Space Elevator: “It Is Plausible”
It has been over a year since I first blogged on the Space Elevator. Here is a very optimistic and interesting article from the NY Times on the technology that will take my kid on a recreational trip to the moon sometime in her lifetime (and hopefully mine…I want to go with her). Since the Times article won’t be up permanantly I’m including part of it in this post:
“The first thought is, Is this really going to work?” said Dr. Steven E. Patamia, a researcher at Los Alamos, who was enlisted into performing space elevator calculations a week before the conference. “When you get into it, it begins to make sense. There are a good number of technical issues. They are probably all `overcomeable.’ ”
The original idea of a space elevator is more than a century old. In 1895, Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, a Russian visionary who devised workable ideas for rocket propulsion and space travel decades before others, proposed a tower thousands of miles high attached to a “celestial castle” in orbit around Earth, with the centrifugal force of the orbiting castle holding up the tower. (Imagine swinging a rope with a rock tied to the end of it.)
But the idea was fundamentally impossible to build. Steel, then the strongest material known, was too heavy and not strong enough to support that weight.
Other scientists periodically revisited and reinvented Tsiolkovsky’s idea, inspiring science fiction writers like Mr. Clarke.
Nanotubes spurred NASA to take a more serious look in 1999. A team of scientists envisioned huge cables of nanotubes and magnetically levitated cars traveling up and down. The structure would be so large that it would require grabbing an asteroid and dragging it into Earth orbit to act as the counterweight for holding up the elevator.
This is a really cool idea. It is too bad we have to rely on the government to do something like this. I would love it if someone like Bill Gates who has a couple billion dollars laying around for a rainy day were to sponsor the research and first construction. He would probably never see a return on the money…but his kids would. This should be done privately. NASA will just screw things up. Maybe I’ll just have to do it myself. I’ll start saving money…if any of you want to contribute to the cause I’ll cut your grandkids in on the future earnings!
UPDATE 10/6/03
Kelly sent me this cool depiction of what the Space Elevator might look like once it gets big enough to take passengers. (I’m experiencing tech difficulties right now…the pic will be posted this afternoon.)
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I thought you gave up on this.
What happens when an Earth quake or a Hurricane cracks open the pressurized elevator shaft?
Comment by Michael — September 24, 2003 @ 3:25 pm
Pressurized elevator shaft? Obviously you didn’t read the article. The elevator is nothing more than a very very long cable that extends into space. Currently it is guessed that the cable would be anchored to earth by a moveable platform.
What gave you the idea that I gave up on this? I have never wavered in my support for this excellent idea. Like I said…I’d even pitch a couple billion into the pot to make it happen if I had the means!
Comment by Jeremy — September 24, 2003 @ 3:38 pm
I scanned over it.
…proposed a tower thousands of miles high attached to a….the idea was fundamentally impossible to build…
It shouldn’t be called an elevator if it is just a cable. What purpose would this cable serve?
How are they gouig to grab an asteroid and drag it into the Earth’s orbit?
You posted some space elevator crap over a year ago wen i started passively reading your blog. Now, I suppose I more activly read.
Comment by Michael — September 25, 2003 @ 7:31 am
Michael,
Your questions are answered in this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/23/science/space/23ELEV.html?pagewanted=print&position
You can either use this URL that I have pasted into the comments section or click on the link above that says “optimistic and interesting article”.
Comment by Jeremy — September 25, 2003 @ 7:43 am
Ok, I finally read it. Well, the first paragraph or so. At first I thought they wanted to transport people too. I suppose they still could but it would take a long time to get to the “top”.
Yeah, I think that would be kind of cool. A lot easier and cheeper on fuel… then to blast everything off in a rokect.
Looking at Star Trek, it seemes obvious that in order to build huge ships that would be more effectively done in space.
Comment by Michael — September 29, 2003 @ 7:47 am