[HN Gopher] Space travel via tether between asteroids ___________________________________________________________________ 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. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-09-01 23:00 UTC)