I believe there are certain material matrices with exceptional strength: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359835X2400191XDo we have access to unobtainium for this thought experiment, or are we limited to existing materials?
An actual tower? I don't think current materials support that notion. A mountain of junk that happens to reach space? Sure, probably won't be very useful though. An elevator? Maybe, we're close to that technologically but we don't have the manufacturing capacity to create carbon nanotubes at that scale.So this is a question for the AT resident structural engineers (@Saylick ?) and maybe geologists and even space scientists: Can humanity build the Grand Tower of the World, with a minimum height of 105 KM (65.5 miles)? How large would its circumference need to be for stability reasons? What would a megastructure like that protruding out into space do to the Earth's orbital mechanics?
My understanding is that for the bean pole to work, it has to be built as a tensional structure where the outer mass is in geostationary orbit and provides constant tension on the whole structure. The bean pole would have to be considerably taller than 105 km. Rather than anchoring it to the ground, a floating mass as the base would allow the structure to adjust to tidal forces.I don't have experience in high-rise construction, but from what I understand, the major limiting factor in constructing a building that high is simply the strength of Earthly materials. You can only stack materials so high before the bottom-most portion crushes from the weight of the material above it.
Yeah, that's the good ol' space elevator concept. You'd need carbon nanotubes or something exotic like that for it to work.My understanding is that for the bean pole to work, it has to be built as a tensional structure where the outer mass is in geostationary orbit and provides constant tension on the whole structure. The bean pole would have to be considerably taller than 105 km. Rather than anchoring it to the ground, a floating mass as the base would allow the structure to adjust to tidal forces.
So we would need to dig a deep ditch filled with water? Or use giant springs?Rather than anchoring it to the ground, a floating mass as the base would allow the structure to adjust to tidal forces.
Build it on a platform in the ocean. The floating part would be captive.So we would need to dig a deep ditch filled with water? Or use giant springs?
Trying to build a platform that big in the ocean would be an even bigger undertaking, no? At least when building upwards, they can stop at a certain height if the wobbling becomes too much to handle. But building the platform in the ocean would take far greater resources and time and the construction teams wouldn't be able to start building upwards until the platform is at least able to handle a few kilometers of height.Build it on a platform in the ocean.
Just for that, I'm going to build one. I'll start by saving toilet paper tubes.Rather than science this I'm just going to go with a straight "Hell no! No chance."
No, no, no, it's turtles all the way down, not trees.Trying to build a platform that big in the ocean would be an even bigger undertaking, no? At least when building upwards, they can stop at a certain height if the wobbling becomes too much to handle. But building the platform in the ocean would take far greater resources and time and the construction teams wouldn't be able to start building upwards until the platform is at least able to handle a few kilometers of height.
WHAT IF, we looked to Mother Nature for help and grew giant trees, some huge desalination plants to feed the trees with fresh water and then built platforms on top of such trees to support further tree plantations and so on?
Going to need some duct tape and dried spaghetti as well!Just for that, I'm going to build one. I'll start by saving toilet paper tubes.