and crossties all the way across the continent to build a
:railroad, we don't need a railroad."

Cute, but hardly the same thing.

Calculate the mass of your space elevator. Now figure out what it
costs to put up at current launch costs.

If launch costs come down enough for a space elevator to be
economically practical, launch costs are so low that the elevator is
redundant.

It'd be used more for bringing stuff DOWN rather than bringing stuff
up at that point.

--
"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar
territory."
--G. Behn
.

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