Terrestrial Space Elevators, A Neccessary Evil?
The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.
With humanity on the verge of leaving their terrestrial cradle, one can only imagine how far they will go in order to explore, build and conquer other worlds. But whether we choose to enter space via chemical and nuclear rockets, or magnetic sleds, we may have to construct a space elevator, even if the previous methods become cheaper in the future.
Whether or not one acknowledges global warming, most people can agree that air pollution is a major concern for our environment. Although much of it comes from common vehicles such as automobiles, a large portion comes from power plants, especially coal.
Many communities have responded to this by building “clean, safe,” nuclear power plants. Although they do not pollute our atmosphere they can leave a nasty side effect called nuclear waste which can take thousands of years to decay or worse be spun into weapons.
Removing them off our planet would not only ensure that future descendants do not spin them into weapons, but that our environment would not suffer from a dump site leak.
Since most nations would be uncomfortable having a rocket or magnetic sled hurling nuclear materials half way around the planet (especially in their neighborhood), a space elevator could easily solve this problem by moving nuclear waste “slowly” off our planet from a location away from major populations.
The waste could then be disposed of by a robotic shuttle in space and then dumped on Venus (or perhaps even hurled towards the sun).
Although most of humanity is probably fit for space travel, there remains a vast minority who are either unfit physically (as in the case of Stephen Hawking) to travel to the stars. Despite lacking the physical strength to endure the trip, these people may have a lot to offer humanity as far as intellect and our understanding of the universe goes.
Leaving these people behind to observe the universe through others would be nothing more than to deny them the opportunity to explore the universe for themselves. A space elevator would allow those who are disabled or not healthy enough to travel via rocket (or magnetic sled) to join the rest of humanity in our quest to colonize the stars.
But before we can even adequately transport large numbers of people into space, (as well as dangerous materials on Earth) humanity will need to figure out a way to remove nearly 4,800 satellites no longer in use, circling our globe. Although many of these satellites are unusable, they may hold some historical value such as humanities first satellite into space, Sputnik 1.
Unfortunately despite their value, many of these objects can not be brought back towards earth because of the dangers that they would pose to both the shuttle and the crew. A space elevator could enable humanity to get a glimpse of their past by enabling the safe transport of distant satellites from space to Earth (possibly through solar dump trucks).
Not only would scientists and historians enjoy the return of some of the satellites to planet Earth, but also engineers as well (as they could finally figure out what went wrong in the past). A space elevator may even allow us to recycle these satellites and refurbish them for other missions.
Whether we get to space en mass through rockets or magnetic sleds only the future can tell. But regardless on the vehicle chosen to get to the stars and beyond, we may have to construct a ladder to the future to not only resolve problems around and on Earth, but to insure that all may have the opportunity to fully enjoy the cosmos.
(Hat Tip: Space Elevator Journal)
Update: Corrected some grammatical errors.
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LockHeed Martin Building A Space Elevator?
(Hat Tip: Robot Guy and Space Elevator Reference)
With LockHeed Martin drafting plans to construct its own space elevator, it looks like LiftPort may have some serious competition on its hands.
(Google Patents) A Space Elevator for transporting a payload from one point to another in outer space, includes a first structure, located at a first relatively fixed, non-zero orbital distance from the surface of the earth, for receiving payloads, a second structure, located at a second relatively fixed orbital distance from the surface of the earth, for receiving payloads, where the second distance is greater than the first distance, a third structure located near the center of gravity of the combined apparatus providing a platform for storing and/or processing payloads, and a payload transporting apparatus disposed between and interconnecting the first and third and second and third structural means.
Although this differs from LiftPort’s version of a space elevator, (which should probably be called a Sky Hook) LockHeed’s version would preserve the current rocket industry in its current status.
LiftPort’s version, although probably not in the best short term interests of any rocket company, would enable larger cargo to be hauled into space, not to mention giving most countries access to the final frontier.
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Russia Considers Lunar, Martian Space Elevators
(Hat Tip: Space Elevator Blog, One and Two)
Not desiring to deal with the hassles of launching and landing a payload from Earth to the Moon and Mars, Russia is considering building a space elevator in order to help cut down on transport expenses.
(RIA Novosti) Scientists from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a unique space elevator for lunar and Martian missions. Although a bit slower, the new system will cut back on interplanetary delivery expenses. [...]In 1965, the Central Machine-Building Design Bureau, headed by leading rocket scientist Sergei Korolev, a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, started preparing for the first space-tether experiment. The Bureau, which later changed its name to Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, planned to link a Soyuz spacecraft to the last stage of the launch vehicle using a steel cable. Unfortunately, this project was mothballed after Korolev’s death and resumed by Energia only 20 years later.
The fact that they started this project is a testimony to the Russian spirit to push the boundries of space technology as we know it. Although there is no mention of a space elevator on Energia’s website, it is good to see another company (aside from LiftPort) taking the concept seriously, if not on Earth then elsewhere.
The Russian Space Research Institute, another organization considering the possibilities of a space elevator, has already outlined a fancy way of building one on the Moon.
(RIA Novosti) Theoretical studies and experiments showed that the cluster should comprise two cableway systems, one in a low circular and the other in a low elliptical Earth orbit, and one cableway in a circular equatorial lunar orbit. The dimensions of all three cableways should create different gravitational potentials at each end. By adjusting tether length, it will be possible to change each orbital system’s angular speed of rotation.
The space-elevator cluster will exchange payloads between orbital cableways. In essence, two-way freight traffic would turn such cableways into a transportation artery.
A lunar space elevator would definitely go a long ways towards colonizing the lunar surface. There are some who even think one may be built before one is constructed on Earth.
But unlike the moon, a lunar space elevator would have to be constructed out of cheap materials due to the fact that space rocks raining down from above can easily damage the lunar lift, temporarily crippling transport to the moon.
A Martian space elevator may not fare any better, as the red planet is known to harbor violent storms that cover the entire surface.
Russia may be able to overcome both of these problems (at least in the lunar scenario) as one should not wager against technological breakthroughs in the space arena. But even if space elevators are only feasible on planet Earth, just being able to construct one within the solar system is enough to change the history of our planet as we know it.
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Video: LiftPort Ballon Test (Via LiftPort Energy?)
Apparently it seems that LiftPort conducted a balloon test earlier this month and one of their employee’s from LiftPort Energy has posted a video of the test on YouTube (which you can view below).
There is not much information about the test, although the user who posted the video is promising a follow up (hopefully with more explanation of what is going on).
Note: Perhaps Karl might be able to shed some light on this video.
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Ten Reasons For Not Building A Space Elevator
Throughout our history, humanity has built technology to enable faster, cheaper or larger transportation from one point to another. Although many of these feats faced great difficulties from the drawing board to the final product, our world has been blessed by these inventors efforts decades later as the airplane, train and automobile can testify.
But before any of these inventions were fully developed, skeptics and doubters have mocked either the possibility of an invention or the need for one. Since the Space Elevator definately falls into this category, here are ten reasons why a space elevator should not be built to benefit humanity.
10) Too complex to succeed: The technology behind a space elevator has too many moving parts. It lacks the simplicity of a rocket engine.
9) It’s too expensive: It would be better to spend $10 billion on developing new ways to kill each other on dozens of projects than to pool our money into this single one.
It’s a dumb idea: The space elevator has only existed in science fiction novels. Since when has anything from a science fiction novel become reality?
7) It will take too long: If such a feat can not be built in my generation, why should the next one have the honor to benefit from it?
6) It’s too hard: We should focus on solving easier topics such as ending war and global poverty.
5) It would ruin Star Trek: The writers never envisioned a space elevator in their television series. Building one would ruin the story line, enraging fans across the scifi community.
4) We need Space Powers: If too many nations have access to space, people might get the notion that we are all created equal, leading to chaos.
3) Rockets are doing a fine job: Despite 95% of their weight being fuel, rockets are doing a great job hauling up cargo and people. Who needs change?
2) Space is for the elite: Only the healthy and wealthy deserve to visit the stars. The poor and unhealthy deserve their lot on Earth.
