Challenge30: The Gateway to the Final Frontier

The Space Elevator is the Gateway to the Final Frontier.

Image Courtesy Science Photo Library

How we get into Space has always been very problematic.
I mean Rockets are just so Primitivo.
There has just got to be a better way to reach the Stars.

As my favorite Quote from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy goes:
“We'll be saying a big hello to all intelligent lifeforms everywhere and to everyone else out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys.”

Images Courtesey of Pixabay

Anti-gravity black boxes would work just fine as we whooshed to the Stars in our Pyramid looking Interstellar Spaceships.

But no, we do not possess the Stargate, or if we do maybe Trump will reveal all on Twitter.
After his minions raid Area 51 looking for some new Alien technology to flog.

No, my Cryptocurrency digital red chips will still be on the Space Lift.
I have included it in one of my stories.
And when its built it will be fucking awesome.

The cable is where it all comes together. It has to be both incredible light weight and have amazing strength.
Swedish scientists lately, have created an artificial spiders web that is stronger that steel.
Or perhaps it will be ultra-thin, “Diamond Nano-threads" that could prove even stronger and stiffer than
Carbon Nano-Tubes ( which are 13 times stronger than steel).
Discoveries like this will be the building blocks for an Elevator City to the Stars.

The Obayashi Corporation, have said they could have one built by 2050.
Costing around $100bn, with a Kilo transporting cost around $50/$100
The money this construction will generate will be enormous.
Both in the build and when completed.
The City built around this vast enterprise will be the greatest on the Planet.
We built the Suez and Panama canal and in real terms this will cost around the same.
And it will achieve the same object. Making it cheaper and safer to get into Space.
Bring it on I say.
To Infinity and Beyond!

Image Courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

A Hoist to the Heavens

So how exactly would it work? Springing out from an anchor point on the equator, the space elevator cable would rise straight up, passing through geostationary orbit at 36 000 km and continuing for another 64 000 km until it terminates in a 600-ton counterweight. The cable would be held up in a manner similar to that which holds a string taut as a weight tied to it is swung in a circle. The key detail that would make the elevator work would be the fact that its center of gravity would be at the geostationary orbit mark, forcing the entire structure to move in lockstep with Earth's rotation.

Electrically powered elevator cars, which I call climbers, would crawl up the cable, carrying people or cargo. Each car would weigh about 20 tons fully loaded, of which about 13 tons would be payload. These payloads could be in the form of inflatable structures, like those proposed for the International Space Station, with about 900 cubic meters of space, or roughly as much as a five-bedroom house. For passengers, a climber would be like a space-going cruise ship; there would be small sleeping quarters, a tiny kitchen and other amenities, and, of course, windows with some of the most stunning views in the solar system. Ascending at 190 km per hour, the climbers would reach geostationary orbit in about eight days

Read the full article:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/a-hoist-to-the-heavens

Challenge 30 is a 30 day writing challenge issued by @dragosroua to write and post every day in January.

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