Re: We need to duplicate their achievement first !!!
Almost all carbon-based filaments (carbon fiber, PBO, etc) are weaker when woven into rope or cable. Zylon filaments have a tensile strength of 5.8 GPa, but when woven into a rope its tensile strength is reduced by 70% to just 1.74 GPa. I am sure nanotubes will suffer the same problem, but I hope it beats Zylon. If it can be woven into rope with an ultimate tensile strength of at least 5.65 GPa and an elastic modulus of 290 GPa, then my design for a Skyhook should be feasible (Starship Generations, topic #9).