Space Elevator

One of my favourite quotes in the world:

"My journey to the stars, among the stars, at one with the stars, was a place of absolute contentment, the most peaceful existence I have ever known. And the most powerful, for in that state of oneness with the universe around me, I stood as a god." - Drizzt Do'Urden (R.A Salvatore)

If I had to pick my deepest desire, it would be to travel space. To feel the breathtaking feeling of no gravity. To escape the spin of the earth and truly be still. To look out from space, into space, and wonder at its infinity. I can't imagine anything greater. Dreamt of being an astronaut since I was 6 years old, when I first learnt the order of the planets in our solar system, as well as the name of the closest star to us other than the Sun, Proxima Centauri. Since then, the cosmos has been my biggest curiosity.

Therefore, something that really inspired me was a lecture on BBC4 from the Royal Institution – ‘Can We Build an Elevator to Space?’  Materials scientist Dr Mark Miodownik, discussed the possibilities of making space travel available to the mass audience. After considering many ideas, such as an extension of a sky scraper, the stability of a pyramid, and the impracticality of a staircase, the answer became clear. Instead of building upwards, to escape gravity, we should use it to our benefit. A satellite could be sent out into space, which would reel down the cable for an elevator.

144,000 miles of cable would be required, and the cable would extend 22,000 miles above the Earth to a station, which is the distance at which satellites remain in geostationary orbit. Due to the competing forces of the Earth's gravity and outward centrifugal pull, the elevator station would remain at that distance like a satellite. Then the cable would extend another 40,000 miles into space to a weighted structure for stability. An elevator car would be attached to the nanotube cable and powered into space along the track.

The best material produced to date, to suit such a mission, is Carbon Nanotubes. These have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1 – significantly larger than any other material. It also has great tensile strength, durability and many other exceptional properties. Each atom is joined to three neighbours, as in graphite. The tubes can therefore be considered as rolled-up single layers of graphite.

Have a look at this:

http://www.dvdbrowser.co.uk/index.php/2010/12/build-elevator-space-royal-institution-christmas-lecture-2010-bbc/