February 28 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Space Year: General Rating: 9
By Futuretalk
Welcome aboard the space elevator folks. Our first stop will be
the Bigelow Hotel where some of you will depart for a vacation
among the stars; we will then continue on to Geosynchronous Way
where the rest of you will transfer to an L5 shuttlecraft. The trip
takes 7 days, so sit back and enjoy the breathtaking scenes from
your luxury suite.
This scenario is fiction of course, but according to
visionaries, the space elevator, a proposed new radical means of
transportation from Earth to space could be operational by the
2020s.
Here’s how this bold concept will work: a special
rocket-launched satellite would drop a paper-thin ribbon 30” wide
made from incredibly strong carbon nanotubes, to a platform in the
Pacific Ocean near the equator. The ribbon will extend 62,000 miles
high, and, powered by laser-generated electricity, will lift 20-ton
loads of people and freight into space at 120 mph.
Two startups, Michael Laine’s Liftport Group, and Brad Edwards’
Sedco both believe they can turn this audacious idea into reality
by as early as the 2020s at costs ranging from $10-to-20
billion.
The main forces behind this bold technology include (1),
industry recognition of the huge market potential for a cheaper way
of getting people and materials into space and (2), expected
advances in carbon nanotube production, the critical material
needed to construct the ribbon.
Proponents predict the space elevator will lower costs of
hauling stuff into space from $10,000 per-pound to $100; and
eventually to $10. “As soon as we can build it, we should build
it,” claims Los Alamos researcher and space expert Bryan Laubsher.
Just as the transcontinental railroad opened the West in 1869, “I
feel the space elevator is going to be such a paradigm shift in
space access,” he said.
Many companies are positioning themselves to grab a share of
what is expected to be the financial bonanza of the 21st century.
Nanotech giant Arrowhead Research recently acquired Carbon Nanotech
(renamed Unidym). Given its immense portfolio of carbon
nanotubes-related intellectual property, a space ride may be in
Unidym’s future.
Others that could play a supporting role in space elevator
development include Nanomix with their carbon nanotubes-based
sensors, and D-Wave, which seeks to construct the first quantum
computer – a device that theoretically could run the many complex
calculations needed to make the space elevator safe.
And bigger companies like General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, and
BASF could join the space elevator
bandwagon. GE has created what it considers the ideal carbon
nanotube, HP is commercializing nanotech-based products, and
BASF is investing $221 million into
nanotech because it expects to reap $60 billion in revenues from
the science by 2011.
Economical access to space may also provide synergy to other
projects. Entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Robert Bigelow dream of
getting private citizens into space for vacations and jobs, which
could spark a multi-billion dollar space tourism industry and
launch what many predict, will be the most lucrative commerce
effort in history – asteroid mining – with revenues expected in the
quadrillions.
Forward-thinkers believe development of the space elevator is
crucial for the future of space exploration. Let’s get ready to
experience this awe-inspiring “magical future.”
Comments welcome.
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