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Re: starship-design: Tidal forces
At 12:57 PM 11/5/96, Timothy van der Linden wrote:
>>>>>Why can't it be a fixed frame? I don't see a problem about it.
>>>>
>>>>A fixed frame hudreds of thousands of miles across? Aside from problems of
>>>>structural strength, and lack of stiffness. What planet would you convert
>>>>into the framework?
>>>
>>>There are enough asteroids around to get the necessary materials from.
>>>About lack of stiffness and structural strength, I guess that depends on the
>>>way the array is constructed.
>>
>>Its still not practical to try to build a solid structure the size of a
>>jovian planet. It wound be stiff, and will have a lot of trouble with
>>tidal forces. Its simpler and cheaper to just have a lose swarm of
>>syncronized transmitter platforms that wander around as need be.
>
>What tidal forces?, in orbit around the Sun the gravitational pull from
>other planets is minimal.
>(In fact the gravitational pull from the Sun on planets is already very low,
>for Mercury the acceleration towards the Sun is only 0.004g)
>
>Tim
Tidal forces varry acording to size. Given a structure a dozen times the
size of earth (and extrenmly unlikelt situation) it would have larger tidal
force. Certainly enough to keep it edge on to the sun.
Kelly
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Kelly Starks Phone: (219) 429-7066 Fax: (219) 429-6859
Sr. Systems Engineer Mail Stop: 10-39
Hughes defense Communications
1010 Production Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46808-4106
Email: kgstar@most.fw.hac.com
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