Japan funding space elevator

Lift could take passengers straight into space
By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 11:01am BST 22/09/2008

Japanese scientists are attempting to build a lift that will take passengers 62,000 miles into space.

The project could see the realisation of a vision that has inspired science fiction writers for generations.



A Nasa image of how a 'space elevator' might look
The lift's carriages, which will themselves require new feats of engineering, would move up and down 22,000 mile-long cables.

Those cables would need to be stronger and lighter than any material ever woven.

They would be anchored to the ground and disappear into the sky, eventually reaching a satellite docking station orbiting above the Earth.

Scientists hope that as well as carrying human passengers, the carriages could also haul huge, solar-powered generators that could power homes and businesses back on Earth. It could also remove barrels of nuclear waste, dumping them into space.

"Just like travelling abroad, anyone will be able to ride the elevator into space," Shuichi Ono, chairman of the Japan Space Elevator Association, told The Times.

more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/09/22/scispace122.xml

If we want to sustain a human presence in orbit, this is the only economic way to accomplish the task. All the manned space programs in existence aren't worth crap compared to implementing a space elevator. And yes, of course it would be valuable for any eventual efforts to better harness solar power from orbit.

:spank:
Could not resist.

Bout damn time someone took a step on this. Beyond this contest anyways, which I do think is great

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9763307/

As rudimentary tests done thus far cannot deal with a slight breeze against a mere few meters of material.
While exploring the concept will lead to some interesting materials science, attempting this on earth is just too risky.

Failure of a 22000 mile ribbon would put too many populated equatorial areas at extreme risk.

It is worthy of further study, and I'm glad to see funding for it. I doubt it will provide the cheap access to orbit we need.