Scientist Sees Space Elevator in 15 Years

Science - AP ^ | 2004-06-25 | CARL HARTMAN

[PatrickHenry]

From NASA's website: Audacious Outrageous: Space Elevators.

[bolobaby]

"what happens if the cable is cut four feet above the ground? does it come crashing down to earth? does it fly off into space?"

It should fly off into space. The way that it works is that the ribbon is counterweighted at the far end in order to provide centrifugal force that overcomes earth's gravity. This makes the entire ribbon stable in an epic zero-sum game.

Now, what you should REALLY worry about is what happens if an asteriod knocks some of the counterweights off. Of course, the chance of that happening are extremely slim.

[shadowman99]

As cool as this sounds, I can't help but wonder: What would happen if 62,000 miles of cable fell to earth from space?

[Names Ash Housewares]

"If only this were going to happen."

Someday. Just wish I was born after warp drive (or whatever it will be called) was invented. Or had a 500 year lifespan :) Still lots of exciting space science going on every day!

"Too Soon From The Caves, Too Far From The Stars" Title of a Ray Bradbury collection of essays.

[Dead Corpse]

I've heard talk of electric motors in the cab. Spend energy going up. On the way back down, you just reverse the drivetrain and your motors become generators. Breaking would be electric as well. Same thing as increasing the load on a turbine generator.

It sounds elegent, but it also sounds like something out of an Arthur C. Clarke novel.

[Old Professer]

He's head of the space elevator project at the Institute for Scientific Research in Fairmont, W.Va.

I grew older in Fairmont from 1950 to 1959 when I escaped; the only thing notable about that place was crooked politicians and hotdog joints.

[Josh in PA]

If the tidal force doesn't destroy it, then a few space rocks definently will.

[Little Ray]

It moves into space; the big problem is if the elevator parts above the midpoint... It fall to earth at hypersonic speeds wrapping around the planet!
Assuming of course it doesn't burn up.

[Old Professer]

Sorry, I just had to say that again, especially the "escaped" part.

[VadeRetro]

I grew older in Fairmont from 1950 to 1959 when I escaped; the only thing notable about that place was crooked politicians and hotdog joints.

They've cleaned up the hot dog joints.

[theDentist]

So, aside from working on satellites and throwing waater balloons on those looking up, what else can it be used for??

[Dead Corpse]

Got link? Google is coming up with not much relating to your assertion.

[RightWhale]

Bill Gates could do this.

[LibWhacker]

Another excellent reason to crush islam now. A space elevator would be a juicy target for terrorists and we absolutely cannot permit the apemen to hold humanity back.

The cost of carbon nanotubes has to come way down and AFAIK I don't think they've figured out a way to produce long strands of them yet, which will be needed. Otherwise . . . THE SOONER WE GET STARTED, THE BETTER!

I did read an article a while back that claimed a space elevator would be obsolete before it could be completed. But it seemed like that author was making a lot of iffy assumptions about how quickly alternative propulsion research would progress.

So let's do it!

[bolobaby]

"The horizontal velocity of that cab -- at geo-sync altitude -- will be staggering, and even though it's "undetectable" at altitude, when you lower the cab, it will be like trying to contain a cannonball with a spiderweb."

Actually... um...

Only delta-v over time matters - that is, acceleration. If you raise or lower the cab slowly enough, the change in velocity will not be big enough to cause problems.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

First, you'd need a device strong enough to cut it.

[RightWhale]

a perpetual motion scam

Only as far as an Otis elevator is a perpetual motion scam. Balance the weights and the ride is free.

[r9etb]

Edwards said he probably needs about two more years of development on the carbon nanotubes to obtain the strength needed. .... In other words, nothing we can currently build is strong enough.

"Two years" translates to 10 years, at least -- he's only talking about the basic materials research, and it would probably take more than two years. After that, he's still got to find a way to create, not to mention test, 20,000 flawless miles of this stuff.

And his $10 billion is also undoubtedly way off -- probably by at least a factor of 10. It would cost a lot more than that just for the rockets to launch the material and dispenser into space (you have to drop it down from GEO; you can't put it up from the ground.)

Not to mention R&D on the enabling technology -- cable manufacturing, the dispenser bus, ground receivers, "elevator" stabilization technology, shielding, repair vehicles, figuring out how to repair the cable when it's under tension, and whatever other stuff needed to create and deploy a long, continuous cable, and so on.

It's a great idea, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to happen before this can be made to work. This guy's shading the truth, which is too bad.

[cripplecreek]

"Someday. Just wish I was born after warp drive (or whatever it will be called) was invented. Or had a 500 year lifespan :) Still lots of exciting space science going on every day!"


I quit smoking and drinking. When i questioned my self as to why, the only answer i could come up with was "because i want to see what happens next". I'm only 40 years old but Ive seen some amazing things in my life.

[BossLady]

So.....exactly 'where' is the elevator going??? LOL!