A new space elevator documentary needs your help!

A new space elevator documentary is being created and it needs your help!  The good folks over at Going Up! Films have been following all of the efforts in the space elevator arena for the past several years, interviewing and filming, and they are now ready to finalize the documentary film they are creating.

They have started a Kickstarter campaign and we need everyone who is interested in the space elevator (or just cool projects in general) to participate and DONATE!

The film is to be called “Sky Line: The Space Elevator Documentary” and will cover (in their words):

“For the past several years, the SKY LINE team has been following the space elevator community as they pursue a seemingly impossible vision. From attending various scientific gatherings, to covering NASA’s high-stakes Space Elevator Games, we got to know the major players and watch their successes and struggles, both personal and professional.  As we wrap up filming and head into post-production, we’re asking for your help with finishing funds, so we can bring this fascinating story to life.”

If you support the idea of a Space Elevator, if you want to help get the word out to everyone, please DONATE and support this project.  I have and I hope you will too.

Visit their Kickstarter website to donate and to see the (very cool) trailer…

6 thoughts on “A new space elevator documentary needs your help!

  1. James . Young

    Take a look at the ‘Grasberg Mine (operated by Rio Tinto) site as a potential launch site. !4,000 ft. The flat potent launch site is 4 deg. south of the equator. Earths rotational velocity at that location is much higher (~750 mph) than that of Cape Canaveral or Vandenberg.

    The mountain top is wide and long running E/W. No one lives down range as there is no vegetation for animals.

    There is an industrial infrastructure that could support every need.
    Indonesia would benefit in many ways as the best launch site on earth. Massive equipment is moved up and down the haul road.

    The city that supports the mine has a commercial harbor, schools, hospital, housing, stores, and a airport (& more)

    The aeroshell could be much lighter, air drag lower, weather is salt free. Water, commercial electrical power is present.

  2. Ted Semon Post author

    Hello James, I took a look at the site which has, as you’ve indicated, some real advantages. Unfortunately, there are at least two problems.

    First, it’s in an area with a very high amount of lightning strikes. Lightning would be very bad news for the tether and is one reason why areas of low lightning strikes are favored.

    The second is that it’s on land and thus much more subject to terrorist attack. It’s just harder to get to a target in the middle of the ocean.

  3. billy don marshall

    it would be better at the mouth of the amazon river on a oil platform. you can find fresh water a 100 miles out in the ocean. it would be easier to get to and could be protected from a terrorist attack!

  4. Simon

    Why don’t you build a fully automation factory on the Moon.

    You can send some “man like” remote robots to the Moon, then use radio control to do construction works there.

    As soon as, the robots have hands and they can follow the controler’s hand moment. In theory, you should be able to build factories on the moon using the materials there.

    Then, next step you can think about how to build the elevator from top to bottom. I believe there are no way you can build it from bottom up. How to ship the 100,000 km carbon strings up to the space + the material for the counterweight there.

    If 1 calculation is wrong, everything will be undo.

  5. Simon

    Ted, thanks for your reply. I am afraid that you may missed my point.

    I just want to propose that we should be able to build a “human like remote control robot” (not a rover with robotic arms).

    That is because a human can control those robots remotely by some special shits and gloves from a comfortable office on earth. Therefore, you don’t need to send extra resources to space in order to maintenance the workers’ life.

    In theory, if the “remote control robots” is able to copy what the instructor’s body motion. It should be able to anything a human can do. Most importantly, we also need to record the “motion command sequences” so that we can create a database of actions.

    Then we can automate the task or “copy and paste” the same action for other robots by adjusting some kind of “parameters”.

    Building the space elevator is huge and is a dream for lots of people. However, who will leave their comfort place and risk their life to construct it in the sky. I suppose the hardest part on this project is not the material. It is “how the workers can construct the structure safely?”.

    Therefore, I strongly think that we human should innovate a way to do construction works before getting further. This can also becomes a solution on how to maintenance the structure.

    I am a programmer, therefore I like to think step by step in a logical way.

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