Aeronaut wrote: That could shield the tether, but how would the drive wheels get their traction?

No, no; the aerogel is a hollow tube with the ribbon well inside. I specified a .5km dia. space in the center for the actual cable, etc. The function of the aerogel is just to intercept debris, and is never in contact with the core ribbon except for anchoring fibers/cords that hold it at a fixed distance. Or SLT (insert hand-waving here. 😉 )

Traction is its own issue, altogether. Electromagnetic, ratchets, whatever works. :cheese: