In the last year, the International Space Elevator Consortium assessed that basic technological needs can be met with current capabilities: and, each segment of the Space Elevator Transportation System is ready for engineering validation. Because of the availability of a new material as a potential Space Elevator tether, the community strongly believes that a Space Elevator will be initiated in the near term. Included in the book is a series of appendices that are tremendous references to the status of the space elevator today. Included are a lexicon of space elevator terms, over 750 references in the bibliography, short descriptions of eight ISEC year-long studies and two IAA 4-year studies on space elevators, as well as a summary of over 20 Architectural Notes covering the development of space elevator technologies.
The authors take the reader through the history of the concept, technical design and economic practicalities of building an elevator to space, and, ultimately, the implications of what such a low cost transportation system would mean to society. Based on three years of NASA-funded studies and written for the technically literate layperson, Edwards and Westling discuss the recent technological advances that now make the space elevator feasible. They conclude by addressing the effects that the space elevator could have on mankind's future from communications and energy to colonizing space.
Michel van Pelt explains for the first time the principle of space tethers: what they are and how they can be used in space. He introduces non-technical space enthusiasts to the various possibilities and feasibility of space tethers including the technological challenges and potential benefits. He illustrates how, because of their inherent simplicity, space tethers have the potential to make space travel much cheaper, while ongoing advances in tether material technology may make even seemingly far-fetched ideas a reality in the not too distant future.
This book is organized into two main sections. The first section is non-fiction and covers the basic technical, financial, legal, social and political requirements of the system. Each section is written by an expert in the field and the reader is encouraged to visit any website links they provide in their attached biographies. The second section is composed of several science fiction stories outlining the possibilities and implications of Space Elevator construction for the whole world. After reading this book, LiftPort would just like you to be aware that there are many ways to continue your journey and get involved with the Space Elevator project.
What is a space elevator? A space elevator is a physical connection from the surface of the Earth to a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) above the Earth .35,786 km in altitude. Its center of mass is at the geostationary point such that it has a 24-hr orbit and stays over the same point above the equator as the Earth rotates on its axis. The vision is that a space elevator would be utilized as a transportation and utility system for moving people, payloads, power, and gases between the surface of the Earth and space. It makes the physical connection from Earth to space in the same way a bridge connects two cities across a body of water. The Earth to GEO space elevator is not feasible today, but could be an important concept for the future development of space in the latter part of the 21st century. It has the potential to provide mass transportation to space in the same way highways, railroads, power lines, and pipelines provide mass transportation across the Earth's surface. The low energy requirements for moving payloads up and down the elevator could make it possible to achieve cost to orbit
An easy guide to the most exciting development in space travel since the rocket. Stripped of the technical jargon, this is a laymans guide to the breathtaking developments surrounding the space elevator: a plan to string a 100,000 km from Earth to space, revolutionising space access.
What Is Space Elevator One concept for a transportation system that would link planets to space is called a space elevator. A cable that is attached to the surface and extends into space would be the primary component of this system. Without the need for huge rockets, the architecture of the system would enable vehicles to ascend the cable from the surface of a planetary body, such as the surface of the Earth, and enter orbit directly. Because of the enormous weight, a space elevator based on Earth could not simply be a tall tower supported from below. Instead, it would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator and the other end attached to a counterweight in space beyond geostationary orbit. This would allow the elevator to move between the surface and the counterweight. The opposing forces of gravity, which is stronger at the lower end, and the upward centrifugal force, which is stronger at the upper end, would result in the cable being held up, under tension, and stationary over a single position on Earth. Gravity is stronger at the lower end, while the upward centrifugal force is stronger at the upper end. After the tether has been deployed, climbers will be able to use mechanical methods to repeatedly ascend and descend the tether in order to release their payload into and out of orbit. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Space elevator Chapter 2: Interplanetary spaceflight Chapter 3: The Fountains of Paradise Chapter 4: Counterweight Chapter 5: Skyhook (structure) Chapter 6: Lunar space elevator Chapter 7: Megascale engineering Chapter 8: Yuri Artsutanov Chapter 9: Momentum exchange tether Chapter 10: Launch loop Chapter 11: Orbital ring Chapter 12: Globus Cassus Chapter 13: Space elevators in fiction Chapter 14: Specific strength Chapter 15: Gravity of Earth Chapter 16: Non-rocket spacelaunch Chapter 17: Space elevator safety Chapter 18: Space elevator construction Chapter 19: Space tether Chapter 20: Space elevator competitions Chapter 21: Hypothetical technology (II) Answering the public top questions about space elevator. (III) Real world examples for the usage of space elevator in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of space elevator' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of space elevator.
