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nuclear tan
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Say you have a space elevator 47000 km* long (well past the point where centripetal acceleration cancels out gravity)
There is a vehicle traveling up the cable with a pretty high velocity, and instead of braking it just shoots off the top. (assume the counter weight allows this)
At the instant the vehicle leaves the cable, itwould be traveling at the magnitude of the normal and tangential velocity... I think.
Would it slow as it escapes Earth's gravity, or has that already been taking care of?
Now I apologize if this is the wrong forum.
This isn't homework, it's just something I have been thinking about.
*fyi I read about this enormous length in a NASA pdf...
There is a vehicle traveling up the cable with a pretty high velocity, and instead of braking it just shoots off the top. (assume the counter weight allows this)
At the instant the vehicle leaves the cable, itwould be traveling at the magnitude of the normal and tangential velocity... I think.
Would it slow as it escapes Earth's gravity, or has that already been taking care of?
Now I apologize if this is the wrong forum.
This isn't homework, it's just something I have been thinking about.
*fyi I read about this enormous length in a NASA pdf...