A similar whimsy that could be very profitable to one with the resources to construct it, is the following idea. This is a refinement of the idea of Arthur C. Clarke from the book "The Fountains of Paradise", about a geosynchronous satellite that made what became - in effect - a space elevator. But I do things a bit differently than good old Arthur. (Tip O'the hat to our resident planetary genius). If you are curious so far then you will understand what is to come.

Imagine the same mechanism of sending a satellite into geosynchronous orbit and then unfurling ultra-thin ultra-strong weighted tape (e.g., graphite, aerogel, etc) in two opposite directions, one toward the earth and the other away from it. As the tape is unfurled, the centrifugal force on the outward end and the centripetal force on the inward end cancel each other out, manifesting themselves in the form of taut tension along the super-strong tape. Additionally, the tape will be hugged on each side by two microscopically thin, parallel stripes of a good conductor like gold, or maybe even a super-conducting ceramic, which will be able to send a continuos current from one end to the other, through the entire length of the tape. The circuit on either side will be completed at the outer end of the tape, 64,000 miles away from the earth, double the altitude of geosynchronicity.

Keep in mind that after the entire string is unfurled, all 23000 miles of it in either direction, one end will be secured to an Earth Station while the other will be held out in space by it's own centrifugal momentum giving stability to the entire structure. Technicalities regarding the unfurling, like an ion-propelled dead weight on either end, can be discussed at a later time. This is only a concept paper. 

The biggest obstacle I see in this entire venture would be dealing with the atmosphere for the last 100,000 feet of the tape's decent. The finances are no big deal. There is no problem here that can't be worked out with all the brainpower on this planet. The tape would have to be captured once it's at ground level, and secured to a sufficiently strong anchored structure that would allow for absorption of sudden stresses due to reasons that will be discussed before we're done with this thought experiment.

On this one tape we will effectively have two inverted U's of a conductor, each of which heads up from the planet and goes through the satellite onto the far end of the tape before turning back and coming down. (Figures will follow soon.) The positive end of the wire on one side can be connected to the negative end on the other side, and now if we connect the remaining nodes to a simple battery, we will have a simple structure with a single coil on each side.

By itself this satellite will be nothing more than an intriguing experiment, and a difficult electromagnet - should the attempt be made to try this procedure with just a single tape. The power behind the idea is here. We launch one more satellite and set it about 10 meters apart from the first one. The position will be such that the tape, when it is unfurled, will be in the same plane as the first tape. Now we start unfurling the tape on this satellite as well. But here's where it gets easier now. Since we already have one tape descending through the atmosphere, we use it. We put a wheeled runner on the first satellite's terrestrially connected side and connect the new satellite's tape on it's earthward side to the runner. Now we roll it down to the earth station at the same rate as the spaceward side's unfurling. Eventual result, we now have two satellites, 10 meters apart and two tape/strings coming down to earth from them. Also, their opposite ends are reaching out into space to a total altitude of 64,000 miles.

The simple mental leap to make now is no more than connecting the free links on either side of the tape to make a coil with four loops, one on either side of each tape. And once we can do this for two satellites, we can do it for eight, or 16 in a larger circle. Of course the satellites will have to be connected to each other to ensure structural stability. Also, the outer end of the tape, previously free, will have to be connected by a non-conducting structure so that they don't flail in solar winds and, much more importantly, variable gravitational fields.

The simplicity of this structure, and the ease with which it will be able to raise aloft hefty weights, is incomparable to the $22,000 per pound that the International Space Station is currently costing us. I'll write about how it's going to work next.

[This paper is not done yet. It is a work in progress and will be completed in due time. If you are interested in the outcome, write to me. March 1999]

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