Non-rocket Earth-Mars transport system

Alexander A.Bolonkin

National Research Council at Eglin AFB, USA

The author offered and computed a new permanent cable transport system that connects a Pole of Earth and Mars orbit. This system allows the Connection of Earth and Mars during 1-1.5 months every 1.7-2 years when they are nearest to each other and to transport people and useful loads to Mars and back. The system has big advantages because it uses the transport engine located on Earth, but it also requests the high strength cable be constructed from nanotubes.

This manuscript contains an equation of equal stress, which connects the Earth and Mars orbit. That contains also the computed parameters of the suggested system.

In the older idea, a space elevator is connected between a geosynchronous space station and the Earth by cable. This cable is used to deliver a payload to the station. The main problems are the very large cable weight and a delivery of energy for movement of the load container.

In the proposed method, a cable transport system is permanently connected from the Earth Pole to Mars, orbit. This way, a space ship moved to Mars gets its energy from the Earth's orbit (not rotation!). When the ship returns back to the Earth, it gets its energy from an onboard engine or from an engine located on Earth.

This paper contains the theory of the optimal equal stress cable for complex Earth-Sun-Mars gravitational field and results of computations of the project.

The project uses artificial materials like nanotubes and whiskers that have a ratio of tensile strength to density equal k=20´10⁷ or greater. In the future, nanotubes will be produced that can reach a specific stress up 100´10⁷ and will significantly improve the parameters of the suggested project.