A Japanese company has announced they intend to build a space elevator, and the company, Obayashi Corp has said that they are hoping to have the space elevator operational by around 2050.
The plan is to build a space elevator which will be capable of carrying passengers 36,000 km above the earth, and it will be constructed from carbon nano-tubes which are twenty times stronger than steel.
The carbon nano-tubes will be used to create the elevator cables, and they will also have a terminal station 36,000 km above the earth, which passengers will travel to in an elevator car that moves at 200 km per hour.
The Vision Behind the Space Elevator
The concept of a space elevator has been a topic of science fiction for many years, but Obayashi Corp is taking significant steps to turn this vision into reality. The idea is to create a more efficient and cost-effective way to transport materials and people to space. Traditional rocket launches are expensive and have a significant environmental impact. A space elevator, on the other hand, could provide a continuous and reusable method of reaching space, potentially revolutionizing space travel and exploration.
The terminal station, located 36,000 km above the Earth, would serve as a hub for various space activities. This could include scientific research, satellite maintenance, and even space tourism. The elevator car, traveling at 200 km per hour, would take approximately 7.5 days to reach the terminal station. This journey, while long, would be far more comfortable and less stressful than the intense experience of a rocket launch.
Technological and Financial Challenges
While the idea of a space elevator is fascinating, it comes with numerous technological and financial challenges. The primary material for the elevator cables, carbon nano-tubes, is still in the experimental stage. Although they are known to be incredibly strong, producing them in the quantities needed for a space elevator is a significant hurdle. Current manufacturing techniques are not yet capable of creating carbon nano-tubes at the scale required for this project.
Financially, the space elevator would be one of the most expensive construction projects ever undertaken. The costs involved in research, development, and construction are astronomical. However, the potential benefits could outweigh these costs in the long run. A successful space elevator could drastically reduce the cost of sending materials and people to space, opening up new possibilities for space exploration and commercialization.
It certainly sounds interesting, and we suspect this could be one of the most expensive construction projects ever, whether it will ever be made remains to be seen.
Source Gizmodo, The Daily Yomiuri
Image Credit KPBS
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