lcc.bob@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU (Bob English) (01/17/86)
> From: Robert Elton Maas <REM@imsss> (this host known locally only) > Subject: can't use flexible tether as if it were a rigid lever > dietz@SLB-DOLL.CSNET (Paul Dietz) writes: > D>Even if they aren't used for launching things, tethers may be very > D>useful for generating angular momentum in spinning space structures. > Andrew Folkins replies: > AF> Umm, what stops the cables from just wrapping around the station? This > AF> scheme would work, but you would need rigid 'towers' instead of cables, > Indeed, I missed that point in original reading of Dietz's idea, the > idea is nonsense because flexible objects don't transmit torque which > is how levers work in the first place. Flexible tethers can indeed generate torque--they just need a lever arm to pull on. After you've fired the rockets, you start reeling in the cables until they stop relative to the station. You can then fire the rockets again to continue the process. Of course, if you've got light rockets, you'll have to pull 'em in awfully fast. --bob--