bridge to the moon

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Asguard

Kiss my dark side
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i was watching TV when there was an ad on for some show on lego which stated that there is enough lego blocks to build a bridge to the moon and back 10 times.

And the question which struck me was:

what would actually happen if we DID just build a bridge to the moon?
 
Well elevator to outer space has been considered one of the more viable methods of cheap space travel. It wouldn't be possible to link to the moon, but space elevator was proposed roughly 125 years ago.
 
true but i more ment what if you actually tried to build a road and WALK to the moon, i know its not geostationary but pretend it was
 
Asguard said:
true but i more ment what if you actually tried to build a road and WALK to the moon, i know its not geostationary but pretend it was
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The weight of the structure would be so great after just a few miles up that it would collapse upon itself. An impossible task in todays world. Also the moon revolves around the Earth making a stationary bridge impossible as well.
 
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Link of earth with moon in the shape of bridge is impossible thing for without any support in between space of Earth and Moon it won't stay there for a minute. And what about asteroids and meteoroids roaming everywhere in the path of Moon and Earth. All we can have as a link with moon is some space capsule sort of thing to quickly send us alive on the surface of moon on time. :)
 
cosmictraveler said:
The weight of the structure would be so great after just a few miles up that it would collapse upon itself.
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Er, if it's a bridge it's fastened at both ends - the load is transferred to a degree.

Also the moon revolves around the Earth making a stationary bridge impossible as well.
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And Asguard DID state: i know its not geostationary but pretend it was.

murdoch said:
Link of earth with moon in the shape of bridge is impossible thing for without any support in between space of Earth and Moon it won't stay there for a minute.
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Huh?
Have you ever heard of a suspension bridge? What "holds them up in the middle"?
 
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If it was ever done (which it wouldn't be), I hope the design considers the problems that the designer neglected for Millenium Bridge @ London As initially it swung because of people walking across it which if untreated could of ended in structural failure.

(And of course we can have comments now on how their is a lack of gravity, making it a little difficult to "Walk" the bridge, or how the bridges centre would go through a LaGrangian Point, but that's the nature of discussion and potential trolls)
 
Styder i was actually about to ask that, everyone so far has delt with how its impossible because of the strength of the materials but so far no one has delt with the second bit

So you have your infinatly strong lego and built the bridge, you have acounted for swaying in the breze and whatever else and the moon is geostationary.

So you get your pressurised kit which recycles water and O2 and turns sunlight into food (ie there is no requirement problems) BUT the suit is just a "normal" kind of space suit (ie no heat shielding)

Now you set off to walk to the moon, as you go up it should get easier to climb shouldnt it? so there should be no PHYSICAL problems with actually walking, sure in the middle you would have to make it more of a ladder than a bridge and pull yourself along because of the low gravity but it should be possible. OR am i missing some other obsicle?
 
Dywyddyr

Er, if it's a bridge it's fastened at both ends - the load is transferred to a degree.
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True but the weight still would bring it down because of the distance involved.

Asguard

Now you set off to walk to the moon, as you go up it should get easier to climb shouldnt it?
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250,000 miles is a very long way to walk so you would be saturated with radiation in a few months, probably enough to make you sick and as time passed you would eventually succumb to the radiation and die on the way there.
 
cosmictraveler said:
True but the weight still would bring it down because of the distance involved.



250,000 miles is a very long way to walk so you would be saturated with radiation in a few months, probably enough to make you sick and as time passed you would eventually succumb to the radiation and die on the way there.
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umm isnt that what a space suit is designed to protect you AGAINST?
 
Let's see:
20 miles per day walking for approximately 250,000 miles would suggest 12,500 days or about 34 years and 2 1/2 Months.
8 litres of air per minute, 480 litres per hour, 11,520 litres per day., that's 144,000,000 litres of air required.

That's just the distance and breathing, don't even get started on the food a person would eat, the waste they would secrete and the number of absent minded thoughts had while passing the time away.
 
Dywyddyr said:
Huh?
Have you ever heard of a suspension bridge? What "holds them up in the middle"?
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Well, technically if we're foregoing the given that the scale of size we're talking about isn't actually possible - then hypothetically a standard arch would be sufficient.
 
Stryder said:
Let's see:
20 miles per day walking for approximately 250,000 miles would suggest 12,500 days or about 34 years and 2 1/2 Months.
8 litres of air per minute, 480 litres per hour, 11,520 litres per day., that's 144,000,000 litres of air required.

That's just the distance and breathing, don't even get started on the food a person would eat, the waste they would secrete and the number of absent minded thoughts had while passing the time away.
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Well obviously it could be covered, but that's unlikely to ever negate the food issue.
So... Railway bridge anyone?
 
Dywyddyr said:
Er, if it's a bridge it's fastened at both ends - the load is transferred to a degree.
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Then the load is under tension rather than compression. No known material can stand the strain. It would snap.

Have you ever heard of a suspension bridge? What "holds them up in the middle"?
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The tensile strength of the suspension cables.
 
billvon said:
Then the load is under tension rather than compression. No known material can stand the strain. It would snap.
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Granted. But we ARE talking more than slightly hypothetically.

The tensile strength of the suspension cables.
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Yup, but that a reply to:
Originally Posted by murdoch
Link of earth with moon in the shape of bridge is impossible thing for without any support in between space of Earth and Moon it won't stay there for a minute
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;)
 
Dywyddyr said:
Er, if it's a bridge it's fastened at both ends - the load is transferred to a degree.
middle"?
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A lot of bridges are loose at one end . For contraction and expansion . They will have a slip joint at one end of the bridge . Maybe not where you are but in the U.S. it is common . If the bridge is exceptional long it could have other methods of expansion joints . What ever the structural engineer says. That is what they get

The earth anchor mass to the Moon anchor mass would be a huge obstetrical to over come I think. If the bridge was connected to both as a dead man to hold the cables in place . Might jerk the Moon right into the earth and man that would be the shits . That would be one big dent in the earth . It would take all the auto body workers a long time to fix that . That would be a big blunder . We need some expansion joints
 
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Me-Ki-Gal said:
A lot of bridges are loose at one end . For contraction and expansion . They will have a slip joint at one end of the bridge
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Er, yes. But that doesn't stop the load being transferred. "Fastening" has various methodologies.

What ever the structural engineer says. That is what they get
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Been there, done that.
 
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