1) The English language has too many words: We have too many “ports” on planet earth already, such as seaport, airport, carport, etc. Adding LiftPort to the dictionary would only increase the cost of dictionaries worldwide.
Note: These are the best reasons I could come up with. Does anyone else have a better excuse?
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Ted Semon Interviews CEO Of Elevator 2010
Ted Semon of the Space Elevator Blog has a transcript (via email) of an interview he had with Ben Shelef, co-founder of Spaceward and CEO of Elevator 2010. Here is a snippet below:
Q. In your opinion, what was the most significant accomplishment of the 2006 Games?
The most significant accomplishment was the scale of what happened – this was the first “real”, or full-form competition, and we had 12 teams arriving with real hardware, 2 from Europe, 3 from Canada, 7 from the US – we’ve got ourselves a Space Elevator competition now! A few more teams were registered and couldn’t produce hardware in time – all in all we had 20 teams that tried. This is a good base to building the 2007 games from. Obviously this year USST was head and shoulders above everyone else, with their 2-seconds-too-slow climb, but I’m betting in 2007 we will see plenty of climbers zooming up at over 2 m/s.
You can check out the full interview over here.
Update (3/14): Corrected Ted Semon’s last name.
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LiftPort Promo Video: Space Elevator Happiness?
(via Space Elevator Blog)
LiftPort has (to my knowledge) released a teaser video promoting their company on YouTube (which you can see below).
Review: To quote Ted Semon, “For some reason it makes me think of Fantasia.”
One almost expects to see dancing hippos lifters gracefully crossing the earthen sky. Although not as good as the Elevator 2010 promo video, its a good start for the LiftPort team.
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Will Radiation Belts Dampen Space Elevator Hopes?
If a space elevator can be built When the first space elevator is built, humanity will be able to send up cargo at a fraction of the price compared to rockets. Unfortunately, humans may not be able to ride up the cable due to one, minor problem–radiation.
(New Scientist Space) [H]umans might not survive thanks to the whopping dose of ionising radiation they would receive travelling through the core of the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth. These are two concentric rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic fields.
“They would die on the way through the radiation belts if they were unshielded,” says Anders Jorgensen, author of a new study on the subject and a technical staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, US.
Several options have been proposed to deal with this, such as moving the base station away from the equator, uploading a magnetic field and last, redesigning the lifter to incorporate shielding (which would make it five times heavier). LiftPort (a space elevator company) seems to be exploring the “heavy lifter” option.
(New Scientist Space) Finally, space elevator builders could simply increase the overall mass of the elevator “car”, or lifter – which will require more energy to heave it into space. LiftPort Group, which plans to take up as many as 20 people per trip, will pursue this strategy with a 100-tonne lifter. That is significantly heavier than the 20-tonne lifter planned by Brad Edwards, who devised the current conception of a space elevator.
Making a space elevator that heavy may have dire consequences, which may limit how much cargo a lifter can carry into space (thus reducing profits and increasing costs).
Although I am not an engineer or scientist, perhaps a more novel way at approaching this problem would be simply to create a “safe room” composed of lead where passengers could sleep and interact until the radiation danger is over. It may mean that the lifter is 30 tons instead of 20, but that definitely would be better than 100 tons.
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NASA Advances In Carbon Nanotube Production
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (located in Greenbelt, Maryland) is licensing its technique for building high quality, low cost carbon nanotubes.
(SpaceRef.com) Although CNTs were discovered 15 years ago, their use has been limited due to the complex, dangerous, and expensive methods for their production.
However, Goddard researcher Dr. Jeannette Benavides developed a simpler, safer, and much less costly manufacturing process for single-walled CNTs. The key to the innovation developed by Dr. Benavides was the ability to produce bundles of CNTs without using a metal catalyst, dramatically reducing pre- and post-production costs while generating higher yields of better quality product.
Carbon nanotubes have uses beyond a space elevator, ranging from fuel cells, solar cells, video displays, not to mention medical advances as well.
Note: LiftPort’s Nanotech department may want to consider purchasing a license, unless of course they already developed a similar method at their New Jersey facility.
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Could Riding A Space Elevator Be Dangerous?