ABOUT THE BOOK The Orbital Space Elevator Project is an ongoing international endeavour to create a ground to space mechanical system that would allow man and materials to be transported into space without the use of rockets or jet propulsion. Using a laser based system, a transport vehicle would be propelled into space along a super material with over 100 times the strength of steal. This system would allow man to travel into space with as much ease, frequency, and cost as little as shipping a package to a different continent. I will soon explain to you the nearly unimaginable possibilities of a this system and how it can alter mankind's position in the universe. I have studied matters of physics at length and can be rightfully labeled a theoretical science enthusiast. In order to approach this topic with the correct frame of mind, I encourage you suspend disbelief. One cannot grasp the intention of theoretical science by applying the current limitations of human ingenuity. The whole purpose of the word “theoretical” is to give notice of something that is within the grasp of human capability but has yet to be realized by our ingenuity. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK The orbital station would sit in geostationary orbit and be the terminal point of the climber, or car, that would bring people and objects up into space. The propulsion method of the climber itself is another area of interest and concern. At the yearly Climber (Power Beaming) Competition and Tether Strength Competition, scientists from all over the world assemble and bring in prototypes of their climber systems in hopes of winning the $500,000 prize. In 2009, a Seattle-based group, LaserMotive, won $900,000 at NASA’s Centennial Challange when their laser powered robot climbed a 900-meter-long cable, suspended from a helicopter – in 7.5 minutes. Proposed methods vary widely with most stemming from a manner of laser driven propulsion, not dissimilar from the kind used in your laser DVD player. Others have proposed a track system akin to those of high speed magnetic railway lines. While a considerable portion of laser research is done by the military, they have said that they are very open to the idea of using lasers in more civilian, non-military capacities. The laser’s power generation is proposed to be driven by varied sources such as solar rays bounced off enormous mirrors, to heat based lasers. Depending on the method of propulsion, the estimated travel time between Earth and the orbital station could be anywhere from five hours to a seven and a half days... Buy a copy to keep reading!
The concept of a Space Elevator started over a century ago but started to move from science fiction to reality in the 1990s with the promising advent of a super strong material, carbon nanotubes, that theoretically had the strength to build a ribbon into space.NASA started investigating the concept which led to the publication of the first detailed analysis of whether it was possible, written by Dr Brad Edwards, in a NIAC paper.Early excitement of an immediate breakthrough, maybe even constructing one by 2010, gave way to the reality of producing carbon nanotubes of the required strength, outside the laboratory, in commercial quantities. As I write, in 2020, we are still awaiting this breakthrough and the project has moved back to the late 20s, maybe the 2030s or 2040s.But it will happen, and when it does, it will replace rockets as the easier and cheaper way to leave Earth, opening up space travel the way airplanes opened up world travel.This series examines the technical aspects and how it will be deployed.The first book in the Space Elevator 2020 series covers the history of this exciting project.
Under the editorship of David Raitt, this timely book brings together for the first time the record of people, places, developments and activities, in fiction and in fact, of the space elevator - a 100,000 km long, meter wide, ribbon reaching up from the Earth and into space along which robotic climbers that will travel to bring payloads into orbit at a fraction of the price of rocket launches. The chapters in the book cover the early pioneers who dreamt up the concept initially some 120 years ago; the work of modern day scientists and engineers who have developed the concept into doable plans; how the concept has been portrayed in novels, films and art; the conferences at which interested people could present and discuss their work and ideas; the global community that has grown up around space elevators and the competition challenges that have been held; and what the future may hold.
