Re: starship-design: Going Up? Space Elevator: Next Stop, Earth Orbit

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/2/01 7:36:51 PM, nlindber@u.washington.edu writes:

>Neat article.  It seems like the nanotubes are the thing.  A question
>though.  Since nanotubes are (as i recall) electricly conductive, do you
>think it likely that friction with the atmosphere at lowerlevels, and
>photoelectric charging in space would tend to induce currents in the
>cable?  It seems reasonable to me that the potential between one part of
>the cable and another could be quite high.  Comments?
>
>Nels

Very true.  It would be a spectacular lightnight rod, and could cause arcing 
up to the orbit.