[Libloather]

Anyone else thinkin' illegal alien storage here?

[Sicon]

Arthur C. Clarke wrote about this idea in “The Fountains of Paradise” in 1979.

[TonyM]

Sounds like the dumbest idea of the century.

[RainMan]

The logistics of raising a cable like that are mind boggling. The weight of the cable, even if as small as a thread would have to be supported by the “anchor” satellite, which would not be in geostationary orbit (because the weight of the cable would pull it back to earth, but high enough that it would be at what we currently consider escape velocity. But it would have to start at a much lower altitude and then move farther out as the cable lengthened. Then subsequent cables would need to be lifted on that small thread until you had enough supporting cable mass to lift thicker cables. All the while, the anchor would have to travel further and further into space.

Then what would happen if the poles shifted and the cable was no longer on the equator ...

This is a “not in my lifetime” type of problem.

[Carry_Okie]

Put a mosque there. /s

[Track9]

Ben Franklin would be proud.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

This sounds like a great idea. Until it comes crashing down and kills a bunch of people. Or is blown up in a terrorist attack.

[packagingguy]

NASA has been working on the “space elevator” concept for at least 30+ years. I studied with a student 31 years ago who graduated with a degree in materials engineering and was hired by NASA to help with the project.

[goo goo g'joob]

Forstchen’s novel Pillar to the Sky (2014) explores the concept of a Space Elevator.

[Bernard]

Sounds like something that the guys building that high-speed train in California would have lined up as their next project, as soon as the train is operational.

[Pontiac]

International Space Elevator Consortium selects polycrystalline graphene for 66,000-mile elevator

Engineers in South Korea just made a 1,000-meter segment of this graphene tether, a huge step forward.

If completed, the elevator could send cargo to orbit using electric climbers in about two weeks and even cut Mars travel time down to just 61 to 120 days depending on planetary positions at launch time.

But there are still big hurdles: protecting the tether from space junk and gathering $15 billion in funding.

Pete Swan is hopeful but says it will be decades before we see this sci-fi idea become reality.

[montag813]

Good news, they just hired the first intern...

[caddie]

What about squirrels?

[TheThirdRuffian]

“ a two-dimensional material ”

Yeah, I’m calling BS.

[I want the USA back]

What happens if the cable breaks and someone is going up/down the “elevator”?

[Carl Vehse]

The cable idea is as phony as the ads interlaced on conservative news websites.

[butlerweave]

Think about it , it’s an impossible a myth sounds very stupid ,LOL

[montag813]

This couple is excited for the space elevator

[Delta 21]

The weight of the machine works in the gravity zone would be too ‘heavy’ to make this work. We dont have anything that could handle that load. This would require new technology fer sher. Maybe a couple dozen federal contracts.

[Swirl]

What happens when its run into by an airplane? Ops?

Also would not want a 65,000 mile cable whipping around in the atmosphere after it broke lose!

[mjustice]

I’ve known about this idea for at least 30 years now, and the issue has always been about the material used for the cable - its chemical composition, its strength, and its weight. If they’ve figured out the right material to use, it’s a step in the right direction.