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QueenOfQuok t1_ixyqbfw wrote

How exactly are you supposed to get something away from Earth's atmosphere without accelerating it to Escape Velocity?

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DBDude t1_ixzo7rn wrote

Let's say you want to jump to a ledge twenty feet up. It requires a lot of power to accelerate enough to overcome gravity to get that high, so much that nobody can do it.

Or you can just walk up the steps much more slowly. In the end your potential energy is still higher, and you are going marginally faster around the Earth due to your higher elevation.

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axionic t1_ixytok7 wrote

Accelerate to orbital velocity, which requires half as much kinetic energy

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Harabeck t1_ixz7zlt wrote

You do accelerate to orbital velocity using a space elevator, you just do it over ~35,000 miles and dozens of hours.

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