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Space Transport “I’ll Believe It When I See It” #45645988223

The Japan Space Elevator Association is planning to build (obviously enough) a space elevator:

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.

For chemists, physicists, material scientists, astronauts and dreamers across the globe, the space elevator represents the most tantalising of concepts: cables stronger and lighter than any fibre yet woven, tethered to the ground and disappearing beyond the atmosphere to a satellite docking station in geosynchronous orbit above Earth.

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.

Sure. And they’ll use Klipers to build out the space infrastructure, while the workers lounge at orbiting space polyps hotels on their days off.

1 comment to Space Transport “I’ll Believe It When I See It” #45645988223

  • I don’t really know, but I do suspect the writer embellished the subject matter just a bit.

    Whatever – we’re still pretty far from having the CNT for the ribbon material. And no one (IIRC) has even thought out the systems required to keep a space elevator running.

    Systems can be complicated beasties. The more dynamic a system the more complicated. This kind of thing is an OR and systems analyst’s dream project. Or nightmare.