Moon Elevator vs Space Elevator

[icarus2]

Hello!

 

Few years ago, I tried to think on methods to transport freight and humans to space economically and safely. I thought at that time, moon elevator could be created if powerful cable can be produced from development of carbon nano-tube technology. Through moon elevator, space development of mankind, commercial travel to space and moon will become possible, and contribute enormously to development of human civilization.

 

Please have a look at the following introduction of basic concepts, and compare relatively with "space elevator" and its feasibility etc

 

 

[Moon Elevator]

 

【Brief explanation on Figures】

Figure 1 is structure diagram of moon elevator

 

 

Figure 2 is plane figure seen from perpendicular of lunar orbit plane

 

 

Figure 3 is structure diagram of multiple moon elevators

 

 

【Purpose of invention】

This invention is about transport method of freight and humans to space using rocket and space shuttle. More specifically, a cable is put on the moon toward the earth, so the moon acts as a ceiling with a cable hanging down. Although position changes at all time due to moon moving around the earth, using the property that this cable will always face toward the center of the earth because of earth gravity will allows an elevator to move on this cable.

Currently the only method to go out to space from the earth is by using rocket or space shuttle, and since space shuttle uses exterior rockets to obtain propulsive force to go out to space, rocket is the only present method.

 

However, escaping earth by using these rockets has many problems.

First, solid fuel and liquid fuel etc that are used for rocket fuel are extremely high explosive materials. Little mistakes or problems while using these fuel types could lead to deadly accidents, as example, Challenger explosion accident or Columbia explosion accident etc.

 

Second, in order for a rocket to head out to the space through self-propulsion, it takes off from launching pad with enormous amount of fuels. To increase efficiency of fuel, most of the fuels on the rocket are used at the initial stage of take off, thus maintaining very fast speed. However, because it passes through the atmosphere at very high speed, air friction and collision with outside material damages body of the rocket frequently and safety system in preparation for these damages causes problem of increase in weight and fuel amount of rocket body.

 

Third, the most crucial problem is that current rocket launching cost is commercially too expensive. Because of its high cost, space exploration or moon exploration using rockets has become a project performed by nations, and due to high cost, the only nation that has accomplished landing on the moon is United States. These high costs are acting as an obstacle in moon development, space exploration and launching artificial satellites etc…

 

【Technical task achievement through invention】

The aim of this invention is to present safer and inexpensive transport method of freight and humans to space than existing rocket method and the goal is not only transporting freights needed for moon development but also transporting extracted resources from moon to earth efficiently.

 

【Invention structure】

Figure 1 is a diagram that shows the final outcome of this invention, a cable (103) is suspended from moon (100) toward the earth (101), elevator (102) is attached to the cable (103), and this elevator (102) operates from the earth surface to space or moon (100) to transport freight or humans to space.

Composition elements of moon elevator (102) are solar power plant (105) that is constructed on the moon (100), motor (106) that pulls the cable (103), cable (103) that can withstand the weight of elevator (102) and freights and elevator (102) that can operate by obtaining power externally or internally.

For power plant (105), solar power plant (105) or other fuel type power plant (105) can be installed to operate the motor (106), and electric power can be transmitted to moon when cable (103) connects the earth (101) and the moon (100) and this power can be stored for later use.

 

Construct moon (100) base on the surface of the moon (100) where it is closest to the earth (101) and distance change between earth (101) and moon is the minimum, and construct power plant (105) to supply power and motor (106) to operate the cable (103). For case where elevator operates itself by power supplied, cable does not need to be operated by motor directly.

 

Construct a structure underneath the moon (100) and after tying up one end of the cable (103) to the structure, launch the rocket with the cable so cable points toward the earth.

 

From locations of earth surface where earth gravitation direction (201) of the cable (103) meets, construct earth base where accessibility is ease, affect on flight service of plane and weather is low and location is close to the moon (100).

 

When cable (103) suspended from moon (100) reaches the earth base, install the elevator (102) located at the earth base. To maintain the cable in straight line, install weight and communication equipments for ground base etc at the end of the cable.

 

On the elevator (102), embark freight and human that will be transported to moon (100) or space.

 

Supply power to the elevator (102), transport freight and human to locations by ascending and descending the elevator (102) or by pulling the cable directly to pull up the elevator from the space base located at the middle.

 

As seen in Figure 1, moon (100) performs as a ceiling (211), and although one end of the cable (103) is not tied up to the surface, cable (103) is pulled tightly in perpendicular due to gravity (213) on the cable (103), so the elevator(102) on the cable (103) is able to move upward. Similarly, even if the cable (103) is floating on air, it would perform similarly to cable(103) hanging on the ceiling (211) due to gravity from the moon (100) and the earth (101) and direction of the cable (103) rotates in 360 degree because the moon rotates around the earth, but due to characteristics of gravity, it will always point upward as the earth surface as base, so it can perform necessary role to head out to space from the earth surface.

 

Figure 2 is a plane figure of this invention seen from perpendicular of lunar (100) orbit plane (205). Due to affect from rotation of the earth (101) and moon’s (100) revolution affect around the earth (101), it takes approximately 27.32 days for moon (100) to revolve around the earth (101) once. These revolution cycles of the moon (100) as to revolution-side of the moon (100) that meets with surface of earth (101) shows angle changes of approximately 13.36 degree a day, and in time unit, shows less than one degree per hour, 0.56degree/hour. Thus cable that is suspending from the moon stays on top of earth base for a certain time, providing enough time for the elevator to load and unload the freights. Of course the speed of cable on the earth surface due to revolution of the moon is relatively huge but expects embarking freight and passenger is technically possible.

 

There is some distance difference between closest and farthest location because to be exact, the moon (100) rotates in oval orbit, not in circle. The most appropriate location to build earth base on the earth surface is where the moon is the closest or select location where revolution surface meets the earth surface with minimal obstacle elements and ease to access considering land features of circumference, accessibility, climate, plane operation situation etc, with location where moon is close by. At this point, earth gravitational direction of the cable suspending from the moon is necessary to consider.

 

As seen in Figure 2, cable (103) and elevator (102) suspending from the moon (100) is affected by the earth (101) gravity so it is always perpendicular to the surface, whether the moon (100) is in three o’clock direction(303), six o’clock direction(302) or at ten o’clock direction(301). The mass of the moon (100) or mass of the earth (101) are much greater than the mass of elevator (102) or freight inside the elevator (102), so affect on moon (100) and earth (101) by the movement of cable (103) or elevator (102) and freight mass can be ignored.

 

Figure of three o’clock direction (303) is when elevator (102) is located at the moon (100). Elevator (102) can transport freight or human from the earth (101) or transport extracted resources from the moon (100) to earth (101) using the elevator (102).

 

Figure of six o’clock direction (302) is when elevator (102) reached the geostationary satellite orbit (206). Instead of firing up satellites from the earth surface, elevator (102) can be used to transport satellites to the geostationary satellite orbit (206) and these satellites can be placed on its proper orbit using self-propulsion fuel from geostationary satellite orbit (206). If satellites can be transported using moon (100) elevator (102), not only satellite can be transported to precise height but it will also extend the life span of the satellites by more couple of times than current method because it can be transported with enough fuel of its own.

 

Figure of ten o’clock direction (301) is when moon elevator (102) reached the transport center, known as earth base (300) located at earth (101). At this moment, freight and human can be loaded or unloaded from the elevator (102) and supply power to elevator (102) and the moon (100). Communication equipment (208) is installed at the end of the cable (103) to communicate exact position and height etc information with earth base (300), and perform role as a weight.

 

As shown, there is no danger of explosion using moon elevator (102), although it does have a possibility of fall, but it can escaped using parachute etc inside troposphere and also when emergency situation occur, it has some time to figure out the problem compared to explosion, so this is much more safer method compared to using rockets.

Furthermore, to construct habitable space and live on the moon while developing moon and extracting resources, vast amount of materials are needs to be transported but using current rocket method has considerable constraint and cost problem. However using this invention, vast amount of materials can be transported to moon (100) inexpensively and also transport extracted resources from moon to earth easily. When exploiting resources like helium3 on the moon (100), transport method needs to be ready at all time, thus moon elevator (102) will be utilized very usefully for these development.

