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Copyright 2005 James E. D. Cline.

Characteristics of Space EscalatorCarousels vs. Space Elevators

James E. D. Cline

Exploring the similarities and differencesbetween the anchored tether earth SpaceElevator concept and the Space EscalatorCarousel concept

For more info, visit www.kestsgeo.com


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Background

The efforts to build transportation structures betweenground and space, via anchored tether elevator andenergy strengthened structures, have been parallelefforts to gain adequate access to space before

resources become sufficiently limited to preventfurther economical space access.

Conventional launch vehicle access to high earthorbit is extraordinarily extravagantly wasteful of energy, a mere 15.7 KWh/Kg portion is all that isactually given to payload by lifting it from theground at the equator up into GEO.


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Overall comparisons between space escalatorcarousel vs elevator

Both the Space Elevator and the Space Escalator Carousel have the potential to bypass theextraordinary energy inefficiency of rocketry spaceaccess from the ground, in a time when energy is

becoming very expensive, perhaps to cripplinglevels.

Electrically lifting spacecraft's payloads to high earth

orbit could finally enable the 1960's concept of SSPSto be built there in GEO, and similarly an incrediblearray of other things of great usefulness tocivilization would become possible.


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Overall comparisons between space escalatorcarousel vs elevator

The space elevator's shape is linear, to out beyondGEO for counterweight balance, GEO connection isabove ground terminal site.

The space escalator carousel's shape is elliptical,

encircling the planet, its GEO connection is above theopposite part of planet relative to ground terminal

point.


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Supporting their huge structure's weight The space elevator utilizes the centrifugal force on

counterweight mass out beyond GEO to balance theweight of anchored tether below GEO, thus extremetensile strength to mass ratio tether material is needed.

The space escalator carousel's weight is centrifugallysupported by stored kinetic energy within the planet-encircling structure, thus requires only conventionalstrength materials.


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Supporting their huge structure's weight The escalator carousel's shape being approximately that

of an orbital transfer trajectory between earthequatorial surface, looping around the planetelliptically to reach GEO above the opposite side of theearth; the armature mass streams travel on inductivemaglev tracks sufficiently faster than orbital velocity as to create outward centrifugal force somewhat greater than that needed to counterbalance the weight of thestationary part of the structure with its loads.


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Supporting the structure's weight Laterally-coupled tracks carry sets of counter-rotating

armature mass streams, both to provide upward-boundkinetic energy on both sides of the planet, and to

balance gyroscopic precession forces. It's basic conceptual complexity is similar to the

common CD drive in one's computer, with itscombination of rotary and linear synchronous electricmotor functions.


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They are very different in the way theylift payload from ground to space

The elevator's vehicles need carry an energy source toclimb up and down the tether, or need to receivetracking laser beam energy from ground or GEO.

In the escalator carousel, vehicles are lifted by tappinginto the upward kinetic energy flowing within thestructure itself


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The escalator carousel directly lifts spacecraft Spacecraft vehicles inductively tap into the upward

momentum of high velocity mass stream energy all theway between ground and GEO, lifting spacecraft

Specific increases in input energy, at the ground site

accelerator, are added for each vehicle added, thushundreds of vehicles can be lifted at any given time. Much of the returning vehicles energy is reclaimed by

the carousel, increasing overall efficiency.


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Not passive, instead a dynamic structure It may be worth noting that the carousel space escalator

to GEO is a dynamic transportation structure, in thatthe continuous flow of kinetic energy within thestructure is integral to the structure as the materialswith which it is made.

It is like the air pressurizing ones cars tires, or thewhirl of a lasso, in that the continuous storage of energy is a requirement of structural formation.


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Escalator Carousels support mechanism Mass streams in continuous circulation around the

planet, constrained to a quasi-Orbital Transfer Trajectory tracks path, so the mass streams velocityabove orbital velocity appears as outward, upwardrelative to the planet it circulates around, centrifugalforce against the track structure.

Velocity would thus be set to provide an outward forceslightly in excess of that required to balance the force

of gravity on the earth-stationary portion of thetransportation structure with its loads, preventingcollapse and providing some stiffening of the overallstructure, much as a tethers upward bias does.


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Escalator Carousels technologies Major technologies needing development for the space

escalator are the sliding armature energy-momentumtransfer technology, including the magnetic track technology for sliding the armatures traveling within ahard vacuum environment at up to possibly 40 km/s.

And the electromagnetic coupling systems thatsynchronously input energy at the earth surfaceterminal site; and extract electrical energy and couplemomentum all along the structure as needed.


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Delivering power to lift vehicles

Vehicles on the space escalator carousel inductivelyextract energy from the armature mass streamcirculating throughout the structure, thus they need

carry no energy source nor depend on receiving energy beamed from elsewhere.


