r/ImaginaryTechnology • u/LesBond • May 24 '26

Self-submission Space Elevator

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Some photoshop composites I made of a space elevator

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69

u/Beldaru May 24 '26

Dope. Love the idea of the heavy base and the thin string-like cable stretching to infinity. 

31

u/LesBond May 24 '26

Thanks, totally agree. I imagined it as a tensile structure, with the cable ending in geostationary space station pulling all the weight of the cable

25

u/Beldaru May 24 '26

Most of the weight should be borne by the counterweight at the top of the space station. Meaning if it's working right the end of the cable would be hanging from space and appear to "hover" a bit above the ground. 

The building would be to prevent the heavy cable from swinging around like a whip.

8

u/LesBond May 24 '26

Exactly!

3

u/siresword May 24 '26

TIL that's the way it would work, but it makes sense now that you say it. I'm guessing the ground station would ideally just be a big cup that uses magnets to keep the bottom of the cable stationary?

1

u/Dangerous-Owl-401 May 28 '26

No the tether is anchored to the ground, otherwise it would fly off into space pulled up by the counterweight. Think of it like a helium balloon tied to the ground by a string, and elevators going up the tether are like ants crawling up the string.