Pyramid Skyscraper To Orbit?

[All Seeing Eye]

What always surprises me is why people post questions like this in the first place, considering finding the answer yourself is simple enough with a few Google searches. You want to know how big the base would be for a pyramid whose top would peek out of the atmosphere? You Google the thickness of the atmosphere, add a bit to it and there's the height of the structure, then just Google the dimensions of some earthly pyramids, spend a minute with a calculator, and there's the answer.

I wanted to discuss more than just the base size of the Pyramid which is why there were further questions in the original post. If you don't like my threads don't post in them.

"Orbit" was obviously a poor choice of words, but he wasn't suggesting a pyramid that sent things into orbit, just a tall structure where the top of it was just oustside the atmosphere.

...and that poor choice and its ilk are the crux of the problem. They are the reason I've suggested that Taccy go get some more learnin'. Those basic errors, misconceptions and wild-eyed schemes suggest that a more powerful engine needs to go under the hood, and Taccy has the power to make it so if he chooses.

What is orbit? it's pretty much anywhere beyond the atmosphere. Orbit is just the term used to describe something circling the planet and things circle the planet in the vacuum of space beyond the atmosphere.

The fact is that even though I said orbit I explained exactly and clearly what I meant by that term in my original post. Therefore to come in here and pretend you haven't seen it and pretend you think I want a pyramid 22,000 or so miles up is blatantly trolling.

I'm sick and tired of you people coming in here and getting away with trolling my damn threads all the time.

 

[Chris_Johnston]

When I saw the title of the thread, I thought it was gonna be about this clip that hit the Net a few days ago...

Berlin TV tower - lift off on Vimeo

 

[Alpha_Geek]

What is orbit? it's pretty much anywhere beyond the atmosphere. Orbit is just the term used to describe something circling the planet and things circle the planet in the vacuum of space beyond the atmosphere.

Nope, wrong. Again, with the basic misunderstandings! It's quite possible to be beyond the atmosphere and not be in orbit. An excellent excample is the return trajectory of any Apollo lunar mission. They left lunar orbit, and and pretty much fell the 250,000 miles back to Earth without being in Earth orbit..

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit

In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body, for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star.

 

[sojourner]

What is orbit? it's pretty much anywhere beyond the atmosphere. Orbit is just the term used to describe something circling the planet and things circle the planet in the vacuum of space beyond the atmosphere.

Wrong on both counts. Space is generally defined as pretty much anything beyond the atmosphere and more specifically defined as anything beyond 100km altitude. Orbit is the act of circling another body in a gravitational balance between the pull of that body and the speed of the object going around it. It is possible to orbit in the atmosphere, the down side being that friction with the atmosphere will degrade the orbit and require reboosts of the object's speed.

If you're going to clarify yourself at least make sure you get the facts right. Otherwise it just makes you look worse.

Now, in all fairness I understood that when you said "orbit" in your original post you ment "edge of space" but you are going to continue to get these kind of responses from people if you don't work on being more accurate with your original intent instead of making us guess what you actually mean.

 

[Squiggy]

Hell. The ISS is over 300 kilometers up and still has to have periodic orbital adjustments because even it isn't totally out of the atmosphere.

 

[Lindley]

Space is generally defined as pretty much anything beyond the atmosphere and more specifically defined as anything beyond 100km altitude.

The actual altitude depends on whom you're asking. 100km is the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale definition. The USAF defines space as only 50 miles, though.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Right, so what you're all saying to me is that "orbit" has no actual height/distance from the Earths surface and would therefore need some kind of clarification, a clarification that I put into my original post when I said that by orbit I meant 75 miles up where the atmosphere borders the vacuum of space.

 

[Trekker4747]

Right, so what you're all saying to me is that "orbit" has no actual height/distance from the Earths surface and would therefore need some kind of clarification, a clarification that I put into my original post when I said that by orbit I meant 75 miles up where the atmosphere borders the vacuum of space.

Well, again, there's no border "cut off point" between the atmosphere and the vacuum of space. The air just gets thinner and thinner as you go up until it gets so thin that it isn't there no more. But there's no instant cut-off point.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Oh, the humanity! Actually, Newton described such a pyramid (well, a mountain really) in Principia. Maybe Tachy would feel more at home in the 17th century.

Here's a nice applet for you to consider:

http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/flashlets/NewtMtn/NewtMtn.html

Right, that's enough cannonballs for one day.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Right, so what you're all saying to me is that "orbit" has no actual height/distance from the Earths surface and would therefore need some kind of clarification, a clarification that I put into my original post when I said that by orbit I meant 75 miles up where the atmosphere borders the vacuum of space.

Well, again, there's no border "cut off point" between the atmosphere and the vacuum of space. The air just gets thinner and thinner as you go up until it gets so thin that it isn't there no more. But there's no instant cut-off point.

I understand what you are saying but really there is a cut off the point, the cut off point is where the last of the gas molecules/atoms are and thereafter it becomes vacuum. A guestimate would be 75 miles up.

 

[Scout101]

and what's the benefit of the pyramid reaching that height?

 

[Lindley]

There are occasional particles floating around in "vacuum", too, so you pretty much have to draw an arbitrary line somewhere.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

and what's the benefit of the pyramid reaching that height?

Whoever said there had to be a benefit to it?

 

[Trekker4747]

and what's the benefit of the pyramid reaching that height?

Whoever said there had to be a benefit to it?

Usually when you spend billions (trillions?) of dollars on a project employing thousands of people to build something over the course of scores of years the end-goal should be some net "benifit" or return on the project to make it worthwhile.

Otherwise you're just pissing up a rope.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

and what's the benefit of the pyramid reaching that height?

Whoever said there had to be a benefit to it?

Usually when you spend billions (trillions?) of dollars on a project employing thousands of people to build something over the course of scores of years the end-goal should be some net "benifit" or return on the project to make it worthwhile.

Otherwise you're just pissing up a rope.

Last I checked nobody was building it or saying it should be built.

 

[Scout101]

so, to be clear, no one is suggesting this should be built, nor can anyone come up with a benefit or clear reason to do so, or reason why it should be 75 miles high vs 10 miles high vs 100 stories tall?

So...?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

so, to be clear, no one is suggesting this should be built, nor can anyone come up with a benefit or clear reason to do so, or reason why it should be 75 miles high vs 10 miles high vs 100 stories tall?

So...?

So??

I made it clear why I started the thread.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

A "rockoon" might be a better and cheaper solution for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockoon

 

[Squiggy]

Right, so what you're all saying to me is that "orbit" has no actual height/distance from the Earths surface and would therefore need some kind of clarification, a clarification that I put into my original post when I said that by orbit I meant 75 miles up where the atmosphere borders the vacuum of space.

Well, again, there's no border "cut off point" between the atmosphere and the vacuum of space. The air just gets thinner and thinner as you go up until it gets so thin that it isn't there no more. But there's no instant cut-off point.

I understand what you are saying but really there is a cut off the point, the cut off point is where the last of the gas molecules/atoms are and thereafter it becomes vacuum. A guestimate would be 75 miles up.

No. Your guestimate is wrong.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Shaka, when the walls fell.