> Space elevators are actually a possible idea being considered by scientists.
> The hard part is making a strong enough cable. And finding enough elevator music...
- We don't have a good ascent mechanism other than rockets - and then we might just use rockets without building an elevator.
- We don't have a good (and safe) descent mechanism.
- Maintenance? Protection from space debris? Protection from oscillations? Ground-protection if the elevator collapses?
This is dyson-sphere level of fiction. We can do back-of-the-napkin calcualtions on how things would work, but the practicalities make it completely impossible or impractical.
Most engineers would bring up a lot more issues than just finding a strong cable. Also, most attempts with e.g. carbon nanotubes have been abandoned ages ago https://www.newscientist.com/article/2093356-carbon-nanotube....
- We don't have a good ascent mechanism other than rockets - and then we might just use rockets without building an elevator. - We don't have a good (and safe) descent mechanism. - Maintenance? Protection from space debris? Protection from oscillations? Ground-protection if the elevator collapses?
This is dyson-sphere level of fiction. We can do back-of-the-napkin calcualtions on how things would work, but the practicalities make it completely impossible or impractical.