I am talking about gadgets we see in science fiction movies that obey the laws of physics of our universe and could theoretically be constructed, barring the limitations of materials, energy and time faced by our civilization at the moment.

  • @SethayyEnglish
    3•9 months ago

    I mean like you could do 10x the damage by just redirecting an asteroid or even just gunning it with a fairly aerodynamic ship, its fantasy

    But also the ideal elavator would have to be lightweight anyways so eith gravity it wouldnt work against itself, and therefore pretty easily able to burn up in the atmosphere (maximized surface area with the small size).

    Also they wouldn’t have to be that long, a stable orbit isn’t super high up there - more like 100km or so.

    And then again all this was about desolate planets in the first place

    • @[email protected]English
      2•9 months ago

      Space elevators need to have the majority of their mass higher than geostationary orbit to hold it up, which is 22000 miles above the earth. So I suppose it wouldn’t wrap around the planet more than once. And while true you can do more damage with an asteroid, it would be a far easier target for a terrorist group than something that far away.