Space Elevators Could Be Lethal

Maggie McKee writes, "A new study reports that passengers on space elevators of current design could be killed by radiation. Even traveling at 200 kilometers per hour, passengers would spend several days in the Van Allen radiation belts, long enough to kill them." Looks like the elevator scientists will get this one solved before liftoff.

tinfoil hats

[Anonymous Coward]

will tinfoil hats help?

Thank you, whistleblower!!

[cliffiecee]

This is why the First Amendment is so important- to expose Corporate Greed! Greed which led space elevator manufacturers to produce elevators without the neccesary safety precautions. How many people have to DIE in the name of profit? How long will it be before space elevator travel is actually made safe? It should have been done BEFORE the elevators were even built, damnit!!

Thank you Maggie McKee, for planting a seed for the grassroots "Space Elevator Safety" movement!!

Re:Rockets?

[plover]

How much thrust would a rocket need to zip you through those sections if you waited to fire it until reaching, say, 500 - 800km?

How much thrust could a rocket thruster thrust if a rocket thruster could thrust rockets?

Stupid headline

[nsayer]

Space elevators can be lethal

So can regular ones [timesonline.co.uk]. Your point?

Just use a Mass Driver

[MrScience]

The solution, of course, is more speed! With a mass driver [wikipedia.org], and 1000+ Gs acceleration, you too can zip right through that hazardous Van Allen belt in record time!

Re:Aqua viva

[GIL_Dude]

Right, and since it expands when it freezes, the people in the "living compartment inside" will not only be frozen to death, they will also be squished.

Other risks!

[StikyPad]

Additionally, the space elevator is expected to be very tall, taking riders several miles above the surface of the earth where, experts say, they could fall to a harrowing death. And if that's not bad enough -- it turns out that if the earth were to suddenly stop spinning, the entire space elevator could come crashing back down to the ground!!! I, for one, will from now on refer to them only as "Space Elevators of Death!" in order to raise awareness about this potentially leathal issue!

Re:Go Fast

[MadCow42]

Sure, just eat at McD's for a month, and you'll go through all your belts in that timeframe. Supersize me!

MadCow.

Re:No! Take off your tinfoil hats!

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Lead Panties.

Who put all that junk in your trunk?

Re:worse than Stupid headline

[__aaclcg7560]

Except no one mentions the giant sea monster that can come along and snap the cable at the anchor. Lethal radiation will be the least of your concerns.

Re:Aqua viva

[isomeme]

Better yet, line the insides of the cars with several layers of frozen pizzas; the passengers can eat them from the outside in as they pass through the radiation belts.

Re:Aqua viva

[HolyCrapSCOsux]

While it is up there, the water will be processed through the humans. The water used in the trip down will have a nice soothing yellowish tint.

Well known effects of Van Allen Belt radiation...

[Microsift]

Everyone knows exposure to this radiation is nearly always benign...in fact, 75% of the people exposed to this radiation found it to be beneficial. The remaining 25% were less pleased, apparently having super-strength and near invulnerability does not make up for the fact that one's body is covered with rocks and people call you a "Thing."

No, you fool!

[nightsweat]

If you eat the pizza you destroy your shield!

And just where do you think you're going to get pizza for the return journey. No, my friend, these are critical protective pizzas, not for eating. In space, there are no wood-burning ovens. Or mozarella.

Order the pizzas frozen from Domino's so you won't be tempted to actually eat them.

Who cares about it being a little more expensive

[patio11]

Its already probably a trillion dollars give or take an order of magnitude -- what is another 2%? (But don't worry, kids, after we have it we'll find a way to get a trillion dollars out of it! I mean, we could sell tickets to the space hotel for like a billion dollars each! Then we'd only need to find a thousand sucker billionaires and a space hotel!)

Re:Aqua viva

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, it's obvious! Dehydrate it, then when you reach space, just add wate...damn!

Re:Aqua viva

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as my liver is soaking up 'shine, I'm sure I'll be too smashed to care.

Menswear

[wittmania]

"375,984,751,127th floor: Menswear, sportswear, and lethal doses of radiation."

Re:Yeah...

[dsginter]

You forgot:

"Yeah - And I'm a Chinese jet pilot."

Re:Aqua viva

[Anonymous Coward]

Better start collecting urine.

Re:No, you fool!

[Chris Burke]

If you eat the pizza you destroy your shield!

The pizza shield would be extra thick, for extra safety and to ensure a reasonable amount could be eaten without endangering the passengers.

And just where do you think you're going to get pizza for the return journey.

Once we have the space elevator, lifting an automated pizzaria into space would be relatively cheap.

Re:No, you fool!

[nightsweat]

So we're going to rely on bigger and bigger pizza pies to protect our bigger and bigger space investments? My god, man, you're talking about a pizza larger than we're capable of baking. And think of the tomatoes necessary for such an operation!

I forsee a Pepperoni gap between us and the Russkies.

Killed?

[seebs]

... Or given SUPERPOWERS!

You guys can't fool me, I saw that documentary about those people on the space station. I wanna be the one who can be all stretchy!

Re:No, you fool!

[Chris Burke]

So we're going to rely on bigger and bigger pizza pies to protect our bigger and bigger space investments? My god, man, you're talking about a pizza larger than we're capable of baking. And think of the tomatoes necessary for such an operation!

Yes! Space-based pizza infrastructure doesn't have the inherent weight problem that a ground-based one does, so we could theoretically build truly gigantic pizza ovens, powered with nuclear weapons. Let's ressurect Cold War tech for the Cold Pizza War!

I forsee a Pepperoni gap between us and the Russkies.

I'm afraid it's the Italians we'll have to be worried about. I hear they're already planning a space-based pizza-pie so large that with it's crust side facing earth it would appear as large and bright as the moon from the ground. It's codenamed Amore, and I hear they already have a nationalistic song about it.

We could go on for days :)

Re:Aqua viva

[Tatarize]

So the guy goes to his doctor and says.

"Hey Doc, everytime I use my space elevator to go to geosync orbit I die of radiation in the Van Allen belt!"

The doctor looks at him and says, "Then don't do that!".

Just let the humans off at LEO and keep sending the Sats and such up to GSO.

Re:Math error?

[nizo]

Next hurdle to overcome: how to keep from going batshit insane while riding in an elevator for 7.5 days.

Re:Math error?

[Venik]

They better have a state-of-the-art air purification system in this elevator. And make sure there are no Taco Bells anywhere within a 500km radius of the base station. I love Taco Bell and I have to ride an elevator to the 24th floor to work every day. I have first-hand knowledge of potential problems in such a situation.

Re:Math error?

[ozmanjusri]

how to keep from going batshit insane while riding in an elevator for 7.5 days.

Perhaps if they played light, pleasant music continuously in the background, it would calm the passengers and make them think tranquil thoughts.

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