Although there are high priced space-travel plans available now, if moon elevator (102) gets installed, cheaper space travel will become possible, achieving commercial success, and can also be utilized for uses like launching artificial satellite and various exploration vessels.

 

Figure 3 shows an object produced by applying core concept of this invention. It is a multiple elevator (102) system that uses space base (107) that is connected with the moon.

Unlike from previous space base, this invention does not exhaust fuel from rotating after when it is installed, ease in transporting material and human to earth, able to conduct various types of experiment by adjusting the position of the space base and is able to adjust height.

 

Construct space base (107) as in this plan, install motor (133) inside the space base (107) to transport freight and human on earth to space, this is a bit more efficient compared to operating the elevator (102) by using the motor (106) installed at the moon (100). Suppose cable1 (131) is pulled by activating motor (106) located at the moon (100), entire cable (131,132) needs to be pulled but if motor (133) installed at space base (107) is operated, energy can be saved by only operating cable2 (132), from space base (107) to earth surface. Space base (107) can be used for space experimental lab and tourist uses etc. As mentioned before, if elevator can operate itself from self-power or transmitted power, it is better for the elevator itself to move rather than pulling the cable up.

 

Construct numerous space bases, such as moon base, geostationary orbit base, 100km upper sky base etc by expanding multiple elevator system to transport human and materials between sections and use it for various uses (moon base- transport moon resources and commercial travel, geostationary orbit- space station and execute artificial satellite launch and commercial travel, 100km base- commercial travel etc).

 

Movement between corresponding sections in the multiple elevator system can be operated by technically ease method, either pulling the cable directly to move the elevator or elevator itself can move up and down following the cable by self-power or transmitted power.

 

【Effect of invention】

As described above, this invention can install cables in air with no support put on the surface, and even though the earth rotates, this cable always maintain on top of the surface due to characteristics of gravity. This invention does not have danger of explosion and is considerably safe compared to methods that use rockets. Also it uses electric energy as source power so it is eco-friendly compared to fossil fuels. This invention can be applied to satellite launch and space exploration etc, which still has quite a lot of demand, and can be used as very useful tool for moon exploration and transporting resources located at the moon. And can provide cheaper method of commercial space travel and moon travel than previous method.

 

 

My idea also has some drawbacks.

Drawbacks are that distance between moon and earth is extremely far, and will it be possible to manufacture strong cable like carbon nano tube to reach other and will it have enough tensile strength? The key is if sufficient tensile strength is achieved through development of technology, length of the cable is not a big problem because it only needs funds, and I think the cost of development can be sufficiently supplied through resource exploit from the moon, executes artificial satellite launches, and commercial space travel demand etc.

 

Although my idea has some drawbacks, I believe that my idea is much more stable, ease in technology, and can be used in multipurpose than space elevator. And it has a merit that only if cable related technology is achieved, moon elevator can be developed easily with current technology.

 

Regardless of existing space elevator’s high possibility, it seems it has several drawbacks of instability elements, technical difficulty and increase in transportation cost etc.

 

First, even though earth base is located where climate affect is minimum because the cable is always linked between space and earth base, enormous power is applied to the cable by the movement of the atmosphere and to keep the cable connected with space and earth base, couple more times of cable tension than normal connection is required and dangerousness will increase largely due to movement of the atmosphere.

==> Moon elevator technology: Cable is not tied up with earth base, so danger from atmosphere and tension increase of cable is relatively low because of flexible condition.

 

Second, even though space base does not lose additional energy due to its location at geostationary orbit, cable connected from the earth base is continuously forced and in result, space base is forced downward pulling, so energy is exhausted continuously to propulsion the space base to maintain its orbit. Therefore, space base will require 24hour 365day supply of energy even if there are no transports of freight and personnel to space base, which will eventually increase the transportation cost.

==> Moon elevator technology: Space base is held by earth’s gravitation, and rotates due to revolution of moon so almost no additional energy is exhausted. Lowering the cable or elevator to earth only for transportation can cut down cost of operation.

 

Third, it seems transmitting energy needed to operate the elevator that will move to the space base is considered to be sent through laser etc from earth base, but with current technology and near futures, it seems technically hard to possess energy transmitting technology to move the elevator to space base.

