The Hypersonic Skyhook
£5.00
R. Zubrin. (1995), JBIS, 48, pp.123-128
Refcode: 1995.48.123
Abstract:
In 1960, the Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda published an interview with engineer Y.M. Artsutanov containing a description of a novel means for Earth to Orbit transportation. In the Artsutanov scheme. a satellite placed in geostationary orbit would simultaneously extend cables down towards the Earth and in the opposite direction, keeping its centre of mass, and thus its orbit, constant. This procedure would continue until the lower cable reached the surface of the Earth, where it could be anchored and used to support elevator cabs.
