- #1
Eagle9
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- 10
Let’s imagine that the Space Elevator is built and we ascend to space with its cabin. The cabin stops temporarily at the altitude of 100 km (or a bit more) and then we release some object (sphere, hemisphere) downwards, the question is: what trajectory will it (object) follow when falling down?
In Wikipedia is written that:
“As the car climbs, the elevator takes on a 1 degree lean, due to the top of the elevator traveling faster than the bottom around the Earth (Coriolis force). This diagram is not to scale” (under the picture).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Elevator#Climbers
So, when the cabin ascends the cable will be bent due to Coriolis force as shown on the picture.
And I would like to know how exactly the object will fall that we will release from the cabin? Will it fall vertically (straight line) and hence continuously recede from east-going cable or will it fall in a curved line due to the same Coriolis force? I have read that if you release the object (never mind from Space Elevator or other) it will fall exactly vertically on the poles but not on the equator (the Space Elevator will be built on the equator). So, which trajectory will the object “choose”? There are two options:
1. Object falls vertically (red spheres)
2. Object fall along the cable (green spheres) and therefore the distance between cable and object remains the same (let’s forget about atmosphere’s resistance for a while).
I want to find the solution for the following problem: how to release some object from Space Elevator so that it not to cross/cut Space Elevator’s cable during falling down![Smile :smile: :smile:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
In Wikipedia is written that:
“As the car climbs, the elevator takes on a 1 degree lean, due to the top of the elevator traveling faster than the bottom around the Earth (Coriolis force). This diagram is not to scale” (under the picture).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Elevator#Climbers
So, when the cabin ascends the cable will be bent due to Coriolis force as shown on the picture.
And I would like to know how exactly the object will fall that we will release from the cabin? Will it fall vertically (straight line) and hence continuously recede from east-going cable or will it fall in a curved line due to the same Coriolis force? I have read that if you release the object (never mind from Space Elevator or other) it will fall exactly vertically on the poles but not on the equator (the Space Elevator will be built on the equator). So, which trajectory will the object “choose”? There are two options:
1. Object falls vertically (red spheres)
2. Object fall along the cable (green spheres) and therefore the distance between cable and object remains the same (let’s forget about atmosphere’s resistance for a while).
I want to find the solution for the following problem: how to release some object from Space Elevator so that it not to cross/cut Space Elevator’s cable during falling down