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Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators
Inspired partly by science fiction, NASA scientists are seriously considering space elevators as a mass-transit system for the next century.
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Sept. 7, 2000
"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard NASA's Millennium-Two Space Elevator. Your first stop will be the Lunar-level platform before we continue on to the New Frontier Space Colony development. The entire ride will take about 5 hours, so sit back and enjoy the trip. As we rise, be sure to watch outside the window as the curvature of the Earth becomes visible and the sky changes from deep blue to black, truly one of the most breathtaking views you will ever see!"
Does this sound like the Sci-Fi Channel or a chapter out of Arthur C. Clarke's, Fountains of Paradise? Well, it's not. It is a real possibility -- a "space elevator" -- that researchers are considering today as a far-out space transportation system for the next century.
Artist Pat Rawling's concept of a space elevator viewed from the geostationary transfer station looking down along the length of the elevator toward Earth.
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Image Credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
David Smitherman of NASA/Marshall's Advanced Projects Office has compiled plans for such an elevator that could turn science fiction into reality. His publication, Space Elevators: An Advanced Earth-Space Infrastructure for the New Millennium (approx. 3 Meg PDF file), is based on findings from a space infrastructure conference held at the Marshall Space Flight Center last year. The workshop included scientists and engineers from government and industry representing various fields such as structures, space tethers, materials, and Earth/space environments.
"This is no longer science fiction," said Smitherman. "We came out of the workshop saying, 'We may very well be able to do this.'"
(Full Story Here)
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Eileen M. Vélez and Anthony B. Guido
Marshall Space Flight Center
Friday, August 10, 2001
Cheers,
Dan
Space/Science » in reply to Re: Depends on what you want to call it
Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators . . .