[Commander8]

I think that's just amazing that I'll see such an advancement in my lifetime.

[Brett66]

They actually built and tested a cable crawler, very interesting.

LiftPort's scale model of a robot lifter successfully made its way up a tether at MIT's Cecil and Ida Green Building.

Credit: Tom Nugent/LiftPort

[Plutarch]

[Wiz]

I read other news that firms are working to construct these during this century. I just can't imagine something that was science fiction to be reality in a few decades. Thanks to the technology of nanotubes that will contribute to the project.

[NicknamedBob]

They could scale this up, and give people rides, by modifying the device that plumbers use to pull well pipes out of the ground.

A well-puller, capable of lifting several hundred pounds, by gripping onto a well pipe with three wheels at equidistant points, could, if clamped to a cable such as on a suspension bridge, lift several people at a time.

Until you ran out of extension cord.

One advantage of the two-side concept would be to provide DC power on alternate sides of the "ribbon" so that the cable-crawler could draw power all the way to the top. Or a descending car could add power through regenerative braking.

I'd be interested in seeing how one car passes another one.

Interesting idea, and a tribute to Doctor Arthur C. Clarke, who first realized the significance of a geo-syncronous orbit.

Unfortunately, it is inadequate for my purposes. I am interested in moving massive quantities of freight through use of an electro-magnetic catapult system. Given enough impetus, bigger-than-boxcar loads of material could be sent into orbit, or even farther, without using rocket fuel.

I have described this procedure, and some other modest suggestions, elsewhere.

[WKUHilltopper]

Yeah, well wait until those damn squirrels scurry up the thing...

[ALASKA]

I used to have one of these in my back yard.

[Mentos]

And these MIT creeps won't give me dime one for my space escalator concept

[freepatriot32]

well thats all well and good but I already see a problem no one will ever get to the top because by the time they even get half way up the MUZAK will have driven them so crazy they will all jump off :-D

[steveyp]

Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke, 1979 Nebula and Hugo winner.

Science catches up with Sci-Fi.