NASA’s Space Elevator Project

In this undated, but, I think, recent, set of web pages, Nanopedia describes how an earth-based Space Elevator work and the vital role that carbon nanotubes would play.

I’m also going to link to this in my Reference section on the blog’s sidebar…

7 thoughts on “NASA’s Space Elevator Project

  1. Royal L. Craig

    The basic requirement for such a distance is an energy source of small volume and high generation. It must also be environmentally neutral, at least not harmful. Cold fusion satisfies these requirements. Cokd fusion has been proven in the labratory and has been replicated. We should conentrate on making it a practical application.
    Laser guidence is the most feasible control. We have laser unlimited guided projectiles. It is not an impossible step to a laser guided elevator.

  2. Royal L. Craig

    The advantage of cold fusion is that such a powerful packet could accerate second per second, thus shorting the travel time. A laser beam sourced from the moon could guide the elevator through the paramameters of earth rotations and moon orbit. The power source for the moon laser woul, again, be cold fusion.
    Let us develop this process to the point of practical application.

  3. Brian

    We should conentrate on making it a practical application.

    Go for it. If you – or someone – can make a compact, cheap, reliable energy source to power lifters, we’ll use them.

    Note that the emphasis here is on cheap and reliable. The cheaper the power unit the lower our costs. Reliable because repair shops are few and far between 300 miles up.

    What we’re focused on is delivering a space elevator with as little new technology as possible; the more R+D we have to do the more the ultimate expense.

    2031 is a long ways off. We might see cold fusion – great. But we can’t design around it until it’s here.

  4. Nicholas

    Not to diminish anything you have already said here but couldent there be any other reliable source of cheap strength and reliability?
    i mean look at the apolo missions there were the cream of the crop back in there day and now the pc i am writing this on is powerful enough to launch a apolo sized rocket i know that nono tech and cold steel is a much better option but they are far in the future if we want things done now like the apolo missions trying to beat out the soviet union in the space race than we need to find a alternative and make a elevator that we will look back at and say “i could send the thing up on my pc now!” i know its hard to figure something this odd out without all this new technology but it really is simple, and if i am wrong, (tho i know im not) i would like for someone to tell me so and correct me.
    We need to be like the makers of the apolo missions and make what we can now then update later.

  5. cynthia

    10 year old cynthia wants to know if you could create and ante chamber within the elevator that would use the air to make either a cyclone or reverse vaccum within the elevator or two seperate ante chambers that work in tandem- one letting in air from above while the other closes and releases the air like a balloon being let go. This would create enough energy
    to force the elevator up. What kind of weight doed it need to carry? Would aluminum work? Also, what is the tehter made of and how is it held in place at the top? Like a giant flagpole?

  6. cynthia

    mom says the balloon idea wouldnt work because if one is opening and one shutting the one open on top would create equal air pressure coming in with the pressure going out. Is she right?

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