A Japanese construction company, Obayashi, wants to
build an elevator to space and transport passengers to a station about a tenth
the distance to the moon. According to Obayashi, this elevator could be ready
as early as 2050. This elevator would zip along at speeds of 125mph and would
be able to carry about 30 people. The elevator would use super-strong carbon
nanotubes in its cables that stretch some 60,000 miles, about a quarter the
distance to the moon. These cables would be attached to Earth at a spaceport
anchored to the ocean floor and the other end would dangle a counterweight in
space. Up in space, the station would have living quarters and lab facilities.
Solar panels connected to the station would generate electricity that would be
transmitted to the ground. NASA also investigated this idea of a space elevator
in 2009 awarding $900,000 to LaserMotive
for developing a laser-powered robotic climber. In the end they realized that
this infrastructure could cost billions to build. An Obayashi official stated
that at the moment they could not estimate the cost of this project, but they
are going to make a steady progress so that it won't end just up as simply a
dream.
This
idea is truly innovative and genius but the biggest question is will Obayashi be
able to pull it off? This makes me a little skeptical because NASA has already
put thought into this idea and given up because of the tremendous amount of money
that they would have to spend. I would love to see this idea come to life but
until I see it, chances are many people wont believe it. If this were to
happen, how many people would actually go on this elevator? And how expensive
would this ride be? Not to mention the safety hazards that this elevator might
have. I guess we will just have to wait until 2050 to see if this idea will actually
become a reality.
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