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Extracting energy from decending vehicles

Much of their descending energy can be returned to thetransportation structures system, also increasingefficiency.

For example, descending braking along the curved

structure downward has an outward vector component,lifting the structures mass thus putting energy back into the system.


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Differences in Operational Characteristics The circulating armature mass streams within the

carousel store a huge amount of energy, yet any that issurplus to provide the tensile structural upward biasand to provide energy to coast along during temporary

power input outages, has to be taken up by strength of

materials of the stationary part of the structure with itsmaglev tracks.

This creates a finite limit to how long the structure canstay in place if a major surface electromagnetic driver cessation occurs


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Differences in Operational Characteristics

So perhaps it is possible to design the structure so as to

be able to dynamically rack up sections of thestationary structure within the earth surface terminal,coherently shrinking the perimeter of the carousel soas to maintain overall tensile outward bias while all

vehicles are offloaded at the ground terminal duringthe power emergency; when power input is restored,the unracking of structural sections would be begununtil it is back up to GEO-reaching size again.


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If the effective structural density is less than that of

high altitude air at this point, and air-excluding tubingcontinues to surround the maglev tracks, the structurecould float in the atmosphere until the emergency isresolved, then the unracking of sections would begin.

In fact, this scenario hints at other possible ways for emplacing such a structure.


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Operational characteristics of the escalator carousel

would involve complex interrelated servopositioningsystems embedded within the system, in constantactivity to control positions of the structures

perimeter, armature segments, and vehicles along the

structures exterior, analogous to a mixture of flying ahuge airplane and running a nationwide railwaysystem, integrated continuously, and mostlyautomated.


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Transportation interface comparisons

The logistics of interconnecting the earth surfacetransportation systems to the lifting structures isdifferent.

Ocean going freighters could bring cargo to and from

ports around the world to the ocean-anchored tether elevator site.


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Transportation interface comparisons

However, the simple version of the carousel escalator would need to be built in a high mountain tunnel suchas the Ecuadorian Andes mountains on the equator.

So the logistics of moving payload to that formidable

location from various parts of the earth would likelyinvolve roadways, conventional railroads, and possiblysome airlifting to the structures ground accelerationsite terminal, for embarkation to and from GEO.


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Simultaneous Use of both Kinds of Structures

There may be potential for building both the carousel

and tether structures, interconnecting them where theycross in space in the equatorial plane. This could enable multiple embarkation points with

their options for connecting to conventional groundtransportation systems, utilizing the best characteristicsof each system to advantage.


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Simultaneous Use of both Kinds of Structures A combined structure, where the carousel does not go to

GEO, nor does the tether go to the ground, but insteadthe top of the carousel escalator far below GEO, wouldanchor to the bottom end of a tether which goes beyondGEO for counterbalance, might enable use of existing

conventional tether materials such as vacuum-fabricatedfiberglass, while still enabling access to high earth orbit. The dynamic complexity seems a bit challenging,

however.


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Notes on Anchored Tether Space Elevators

The configurations of potential anchored tether spaceelevators are strongly influenced by the ratio of strength to mass ratio of the tether material.

If the ratio is somewhat under 81 KPa or greater, atether of constant cross-section is possible.


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Given that, it seems possible to use ancient pulleytechniques, where pulleys at each end, or a pulley atGEO with an attached fixed counterweight beyondGEO, could have one side of the ribbon lift payload,

while the downside of the tether ribbon returnsefficiently to earth minus payload, or eventually couldtake down lunar and asteroidal payload as fullcounterbalance, making the process highly energyefficient.


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The pulley could be in the form of a long drum, withtwo sets of tether bands on the same long pulley,coupled with common bearing shaft, and rapidcounterbalance if one of the sets of tether ribbons

breaks. The diameter of this pulley needs to be greater than the

tether oscillation limits plus elevator car widths.


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The spacing between adjacent sets of tether ribbonsneeds to be wide enough to prevent a collapsingflailing tether from intersecting any other ribbon set.


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Notes On Space Escalator Carousel ConstructionTechniques

The seed micro cross-section structure will probablytake many tries before ready for scaling.

Designing it for a primary loop with two contra-rotating mass streams to each side, is a minimum seed

structure, so that equal mass counter-rotating massstreams exist and laterally balanced for precessioncontrol.


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It could be all the way to GEO; or with anaccordioning technique useful for bringing it downdeliberately, and re-raising it from ground site stackedsections, and could be to Low Earth Orbit or even stay

in atmosphere, flotation supported.


