New answers tagged design-alternative
7
Update 2
The taper ratio formula seems to be correct. The crosscheck stress calculation error mentioned in the Update 1 below is found to be due to:
a) incorrectly calculated tether volume (and therefore mass). I assumed a linear change of cross section area across the tether length. In fact, to achieve the uniform strength, a logarithmic increase in erea ...
-2
"Drones" usually refer to quadcopters--which will do absolutely nothing in space or on the moon.
Also, I can't imagine how you're planning to catch your blobs of regolith. At the speeds it will be approaching you'll need a very strong (which means very heavy) catcher to avoid being smashed. There's no gravity to hold it down, it's just going to splash ...
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