World’s First Space Elevator Docked in Australia?

The race is on to build the world’s first space elevator. Japan first unveiled their plans to develop a space elevator which would take both cargo and tourists into space. NASA has since announced plans to build their own space elevator, with cable-based space launching expected to be 100 times cheaper than rocket exploration. The proposed elevator would run on a cable between an Earth docking station and satellite space platform, orbiting around 36,000km above the earth. Building a cable to withstand incredible pressure and force is no small feat, says Professor Thompson, who recently co-ran the Space Elevator Technology Session at the 59th International Astronautical Congress in Scotland;

The stresses in the cable due to its own weight are partially relieved by the mass in space at the end of the cable, so that’s not a problem. But the loads are enormous and get dangerously high once the elevator starts oscillating as it moves along the cable. The first challenge is to develop fibres that have sufficient strength-to-weight ratio so that they will take the load without being so ridiculously large in diameter that it could never be deployed.

Carbon nanotube technology has come a long way in recent years and Thompson speculates an appropriate cable could be produced in the next five years.

Western Australia has been nominated as a prime location for the Earth dock. Co-author of Leaving The Earth By Space Elevator and West-Australian Philip Ragan explains:

We identified that the Indian Ocean, about 500km off of Perth, was a prime location to site the Earth end of the cable.
A second preferred location is about 2000 miles (3218km) south of Hawaii… (which would be) closer for Americans in air time but logistically more remote for servicing by shipping.

[via News.com & Gizmodo]