If humanity is ever able to construct an elevator to the stars, they may have to overcome a haunting problem that will plague all those who desire to live space.
(New Scientist Space) [P]assengers could be killed by the radiation they receive on the way to the top, say Anders Jorgensen and Steven Patamia at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Blaise Gassend of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the proposed speed of 200 kilometres per hour, passengers would spend a few days in the Van Allen radiation belts, long enough to induce severe sickness and even death.
The article (which requires subscription) proposes shifting the elevator away from the equator in order to avoid the belts of radiation. Despite being a great idea, such a move would reduce the amount of momentum needed to lift objects into space.
It would probably be wiser to simply launch vehicles until a radiation solution can be discovered as moving the base away from the equator would mean lengthening the space elevator cable.
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Short Space Elevator Film
Here is a short film show casing the space elevator via YouTube.
Unlike many films online this video highlights the friction between the tether and the lifter as it climbs its way towards the stars. I wonder if a climber speeding that fast (and causing that much friction) would wear out the tether in a year or two?
One interesting aspect of this short film was the asteroid as a counter weight. Although held up to some as a good idea, no earthly government would be comfortable with a rock that large near earth. Such an idea by itself would be enough to kill off the space elevator idea.
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A New Currency For The Space Elevator?
(Hat Tip: LiftPort, and the Space Elevator Reference)
Mondolithic is auctioning off a silver Space Elevator coin over on Ebay.
The bid starts at $75 (plus shipping and handling) and so far no one has made any offers. By itself the coin does not look very interesting, although if several (perhaps ten or twenty different ones) were created, it would make the offering a little bit more attractive.
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Happy Space Elevator Day!
Today is happy Space Elevator day. Why is that? That is because LiftPort, a space elevator company plans on launching the first “lifter shuttle” in orbit on October of this day in 2031.
LiftPort is one of the few (and possibly only) company out there striving to make space available to all (and not just the wealthy and healthy) and if you would like to help make this dream a reality, you can support them by either purchasing their book, enlisting as a LiftPort Ambassador or simply Google-bombing the word “space elevator” with LiftPort’s homepage as you can see from the example below:
Although only one score and four years away, wouldn’t it be nice to ride in a space elevator? (if not you, at least your kids could go up).
Note: Did we mention listening to music on the way up? (Hat Tip: Space Elevator Blog)
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Space Elevator Games (Enlightening) Revelations
Ted Semon on the Space Elevator Blog and Dr. Edwards over on the Space Elevator Reference have done such a great round up about the X-Prize Cup that there is little need for any extra analysis.
However, after viewing video and reading opinions of bloggers at the event one thing became clear–space may be for the upcoming generation.
Although NASA will undoubtedly build bigger and better (yet more expensive) rockets, the final frontier will still be limited towards the healthy and wealthy, or federal space employees.
It may be a good thirty to forty years until humans begin to travel up a space elevator (an optimistic view, at least from one LiftPort staff member) but perhaps space is not for our generation.
Our fathers may have not prepared us for the final frontier (as their fathers did not do as great a job in this regard) but perhaps the current generation can prepare the future one for the opportunity.
After all, the human race still has plenty of problems to work out on planet Earth (like loving thy neighbor) and perhaps this will give our species time to find a solution for some of these problems before we head off towards the stars.
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Space Elevator Community Coming Together
It looks as if the Space Elevator community is coming back together again after a brief tit for tat arguments over the precise launch of the first space elevator.
Bryan Laubscher seems to be calling the SE community to work together as a whole, probably a wise thing as “a space elevator divided, shall not be built” (to paraphrase a wise man).
(Space Elevator Reference) As a community we need to work more closely together to encourage and support good work while discouraging shoddy work. And we need to do this out of the public eye. All of us need to be willing to have our work reviewed. Indeed, my most talented scientific colleagues insist on having their work reviewed by peers because they know the importance of their work and they honor their reputations! This level of activity is for adults with serious intentions. It is not for the insincere or insecure. Through this process we will all be called to a higher standard of work.
