Figure from ROBOT,
Moravec,
Oxford,
1998, Chapter 5: The Age of Robots, page 160
A non-synchronous orbital ``skyhook''
A tapered, spinning cable orbits a planet like two spokes of
a giant wheel. Its ends dip into the atmosphere at regular
intervals. Because its spin cancels its orbital velocity at those
points, and because of its giant scale, from the ground, the cable
ends seem to merely decelerate downwards, then accelerate up, at a
modest pace.
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