Washington: Researchers suggest that a space elevator consisting of an Earth-anchored tether that extends 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) into space could eventually provide routine, safe, inexpensive and quiet access to orbit.
A new assessment of the concept has been pulled together titled "Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and the Way Forward." The study was conducted by a diverse collection of experts from around the world under the auspices of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).
The study's final judgement is twofold: A space elevator appears possible, with the understanding that risks must be mitigated through technological progress, and a space elevator infrastructure could indeed be built via a major international effort.
The tether serving as a space elevator would be used to economically place payloads and eventually people into space using electric vehicles called climbers that drive up and down the tether at train-like speeds. The rotation of the Earth would keep the tether taut and capable of supporting the climbers.
The notion of a beanstalk-like space elevator is rooted in history.
Many point to the ahead-of-its-time "thought experiment" published in 1895 by Russian space pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. He suggested creation of a free-standing tower reaching from the surface of Earth to the height of geostationary orbit (GEO; 22,236 miles, or 35,786 km).
Over the last century or so, writers, scientists, engineers and others have helped finesse the practicality of the space elevator. And the new study marks a major development in the evolution of the idea, IAA president Gopalan Madhavan Nair said.
While it's always tricky to predict the future study lead editor Peter Swan told a website that space elevators are more than just a science-fiction fantasy.
ANI
First Published: Monday, February 24, 2014, 14:03