==> The key to moon elevator is whether able to manufacture cable that has enough tensile to be used on space elevator, than rest of technology difficulty are relatively low, such as lowering the cable using the motor or technology that moves elevator up and down through transmitted electric energy.

 

Have a good time!

Edited May 30, 2010 by icarus2

[CaptainPanic]

Figure 2 is a plane figure of this invention seen from perpendicular of lunar (100) orbit plane (205). Due to affect from rotation of the earth (101) and moon’s (100) revolution affect around the earth (101), it takes approximately 27.32 days for moon (100) to revolve around the earth (101) once. These revolution cycles of the moon (100) as to revolution-side of the moon (100) that meets with surface of earth (101) shows angle changes of approximately 13.36 degree a day, and in time unit, shows less than one degree per hour, 0.56degree/hour. Thus cable that is suspending from the moon stays on top of earth base for a certain time, providing enough time for the elevator to load and unload the freights. Of course the speed of cable on the earth surface due to revolution of the moon is relatively huge but expects embarking freight and passenger is technically possible.

 

I fear that you make a mistake here.

While the moon orbits the earth in 27.32 days, the earth itself turns around its own axis once per day. So, that means that (rounding it off a little) the rotation is actually 360 degrees per day, or 15 degrees per hour.

is a nice animation of what's going on.

 

The circumference of the earth is about 40000 km. That means that the velocity of the earth's surface relative to the position of the end of the cable is about (40000/24 = ) 1650 km/hr. That's quite fast.

 

The good part is of course that you can catch the elevator every day... as it passes along the same line every day. But I'm not sure I'd like to catch the space elevator as it whizzes past my town at several kilometers altitude at Mach 1.5 without stopping.

[insane_alien]

The good part is of course that you can catch the elevator every day... as it passes along the same line every day./quote]

 

no it doesn't. you'll have to move your base each time you want to intercept it.

 

and then you need to factor in the varying altitude of the moon.

[icarus2]

That means that the velocity of the earth's surface relative to the position of the end of the cable is about (40000/24 = ) 1650 km/hr. That's quite fast.

 

Thanks CaptainPanic !

Your calculation is right! It is roughly right!( about 458m/s = 1.34 X(velocity of sound))

 

It’s my mistake!

A long time ago, I recognize to it.

That sentence was translated 18 months ago. I have failure to check it!

It’s my mistake!

 

Though, the velocity is fast. But it is not impossible.

Again thanks!

---

Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

Refer to :

ISS(International Space Station) docking speed : about 7,700 m/s

 

On the earth, 458 m/s docking speed is ....

Edited June 3, 2010 by icarus2
Consecutive posts merged.

[insane_alien]

T

Refer to :

ISS(International Space Station) docking speed : about 7,700 m/s

 

On the earth, 458 m/s docking speed is ....

 

when docking with the ISS the vessel is typically traveling at the same speed as the ISS so the relative velocities are tiny, at time of docking it is only a few centimeters per second, often slower. and you don't have atmospheric drag to consider.

 

docking withthe ISS is much much simpler.

[mulreay]

I've just flitted through this topic so forgive me if it is all ready covered. But you would also have to take into account 'moon wobble' the moon is not in a completely stationary orbit, apart from the fact it is slowly moving away. The moon also experiences a gravitational wobble as when the moon passes closer to the earth, the gravitational pull of the earth increases.

This may not seem significant when seen in video or if you plot the moons position over a month, but if you consider the length of the tether (distance from the moon to the earth) the wobble at the earth end would be massive.

 

You also seem to have shown the moon orbiting in a near perfect orbit, which is incorrect as the moon has (as most objects do) an elliptical orbit. So unless you could find a way to real in and out the tether it would eventually crash into the earth.

 

As I said I only skimmed the initial thread so these may already be covered.

[leveni]

I spoke with a NASA astronaut about 5 years ago and he had a pretty similar idea. He didn’t go into the detail like you have done. His idea was to have an elevator from earth to space only, for the transport of raw materials from other planets.

[mulreay]

I spoke with a NASA astronaut about 5 years ago and he had a pretty similar idea. He didn’t go into the detail like you have done. His idea was to have an elevator from earth to space only, for the transport of raw materials from other planets.

 

 

This is hardly a new concept, in fact this has been puzzled over for quite some time.