Bryan is asking for a SE workshop to be carried out at the 2nd Biennial Space Elevator Workshop in March next year (more details over here). This forum may be worth attending, and hopefully everyone can lay aside the personal attacks.
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Space Elevator Confusion, Is It In You?
There seems to be a bit of a time frame gap as to exactly when the Space Elevator will be built by two competing authorities.
According to LiftPort, the Space Elevator will be built around 2031 (at its earliest) because of various factors, mainly due to creating a carbon nanotube that is strong enough as well as various testing of the ribbon.
But according to Dr. Bradley Edwards of Carbon Designs, Inc., the LiftPort Roadmap is flawed as he goes on to explain:
The major pitfalls of this roadmap include but are not limited to:
At the end of August an announcement came out from Los Alamos National Laboratory stating they had produced material 100 times stronger than steel (pound for pound). This is about 50GPa or about 15 times Kevlar, Vectran or Spectran. Efforts to produce large commercial quantities of material with these characteristics are underway. Liftport has this material strength milestone at the year 2020 and this drives much of their roadmap.
The laser tracking test in the roadmap listed for completion the end of 2009 were completed about ten years ago out of the Starfire Range in New Mexico and laser tracking and ranging have been done since the early 1970′s. These results have been referenced in several prominent space elevator documents. [...]
The orbital environment test proposed was done on NASA’s Long Duration Exposure Facility spacecraft many years ago for most materials and testing of the carbon nanotubes would be best done at the numerous plasma labs around the country set up for this purpose. Due to the orbital velocity a satellite can not realistically test atomic oxygen degradation. Radiation tests would also be best done in a lab for a small fraction of the cost and for the better results that can be obtained on orbit. Other environmental tests have been done on other materials and doing them with carbon nanotubes will not provide additional information.
He later dismisses LiftPort’s roadmap plan, claiming they are not looking at the efforts of others around the world that have shortened most of the research neccessary for building the space elevator.
Ted Simon and I were pretty much dissappointed about the delay, although this new information is starting to make me wonder which authority does one trust regarding the Space Elevator.
I will sleep on the new info tonight, although I think I probably should begin to Google info regarding the SE project world wide. Hopefully, both LiftPort and Dr. Edwards will be able to explain (in layman’s terms) the exact date for an SE. But then again, that’s probably why he (along with Philip) wrote this book.
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LiftPort Sets Clock Back For Space Elevator
LiftPort, one of the leading space pioneers (with a real vision for inexpensive transportation into space) has set back the clock for constructing a Space Elevator by 13 years (as this screen shot shows).
Their text still marks April 12th as the launch date, which was chosen in honor of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who was the first human to be launched into space aboard the Vostok 1.
LiftPort goes on to explain the reasons for the delay over on their Roadmap Plan:
Although LiftPort is involved in the production of carbon nanotubes, we will likely rely on the global development of high strength CNT materials. While we assume the material will be available around the year 2020, earlier availability will not particularly speed up development of the space elevator. [...]
The longest tether ever deployed in space was roughly 20km long. Given the history of problems in tether experiments, it would be imprudent and impractical (at best) to go immediately to a 100,000km system. In addition, much can be learned by smaller scale tether design experiments before the final carbon nanotube-based ribbon material is available.
Although this will give young bucks like this author plenty of time to build up a nest egg to establish a lunar house, one wonders if LiftPort’s founders will still be “at their prime” by the time the space elevator becomes profitable.
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If We Build It, Will They Come?
In 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin (who later on changed his legal name to Buzz) descended upon the lunar surface marking the first time humans have ever visited another terrestrial object. After several trots upon the surface, both men returned towards their space craft, blasting off back home and for a hero’s welcome.
Three years later, the Apollo programs ended, with Americans refocusing their attention on a pop culture as well as politics and slowly became disinterested in space.
In 2001, Space Adventures rekindled the hope of exploration by launching the first space tourist into orbit. Realizing the final frontier was no longer only within reach by governmental hands, space companies materialized around the world, offering pricey tickets towards the stars above.
The public was again amazed, but with space being a place for only the wealthy and the healthy, the world began refocusing on a pop culture, politics and the daily affairs of life.
