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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6086045" data-attributes="member: 177">As I've noted before, it depends upon the specifics.&nbsp; So let us look at them...Let us assume the following:&nbsp; You have a ship in a stable orbit, and you drop an anchor.&nbsp; The anchor has a mass notably smaller than the ship, and the mass of the chain between them is outright negligible.&nbsp; The anchor is in a position where no stable orbit exists.&nbsp; All these objects are in free fall.If the black hole is small enough, tidal forces will simply break the chain (or even &quot;spagettify&quot; the anchor).&nbsp; That's an uninteresting scenario.&nbsp; So, let us assume that the black hole is large enough that this isn't an issue - and we assume the tidal forces from the hole are not enough to destroy any of the items on their own.This position is still fundamentally unstable.&nbsp; The anchor *will* pull the ship out of orbit, eventually.&nbsp; It may do this slowly, with no particularly major stress upon the chain, but eventually tugging the ship down, regardless.&nbsp; The &quot;stable orbit&quot; does not allow the ship to exert notable forces - it isn't a fixed point, like it is nailed down in the sky, or sitting in a groove that's hard to pull it out of, or something.&nbsp; It is just floating there, and will float around *only so long as you don't pull or push on it*, but the anchor is now pulling on it, so it is coming down.&nbsp; It doesn't take a huge pull, just a small pull over time will be sufficient.&nbsp; So, you have to turn on the ship's engines - the ship is in powered flight, now.&nbsp; The maximum stress upon the chain is now capped by the ship's engines.&nbsp; Is this &quot;very large&quot;?&nbsp; Well that depends upon your ship.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6086045, member: 177"] As I've noted before, it depends upon the specifics. So let us look at them... Let us assume the following: You have a ship in a stable orbit, and you drop an anchor. The anchor has a mass notably smaller than the ship, and the mass of the chain between them is outright negligible. The anchor is in a position where no stable orbit exists. All these objects are in free fall. If the black hole is small enough, tidal forces will simply break the chain (or even "spagettify" the anchor). That's an uninteresting scenario. So, let us assume that the black hole is large enough that this isn't an issue - and we assume the tidal forces from the hole are not enough to destroy any of the items on their own. This position is still fundamentally unstable. The anchor *will* pull the ship out of orbit, eventually. It may do this slowly, with no particularly major stress upon the chain, but eventually tugging the ship down, regardless. The "stable orbit" does not allow the ship to exert notable forces - it isn't a fixed point, like it is nailed down in the sky, or sitting in a groove that's hard to pull it out of, or something. It is just floating there, and will float around [I]*only so long as you don't pull or push on it*[/I], but the anchor is now pulling on it, so it is coming down. It doesn't take a huge pull, just a small pull over time will be sufficient. So, you have to turn on the ship's engines - the ship is in powered flight, now. The maximum stress upon the chain is now capped by the ship's engines. Is this "very large"? Well that depends upon your ship. [/QUOTE]

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