It could be for return packages to earth, but with the rail gun already in place, that seems somewhat useless.

On the other hand, it would be difficult to aim the rail gun, whereas the space tether would be somewhat easier to aim.

In this scenario, we’re just missing powering the rail gun self-sufficiently for a tidy operation. So a method to convert that angular momentum into electrical power for our rail gun would be the final step I think.

Fly wheels, gears, electrostatics in the tether. All equally undeveloped at scale as our tether except in principle so maybe the tether makers in the scenario already had an idea in mind.

The question is…will they settle on a steam turbine in space somehow lol?

It is 12:30 PM. I am reading this exchange with no emotion until this comment. I have been stirred to tell you this: “Fuck you, Promethiel whispered calmly”.

It’s making it, from the tons of hydrogen it has in the fusion process. The energy and the reason stars even do this is because all of that mass that close together spontaneously does that; starts fusing.

We can’t have any, because a star will use up all the hydrogen to make helium, then start using all of the helium to make carbon and oxygen. Then start to make…

This is overly simplified and it varies from star to star (the more massive the star, the longer it churns through “making” elements into more “complex” elements) until its core is all iron, at which point fusion becomes a net negative.

From there other things can happen like novae. All throughout this life process though, that “elemental conversion” is happening faster on the outside as opposed to the core, and stellar winds do blow off heavier elements that enrich the interstellar medium.

We need a shovel that can plunge into the sun’s core if we want its helium, TL;DR.