posted 03-21-2003 03:15 PM               

Space elevator partners go their own ways

There has been a parting of ways in a quest for an elevator to space.

The two founders of a Seattle company that received NASA funding to research the possibility of building such a structure have decided to pursue the dream separately, citing differences over how the enterprise should be financed.

Their company has been a leading proponent of a futuristic concept that would transport objects into space using a super-strong carbon ribbon stretching 62,000 miles from Earth's surface.

One of the men, Michael Laine, yesterday announced the formation of a new company, LiftPort Inc., which is working on ways to raise the estimated $7 billion to $10 billion in capital needed to develop a space elevator. Laine oversaw the business operations of the previous company, HighLift Systems Inc.

His partner in HighLift Systems, scientist Brad Edwards, has accepted a position as director of research at the Institute for Scientific Research in West Virginia, where he plans to continue working on the technology for a space elevator. The non-profit institute has made the space elevator a high priority, and it has the resources to immediately give the project "a lot of clout," Edwards said.

Both men described their parting as amicable and said it shouldn't damage efforts to develop the technology. They still have the same goal, despite disagreeing about the best way to achieve it.

posted 03-21-2003 07:04 PM               

To better understand the concept of a space elevator, think of the game tetherball. In this game, a ball is attached to a pole by way of a rope. Think of the rope as the cable, the pole as Earth and the ball as the weight. Now, imagine that the ball is put into perpetual spin around the pole, so fast that it keeps the rope taut. This is generally how a space elevator would work. The weight at the end of the cable spins around the Earth, keeping the cable taut. The spacecraft would simply ride up the cable as a train rolls over tracks.

posted 03-21-2003 07:39 PM               

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Warm Regards

Douglas Henry

posted 05-26-2003 02:17 PM               

Small NASA division tries to make sci fi dreams come true...

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts picks the top research ideas that simply aren't possible with today's technology -- and it tries to do them anyway.

The goal is to bring far-out ideas -- speedy interplanetary travel, skintight spacesuits or controlling the weather -- a little closer to reality.

posted 07-26-2003 08:28 AM               

Space elevators have an image problem, mainly due to two prominent science fiction novels. They appear either ungainly impossible, or so potentially dangerous to the planet itself you would never dream of building one. With the science now indicating that they are potentially near-term transport systems, it's time to review the fiction in relation to the possible reality.

posted 09-26-2005 07:19 AM            

One of the reasons I was interested in this is that way back in 1975 I originated and organised a space conference held in London called "European Symposium on Space Settlements".

One of the papers was on about Space Elevators and in the audience was ACC himself. Three years later he published his scifi novel about space elevators.

Also,in the L-5 Society West European Newsletter that I edited in that same year the idea of nano engineering and nanotubes was discussed - which looks like will be having application in these space elevators!

The nano engineering discussion was based on an Eric Drexler ("Engines of Creation" fame) paper and discussed with him . The paper was one of the first he did and which I still have a copy.

It would be nice to see it coming to fruition after 30+ odd years or so?

posted 02-16-2006 10:05 AM            

Anyone else? Especially like to see images.

posted 09-22-2008 11:43 AM               

From cyborg housemaids and waterpowered cars to dog translators and rocket boots, Japanese boffins have racked up plenty of near-misses in the quest to turn science fiction into reality.

Now the finest scientific minds of Japan are devoting themselves to cracking the greatest sci-fi vision of all: the space elevator. Man has so far conquered space by painfully and inefficiently blasting himself out of the atmosphere but the 21st century should bring a more leisurely ride to the final frontier.

Up and down the 22,000 mile-long (36,000km) cables -- or flat ribbons -- will run the elevator carriages, themselves requiring huge breakthroughs in engineering to which the biggest Japanese companies and universities have turned their collective attention.

In the carriages, the scientists behind the idea told The Times, could be any number of cargoes. A space elevator could carry people, huge solar-powered generators or even casks of radioactive waste. The point is that breaking free of Earth's gravity will no longer require so much energy -- perhaps 100 times less than launching the space shuttle.

posted 10-02-2008 05:11 AM               

quote:

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The point is that breaking free of Earth's gravity will no longer require so much energy perhaps 100 times less than launching the space shuttle.

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posted 01-20-2009 06:21 PM               

Spurred on by a $4m (£2.7m) research prize from Nasa, a team at Cambridge University has created the world’s strongest ribbon: a cylindrical strand of carbon that combines lightweight flexibility with incredible strength and has the potential to stretch vast distances. The development has been seized upon by the space scientists, who believe the technology could allow astronauts to travel into space via a cable thousands of miles long — a space elevator.

The Cambridge team is making about 1 gram of the high-tech material per day, enough to stretch to 18 miles in length. “We have Nasa on the phone asking for 144,000 miles of the stuff, but there is a difference between what can be achieved in a lab and on an industrial level,” says Alan Windle, professor of materials science at Cambridge University, who is anxious not to let the work get ahead of itself.