The First Elevator That Can Ride to Outer Space
Written by admin on May 6, 2008 – 7:01 am -
This is unbelievable for me but this is true. According to Michael Laine the real critical test was on making a string strong enough. He said that the cable they made was rock solid.
This effort was considered a giant leap forward for scientists who are developing the world’s first space elevator.
According to the studies done by the United States based National Aeronautics space administration(NHSA), a space elevator would reduced the costs of sending cargo up into space from US$2,000 per pound down to $400 per pound. This cost reduction would have a great effect based on research, such a telecommunication, energy and pharmaceutical.
Using an outer space elevator instead of rockets would also be safer, easier, and gentler on fragile cargos such as electronics. Having a platform up in space can also provide room for large solar panels, more communication, cameras and hopefully, even people.
A space elevator would need a fixed lined, or cord that stretches from an anchor on Earth to station out in space, the station acts like a counter weight forever held above the planet by the antifungal force from the earth’s rotation.
The cord or shaft will be a carbon nano tube composite ribbon stretching around 99,779 kilometers up into space. The ground floor (anchor) will be a platform anchor in the sea, the elevator itself will be made up of robotic lifters that can climb up and down the ribbon at dizzying speeds without jarring its load, and the top floor will be space platform that also serves as a counter weight that will hold the whole thing upright. Gravity at one end and centripetal acceleration at the other end, will keep the space elevator from falling down on it.
So far so good the physics was the easy part. Science fiction writers had known all along that a space elevator would be possible in theory. The problem was the making of a string using a material strong enough to resist he incredible forces that the space elevator will go through.
But, their problem was solved in the 1990′s.When Carbon were discovered. Carbon nano tubes are many times stronger than steel. And now that carbon nano tubes are out of the lab and commercially manufactured, the few pieces of the space elevator are finally falling into place.
Tags: amazing story, Carbon nano tubes, elevator, Michael Laine, NHSA, Outer Space, Science, Space Elevator, Space Elevator on Green Mars, unbelievable
Posted in Science & Technology, Tech News, extraordinary | 6 Comments »
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May 12th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Thanks for your interest in the project. I am not sure why, but the video that you saw is not “news”, it is about 2 years old. For the full story take a look at the interview i gave: http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/08/popular-space-elevator-video-not-news-says-liftport-founder/
While I appreciate your enthusiasm, we have actually proceeded much further than this video suggests – and had a huge setback last year as well.
Take care. mjl
October 28th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
hi there. I am an engineer and product designer, so a complete novice when it comes to the physics of space and all!
But i could not sleep last night due to worrying about how this may effect our world. I thought of this idea many many years ago and think i have it jotted down in one of my scribble books somewhere, but that is bye the bye.
Anyway to get to the point. If I am getting this right, the world with its surrounding atmosphere is that similar to a bubble in a vacuum? And as we know when a pin hole is made in a vessel containing air that is surrounded by a vacuum, the air is sucked out of it.
So without any metaphores, and keeping it simple, we are going to have a wacking great diameter of a cable or maybe a few of them tied to the earths surface and protruding through our protective atmosphere! Now I know the earth spins at some thousands of miles per hour, of which I am unsure, so this huge diameter of a cable or cables are going to be slicing through our atmosphere and whatever other layers at thousands of miles per hour. Now will that not leave wake or some sort of tear as it moves? Will this then allow our air to be sucked out? Do the protective layers that surround our world move relative to the spin of the earth? Is there anybody out there that can answer these questions based on solid factual proof? Surely these quetions have been asked and answered in some detail before worrying about the functional problems; or have they? I do hope that someone can explain this to me.
Kind regards
Your worried person on earth.
Simon C
December 1st, 2008 at 3:31 am
Simon,
The atmosphere does move in relation to the Earth’s rotation. If it didn’t the smog over China wouldn’t be able to sit over just China, and the entire atmosphere would whip around us at speeds to outmatch any tornado.
The ribbon itself would act just like any mountain that pokes its way through the clouds. It would be just another object moving through the sky, and would give no energy to the atmosphere to allow it to escape.
January 24th, 2009 at 11:20 am
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February 7th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
The hurdle of the ribbon has been overcome. They have only to produce a continuous ribbon large enough for their needs. The real problem is supplying power for the elevator. A cable would be to long and heavy and sufficient batteries would also be far to bulky & heavy to carry. The answer lies in a power beam of some sort. This problem too is being overcome by a consortium of universities and government labs. Maybe within our lifetime?
June 12th, 2009 at 6:52 am
“the antifungal force from the earth’s rotation.”
Great. I was worried about fungus on the ribbon. Nice reporting, dipshit.
P.S. Simon C, if you’re not a brilliant troll and are actually an engineer, I’m terrified. What university gave you your degree? And what company do you engineer for? I want to avoid your products at all costs, short your stock, and warn people away.