238,000 miles is too high for my suspension of disbelief

The American Museum of Natural History is planning an exhibit on the future of space exploration. We are promised authentic old equipment, models, a walk-through diorama of the Martian surface, and information on current space probes.

So far, so good.

They are also offering a "full-size recreation of a lunar habitat" (can you recreate things that don't yet exist?) and a model of a space elevator.

That much is on the web page. The museum newsletter, Rotunda, specifies that this hypothetical space elevator would run from the surface of the moon to about 100 miles above Earth's surface. Passengers or cargo would travel that last 100 miles by spaceplane (which presumably could be launched to connect to wherever the cable is hanging at a given time).

The lunar end of the cable is supposed to be at the South Pole, because there's likely to be water there. That a south pole base makes sense doesn't make it a good anchor point for a space elevator. Yes, there's a lot to be said for a base near the most likely source of water, but that doesn't mean it's a good place to anchor a space elevator.

Furthermore, one of the arguments for building this thing is that it would be a way to get Helium-3 to Earth. Yes, space elevators in the service of nuclear fusion.

The article is by the exhibit curator, Michael Shara, who is described as an astrophysicist. A quick google tells me that his work is on things like the dynamics of dwarf stars. Also, the most recent of the "recent publications" that the museum lists for him is from 2000. He may have been studying engineering and materials science in the decade since, and it's possible that the exhibit will talk about the strains that the elevator cables would need to take, but I am not optimistic. That said, I may go, just for the space hardware.

Feeling warm

Yesterday morning, adrian_turtle called and asked if she could stay over that night, depending on how some stuff outside her control went later in the day (mostly the demands of someone else's job). I checked with cattitude and then told her that would be fine; we agreed that she'd call later, and Cattitude and I went on with our day. I had to go to the store anyhow, so I bought soy milk, just in case, although she had sounded pleased that I even thought to warn her that we probably wouldn't have any. About six o'clock Adrian called to confirm she was coming; she got here a little after ten.

I made a pot of herb tea, and the three of us sat up talking happily for a couple of hours, then Adrian settled on the couch while Cattitude and I went to bed.

Today was low-key family time, and I felt very much loved. Moments like leaning on Adrian while Cattitude held my hand, or her saying "Isn't she wonderful?" to Cattitude, meaning me, and him agreeing. Moments like that aren't why I'm poly, but they're a very nice extra of the way these particular relationships are working. Sometimes I just look up and grin.

I woke first this morning, as usual, then Cattitude, then Adrian. I drank more tea than usual, and we had breakfast and lunch, read our books and some online stuff, walked in the park and talked about all sorts of things, some more serious than others. Adrian used my computer to buy a Greyhound ticket home, and left around 4; I sent her home with two kinds of black tea, and a couple of tea balls to brew it in. Then Cattitude took a nap, after which we played Scrabble: a normal weekend afternoon in Inwood.