Artists Sci-fi Space Elevators Possible with new NASA Carbon Ribbon material

Written by Martin Dolan

A new form of carbon ribbon is paving the way to bring the artists science fiction idea of a space elevator from the realms of sci-fi to sci-fact.

Arthur C. Clarke, in his 1978 novel, Fountains of Paradise, depicted engineers constructing a space elevator on top of a mountain peak in the mythical island of Taprobane. (closely based on Sri Lanka, the country where Clarke resided). The builders used advanced materials such as the carbon nanofibers now in laboratory study.

NASA holds competitions similar to the x-prize to inspire people to come up with materials that can make a space elevator possible.

The team behind the new ribbon material developed it for one of NASA's competitions.

Click the artwork (by Pat Rawlings) to enlarge.

According to the Times Online:

Spurred on by a $4m (£2.7m) research prize from NASA, a team at Cambridge University has created the world’s strongest ribbon: a cylindrical strand of carbon that combines lightweight flexibility with incredible strength and has the potential to stretch vast distances. The development has been seized upon by the space scientists, who believe the technology could allow astronauts to travel into space via a cable thousands of miles long - a space elevator...

The Cambridge team is making about 1 gram of the high-tech material per day, enough to stretch to 18 miles in length. "We have NASA on the phone asking for 144,000 miles of the stuff, but there is a difference between what can be achieved in a lab and on an industrial level," says Alan Windle, professor of materials science at Cambridge University, who is anxious not to let the work get ahead of itself.

They also mention that space elevators will be able to lift material more than 22,000 miles into orbit for as little as £300 per pound weight, compared with about £14,000 per pound using existing rockets.

Can you imagine what this will do for industries like space tourism, and facilitate our travel to the moon and other planets.
Most of the energy used by current space travel is just to get the vehicle away from the earths gravity, and even worse, lifting the fuel used to lift the fuel used to lift the... you get the idea...

With a space elevator, once in place electromagnetic methods would be used to lift the payload, like a monorail.

The electricity can be gathered from space via solar cells - another technology that is moving ahead with leaps and bounds due to nanotechnology.

A spin off benefit is that the power that is generated can be used to power the planet with a few of these around the globe.

One thing to consider is if the 'cable' breaks.

Something I had not really thought about, until I saw the animation at [gassend.net]

Well worth clicking through on that link to see what would happen to the cable!!

There would be different scenarios depending on where the break occurred, from just harmlessly flicking off into space if it broke near the ground to wrapping around the planet a few times if it broke near the station.
When I say harmlessly flicking off into space- harmless for the planet, not so much for the people actually riding the elevator. I am sure the sudden acceleration of the ‘flick’ would leave some rather nasty smears around the inside, include the occupants underwear!

...you can still count me in for a ticket! a sci-fi lovers dream. . .

[io9 via times online - image courtesy of NASA]

Tags: Video News Technology Nano-technology Humour Space Exploration Transport

Comments (1)

1 Tuesday, 28 June 2011 03:14

tom

The Space Elevator is the closest thing I could imagine to an anti-gravity 'flying carpet' that is bound in actual engineering and physics! I don't know what would be easier to make feasible; nanowires that can reach geostationary orbital, or 'clean' H-bombs that could be used for an orion-drive? Working space elevators could make it feasible to put ordinary people anywhere in the solar system! I imagine the grand cosmic railroad... and if the cable could impart sufficient electromagnetic energy... pushing a vehicle at 1G for 200 thousand kilometers, you could reach Mars in weeks instead of 9 or more months? Liftoff and landing to and from Space would be no more dangerous than riding a cable car. The ultimate people mover. How many space stations could you build at $2 @ kilogram? Could be cheaper to build in Space than on Earth? Maybe that's what will happen to the human race.