A Place to Stand

Previously I discussed how it is possible to build space elevators in pairs by locating one north of the equator & the other south. It is also possible to put more than one at either end so long as the lateral pull is balanced.

This may not be a total solution because, as the map shows, not everywhere in the northern hemisphere is matched by a non polar land mass & the same applies in reverse to Brazil.

I can see 3 possible technical solutions to this.
1 - Tethering to Antarctica, or in Brazil's case, Greenland. This produces a tether leaving the ground at close to horizontal with added lateral pull.
2 - Anchoring it to the sea bottom or to an artificial floating island in turn anchored to the sea bottom.
3 - "Anchoring" to a ship permanently stationed with its engine permanently running to produce southward tension (possibly nuclear powered).

All 3 would certainly add significant expense & might be unfeasible.

Otherwise the best option is to anchor it on an island which makes a number of very small islands in the southern hemisphere into valuable real estate.

New England as far south as New York is matched by southern Chile. The Juan Fernandez Islands off Chile match a line running through roughly the Appalachian line. Easter Island matches a line through the mid west. The Galapagos, being on the equator cannot provide a match. West of Easter Island there start to be a number of very small Polynesian islands or even reefs matching points on the US & Canadian west coast.

Japan, Korea & coastal China, where almost all Chinese live, are matched by Australia, with Indonesian islands extending further west, though they may be to close to the equator. Central India is matched only by some islands in the Chagos archipelago

Southern Africa matches Europe from Western Russia, just short of Moscow as far west as the Berlin-Rome line. West of that there are 2 islands - Gough, a normally uninhabited island at 9.935 west whose longitude kisses points on the west coast of Ireland & St Helena 5.45 west which matches a line running through Spain from Cadiz, Penzance in Cornwall & ....

Labels: Big Engineering, Science/technology, space