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One erection technique for the seed structure involves

the ground terminal site tunnel on the equator, de-spooling of a millimeter-diameter tubetrack carryingabove orbital velocity micro-armatures within in onedirection, which flow through the tubetrackway along

its curve providing support of the trackways weight,then when striking the end of the rising structure, is

bounced mostly backward such that it provides aforward thrust to the top end of the tubeway.


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It would be servo directed to guide it into theapproximate final Orbital Transfer Trajectory shapeuntil encircling the planet back to ground terminal sitewhere it must somehow quickly be locked into the

start of itself, or instead to meet with a version of itself having gone the opposite direction around the planet,and sliding linked together for the remainder of the

journey around the planet back to the ground terminal

site.


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Notes On Space Escalator Carousel Construction

Another is to use air floatation to support a seed

structure around the planet; once the stator has been soemplaced, armatures could be fed into it at highvelocity from the ground terminals mass drivers toenable the structure support itself dynamically; then

within the east-west equatorial tunnel ground terminalsite, evacuated facilities underground there to addsections of tubeways and incrementally increasestructure perimeter until reaching Geostationary Earth

Orbit access size.


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This latter technique provides insight for a full scale

structures gradual pull down from GEO into LEO or even into the atmosphere, then incrementally restored by adding full scale sections within the constructionhard vacuum tunnel site.


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Recalling that the upward force of the armature mass

streams supports a static mass equal to the mass of thearmature aggregate mass for each multiple of orbitaltransfer velocity minus one, therefore if the static massis equal to that of the armature mass (easy to think

about) then increasing to four times OTV it cansupport the static load of a non-running static tube andtrack equal to double the original static load mass,enabling exponential scaling construction doubling

girth every layer added.


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Each tube track layer completed then gets armaturemass stream injected into it and when one circuit timeis completed it too then can support next layer of construction load.

Once scaled to an operational capacity, even a

temporary one, the armature mass stream would needto be dropped to its normal operating velocity, saytwice Orbital Transfer Velocity.


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A mostly empty tubetrack stator form would bothenable more efficient differential lateral forceservopositioning by differential mass stream drag, aswell as disintegration higher in atmosphere in case of total catastrophic collapse of the structure.


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Maintenance and repair mechanisms and facilitiesneed to be integrated into the system right from the

beginning, such as the ability to pull out all thearmatures from any given group of mass streams upon

signal that a breach in some of the tubes has

occurred, then handcar trucks to go out and splicenew stator tubetrack sections into the damaged areas. Then the armatures are returned back into the repaired

stator tubetrackways.


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Morphing the variations in construction techniques

and their parameter amplitude ranges, at some early point would start benefiting by some academiccomputer facility and staff assistance for modeling,kept on track by continuous whole picture envisioningof effects of variations explored.


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Social impacts and issues

Increasingly, it becomes evident that mankind needs to

apply more wisdom to technologies applications, lestwe destroy our lives directly or by destroying our natural environmental support base.

Wisdom might be increased by focusing widely, inaddition to the narrow focus of intense linear thoughttoward scientific achievement.


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Social impacts and issues Integrating a concept which does not start paying

profits for one or two decades, with a social systemwhich increasingly depends on private corporationsR&D decisions which are in turn dependent on showingquick bottom line profits, means it wont be done.

Even the basic technology development wont be therefor corporations suddenly having to produce in thatdirection in the relatively near future.


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Social impacts and issues Both the anchored tether based space elevator and the

space escalator carousel, in their basic forms, wouldoccupy the earths equatorial plane at least out to GEO,and that space currently is the territory of many objectsincluding satellites belonging to many nations serving

different purposes. A collision would be catastrophic for both satellite and

structure; therefore a transition needs to be managed.


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Social impacts and issues Given economical access, all the existing satellite

functions could be done better from GEO, but notdirectly compatible with existing instruments which arerapidly multiplying, tending to lock in technologysoptions to provide growing room for civilization.


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Conclusions Both the Space Elevator and the Space Escalator

Carousel have the potential to bypass theextraordinary energy inefficiency of rocketry spaceaccess from the ground

Like any bridge, their presence unifies where chasm

previously made separate. Yet both structures would compete with existingsatellites, below GEO, for occupancy of the earthsequatorial plane at least out to GEO.


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Conclusions Early preparation of the basic design options for both

elevator and escalator carousel, and their correspondingsets of technologies would give the future more optionsfor comfortable growth, or maybe even survival of alarge portion of civilizations people.

Elevators need development of high power efficientlaser systems and tether materials; Escalator Carouselsneed development of sliding armature energy-momentum transfer technology. .


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Characteristics of Space Escalator Carousels

vs. Space Elevators

For more info, visit

www.kestsgeo.com

elevator carousel d

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