• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
The Mooncable Project, as put onto Genie Spaceport Library files in 1988
*********************************Number: 480 Name: INTRO TO MOONCABLEAddress: J.E.D.CLINE1 Date: 880707Approximate # of bytes: 3780Number of Accesses: 33 Library: 3Description:Introduction to purpose and general function of Mooncable project, which is a Lunar tetherthrough L-1, made of Lunar fiberglass and carries a combined transportation and materialsprocessing function on a one-way trip. Purpose is to supply massive amounts of Lunarmaterials to Earth markets and LEO.Keywords: Mooncable,transportation,historical,elevator,tether,Moon---------------------------------INTRO NOTE TO MOONCABLE PROJECT PROPOSAL by J. E. D. ClineInexpensive homes being constructed of superior structural materials made in free-fallvacuum from Lunar raw materials? A construction project in space to strongly challenge theingenuity and daring of hard-working engineers, planting mankind's feet solidly in space?Would you like to see this happen? I offer an idea for your active support , with perhaps justsuch a potential. Please read it thoughtfully without preconception. It offers some chance forspace exploration to commercially pay for itself from here on out.(...this idea has such greatpotential significance that too great a time delay may cause an inability of our technology toimplement it in later years, or perhaps interest will have died too far by then.)I am proposing a specialized space transportation system, intended primarily to bring largequantities of materials from the Moon to the Earth, and from the Moon into a low (Earth orbit)gravitational level.Examination of the concept shows it has some very interesting properties. Elements of theidea are very old, the most basic comparable concept was used as long ago as when the firstape swung from one tree to another on a vine, to keep from having to climb down one andthen climb up another.A siphon has a more closely related characteristic, which transfers mass from a highergravitational level to a lower gravitational level yet bringing it up through a higher gravitationallevel than either the starting or ending level.Fundamentally, the transportation process converts the gravitational energy of a mass beingaccelerated by a gravitational field into electrical energy, which is then transfered across thegravitational hump, or saddle, which exists between the Moon and the Earth, and there theelectrical energy is reconverted into gravitational energy by lifting mass there. The spacialreference necessary for this process is provided by a tensile structure attached to the Moonand extending part way toward Earth. The stress on this structure consists of the weight of itsown mass, the weight of the electrical conductors, and the forces due to the live loads on thestructure, all extending through a varying gravitational field....James Edward David ClineWritten April 27-30, 1972
 
Input to GEnie Spaceport July 07, 1988The "Mooncable: Gravitational-Electric Siphon in Space" proposal will be uploaded to GEniewhen condensed to a reasonable size.*********************************Number: 485 Name: MOONCABLE PROJECTAddress: J.E.D.CLINE1 Date: 880717Approximate # of bytes: 16380Number of Accesses: 22 Library: 3Description:An unusual, highly specialized space transportation concept was generated to provide aprofit-making space enterprise. The concept offers highly energy efficient transportation ofpayload from the Lunar surface. Includes early calculations on a constant-stress cross-sectioncable.Keywords: Mooncable,transportation,maglev---------------------------------MOONCBL9By J. E. D. Cline, July 16, 1988The Earth's physical makeup has so many incredible coincidences that are needed for life toexist upon it, and The Earth's moon seems an extension of those coincidences in the possibleextension of Earthlife into space. The Lunar tides of earth's oceans upon her beaches hasstirred tidal life onto land from the sea; now the fact that the Moon always has the same faceturned toward the Earth, and its relatively large mass near the Earth, show promise of a majorstepping-stone for the extension of Earthlife into space. And the Lunar terrain is a potentialsource for raw materials for building space colony structures, closed-ecology very-large-spacecraft for exploration/colonization beyond the Earth-Moon system, and for exoticconstruction materials for use here on Earth such as foamed-nickel-iron-steel.Space transport systems are necessary to transfer material and energy from where it is now,over to where it will be needed. Theoretically there are alternatives to the traditional reactionengine propelled vehicles which use energy stored in propellants. The energy differentials inspace are another source of transportation energy. Picture the Earth and Moon as being twoadjacent depressions in a gravitational field. The Earth's depression is much deeper than thatof the Moon's, so it is imaginable