Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 21 hours ago
That’s the least of the worries facing the construction of a skyhook. I don’t think Heinlein’s Kenya Beanstalk is possible. It would have to stretch out so far to defeat gravity that it would hit so many satellites. That’s the first issue that pops to mind.
spittingimage@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
That’s not really much of a concern unless you aim satellites directly at it. There’s plenty of space in space.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 16 hours ago
There’s so much debris in orbit from our space programs, it’s starting to form an entire layer around the planet. The risk of collision from this debris is constsntly growing.
CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
But there’s really not that much debris. Certain orbits can get packed but there’s plenty of availability. Also stuff in LEO deorbits pretty fast.
ilinamorato@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Kessler Syndrome. The worst part is that, at some point, the risk of collision becomes so great that the problem becomes self-perpetuating, further increasing the risk until we can’t leave Earth anymore.
T156@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Would it not be self-correcting in the end? The various bits of debris that form the Kessler cloud would collide so much that they would eventually fragment into little more than dust, or lose enough energy that they are no longer in a stable orbit.