Despite recent increases in funding for space programs, the public seems disinterested in space travel and sees little benefit towards the day-to-day activities of life. After all, if one is unable to take out a mortgage to the stars, why should they be interested in their children possibly living on the Moon or Mars?
If the government, scientists, and fans of cosmos want to convince all of the need to go to space, then they need to make space affordable to all, and available to all. And with prices ranging between $3,000-$7,000 per pound, humanity will not travel to the stars via rockets any time soon.
That is unless of course you can shatter the economic barrier–the glass ceiling holding back the masses–by providing a less expensive alternative. And that is something that an elevator to the stars might be able to do.
The space elevator is one of the few technologies available at reducing the cost of space from the current rock bottom price of $3,000 per pound to around $400 per pound (with some even suggesting that the price could be further reduced to a mere $23 per pound).
Reducing the cost of travel will for the first time allow millions of individuals to explore the final frontier and settle on other worlds, reclaiming space as their inheritance not only for their children but for future generations as well.
No one ever said building a structure stretching 62,000 miles from the ocean floor to outer space would be easy. Constructing such a feat will require patience, focus, invention of new technologies, and determination that will not waver in spite of what the opposition has to say.
There may be failures, but there will also be successes, and the end goal is to grant access to the stars for the not-so-poor, the physically unfit, and for businesses desiring to enhance life for everyone down on planet.
Skeptics may dismiss an elevator to the stars as way of opening up space to everyone, but then again, when was the last time anybody else provided another working solution to bring the masses into space?
“The practical dreamers have always been, and always will be the pattern-makers of civilization.” ~Napoleon Hill, Think And Grow Rich
“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” ~King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 7:8
Update: Corrected publishing date (this one was sitting in Draft mode for a while).
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Four Million Dollars For SE Olympics
(Hat Tip: Cosmic Log)
NASA is committing $4 million dollars in prize money for the X-Prize Cup games in which participants compete by showing off their latest technology for a space elevator.
(Elevator 2010) Our goal is to infect the engineering and science community with our passion for building the Space Elevator, thus making them ambassadors to our cause. As the fruits of their efforts take to the sky every year, we will have demonstrated the feasibility and sheer simplicity of the Space Elevator concept, and will have brought it closer to reality.
Our prize money is provided by NASA’s Centennial Challenges program – a total of $4,000,000 over the next 5 years! To mazimize our return and reduce our risk, we distribute the money in slowly increasing increments, as we ratchet up the difficulty level of the challenges.
Although some may scoff at the idea of a space elevator, NASA’s $4 million offer on the table may be a strong hint at the direction the space program wants to take. NASA’s goal is to make space a highlight in American life again, and the only way to do that is by finding some way of making it affordable to most American businesses.
After all, why should I care about space if I (or any future descendants) are unable to go?
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Space Elevator In Google Earth
On April 18th, 2018 LiftPort will build a space elevator that will (hopefully) allow humanity to return to the stars.
But while the real space elevator is 12 years away, I was wondering if it were possible to build one inside Google Earth. Fortunately, someone already did.
(Google Earth Blog) Back in January I created a simplistic 3D model of a space elevator for a 3D model demonstration. Two days ago, someone at the Google Earth Community named ‘Gerardo64′ posted a well-written summary of what the space elevator concept is all about, and a much more sophisticated 3D model of a space elevator. You can download the 3D space elevator model for Google Earth here. This model is created with a base of the elevator on a floating platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Here are some screen shots via Google Earth below:
The basic layout of a future space station hovering around the space elevator. Goods can be launched up to the station and metals/minerals from asteroids can be brought down (you can see a glimpse of this station from the previous post).
Image of a lifter traveling up the tether via a powerful laser beam. For an entertaining explanation (video wise, not musically wise) see this previous post.
The port in the middle of the ocean where goods will be sent in order to be launched towards the stars.
Liftport seems to be already aware of this within Google Earth (as Brian has commented on the post) although I think it would be cool if someone in their IT department was able to go back give it and put a little LiftPort symbol on there). 
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Establish First Contact (& Subscribe)
Love of Lunar
Martian Delights
Interplanetary Essays
