So many ways that would not work...starting with the need for supersonic design of the building to withstand the speed it will be going as it crosses the equator twice a day. Somewhat mitigated by the fact the bottom end has to be above some 22,000 feet, to avoid smacking into the Andes on the south end of its "orbit".
Seems to be ignoring other benefits and risks.
> Dropping a cable from geo orbit means that EVERYTHING orbiting below has to avoid the cable, which will be non-trivial
> Electrodynamic tether could obviate the solar panels, which would drastically improve the required footprint in orbit, and possibly supply way more power than solar panels could
> Winds aloft are non trivial; without some sort of anchor, the building would sway, nutate, and vibrate big time
> The drag forces on the building will mean that station-keeping is going to be a non-trivial task
TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
The meaning of the phrase "the design" has certainly loosened-up in recent years.
A similar sort of 'news' recently: NASA is working on "the design" of a Faster Than Light spaceship. They've got the floor plan done, carpets and curtains picked out, and nifty paint scheme designed. Just a few final details to be resolved, such as that trivial detail about FTL travel still being an impossibility.
I once met the "designer" of the 2nd gen Ford GT. Making small talk, I started asking him technical questions about the hows and whys of some of its unique design elements. His eyes glazed over. The engineers that made his "design" happen are stuck back in their hole working to make the next rock-star designer's shape actually function in the real world...
That's why I call them stylists. Confusing things further the design and releasing engineer is usually called a design engineer, but is actually mostly a project engineer. So my resume i could write wheel design engineer without actually having done any work on the shape of the wheel directly, except when I developed a corrected profile for the wheelweight flange on one rim.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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