We all know what a space elevator is, right? We've all read Arthur C. Clarke's Fountains of Paradise. Well, I read it many many years ago, and can actually only remember that it mentioned a space elevator. Okay, but the space elevator idea isn't new, and it has left the realms of science fiction. NASA, starting somewhere in 2000, has been looking at this as an option (although, I don't suppose that necessarily means the idea has a more solid basis.)
The news is that the process discussed on this blog a couple of days ago, whereby sheets of nano-carbon tubes can be produced at...7m a minute or something like that...that process has profound implications for the space elevator idea, since the cables along which the elevator will be moving will consist of 'at least 50% nano carbon tubes'.
The quote that I enjoyed in this article is the following:
"This is a trillion-dollar moneymaker for a ten billion dollar investment," said Bradley Edwards, whose work with Los Alamos National Laboratory and the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts has made him a go-to expert on space elevators. "Some of the largest companies in the world are just waiting for the word that this is possible."
Reminds me of something from Austin Powers...
1 comment:
A Vrystater to an ooskapenaar...
One day, when you have about three days of absolutely bugger all stretching out in front of you, and you've just finished your last library book and are in a panic about what to do next, you should visit
this site and read all about the proposed space elevator. I thought the other day that I'd have time, but then discovered an old Tarzan paperback that had slipped in behind a copy of Odysseus on the bookshelf, and so didn't. Cheers boet. Lekker lees, nê?
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