that material might be "siphoned" from the shallowerdepression into the deeper one. Could an electromechanical analogy of a siphon beconstructed to move raw materials from the Lunar surface over to a somewhat deeper level inthe adjacent Earth's gravitational well, using the energy differential itself to power theprocess?The work involved in getting out of the Moon's gravitational well to L-1 is only about 800 watt-hours per kilogram; and going from L-1 to Earth requires each kilogram to give up about16,000 watt-hours of energy, so there is plenty of energy to tap off for use in lifting mass upfrom the Moon to L-1. Of course, most of the 16.5 KwHr/Kg must be dissipated in theatmospheric entry process after the payload leaves the end of the end of the "siphon". Withthe end of the siphon-like electromechanical transport system extending deeper into Earth'sgravitational well, surplus energy is produced which could be used to lift some of the payload
 
up only to L-1, and leave from there with relative ease toward other parts of space near theEarth-Moon system. L-4, L-5, Mars and the asteroid belt, here we come![Calculation reference point: the work performed in lifting all the way out of a planet'sgravitational well is the same as lifting out of a well which is one planet radius deep,with aconstant acceleration the same as found on the planet's surface (reference Arthur C. Clarke's"The Exploration of Space" p.33), orWork = G*M*m*(integral from 1 to infinity)1/(R**2) dRAs a hobby, by the end of 1971 I had worked out just such a conceptual system; then therewere extra Saturn 5 Moon rockets available from the Apollo flights that were cancelled, andthey could be used to emplace the "seed"electromechanical transport system. I called it theMooncable Project. It would be a profitmaking enterprise through the sale of space-environment processed materials originating on the Moon, processed and fabricated at L-1,and delivered for sale to Earth markets. Space exploration would henceforth pay for itself!(But the reality was that NASA was at that time starving for funds just for the Space Shuttleproject to be started soon; and anyway NASA was prohibited by charter from financiallysupporting profit-making enterprises...so said a letter to me from NASA's Inventions andContributions Board on June 23, 1972. With no income from my efforts, my wife soondivorced me, and it became apparent that my advertising of the Mooncable Project hadattracted the wrong kind of attention: I soon lost my house too and then my job...mere survivalbecame my focus of attention from then on.)The foundation analogy for this concept is that a siphon can draw water out of an aquariumwithout using a pump, and does it a lot easier than dipping it out by hand. Picture the Earthand Moon being two adjacent depressions in a gravitational field. The Earth's depression, orwell, is much deeper than that of the Moon's, so it is imaginable that payload mass might be"siphoned" from the shallower well into the deeper one. Basically this means that energygiven up by payload mass falling down Earth's gravitational well is used to perform the workof lifting up more payload mass from the Moon up toward the earth, thus forming aregenerative energy loop, self-sustaining, as is a siphon, so long as the output end is at alower gravitational energy level than is the input end.The work involved in getting out of the Moon's gravitational well is only about 800 watt-hoursper kilogram of payload; and going from the balance point between Earth and its moon, L-1,to Earth requires each kilogram of payload to perform about 16,000 watt-hours of work duringits decent to the Earth surface. So there is plenty of energy to tap off for use in lifting mass upfrom the Moon to L-1.The key is to find a way to transfer the energy from the descending mass over to lift the risingmass. One way might be to transfer energy electrically through superconductors linking thetwo masses; the superconductors could be part of a frictionless magnetic-levitation railroadtrack laid on a strong tensile structure coupling the two masses. Coupling the energybetween payload masses would be tractor motor-generators magnetically coupled to themaglev track, pouring energy into the track while braking the fall of mass down the earthsideend of the track, and consuming that energy by lifting more payload mass up the other side ofthe track. The Lunar surface spatial reference for this process is created by a very longtensile structure anchored on the Lunar surface and extending up through the balance pointL-1 and over into the Earth's gravitational well. At the end of this document, the originalcalculations are shown which show that fiberglass is strong enough for this application, if it isformed into a constant-stress cross-section cable. Glass is one of the most abundantmaterials found on the Lunar surface, making it ideal for building this very large tensilestructure.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...