Space elevator

A terrestrial space elevator or elevator would consist of a fixed cable to the equator of the Earth and reach the space. By anchoring a counterweight to one of the ends (or extending the cable upwards), the mass center would remain above the geostationary orbit. The centrifugal force due to rotation ensures that the cable would remain elongated, counteracting the gravitational attraction. Once above the geostationary level, the loads transported would feel a force upward, as above this level, the centrifugal force is greater than the gravitational. (The height of the geostationary orbit relative to the diameter of the earth shown is at scale).

A space elevator is a hypothetical elevator that connects the surface of a planet to space.

Basically it is a space station in a geosynchronous orbit, and from which a 35,786 km long cable starts that reaches the ground, and that can be shaped like a rail. In order to maintain the balance of the structure, in addition to placing the anchor at a point as close as possible to the equator, to minimize the stress effects due to the difference between the Earth's rotation and the geosynchronous orbit of the satellite, the speakers of this technology Futurist propose using an identical length of cable extended into space or a counterweight, in such a way that the cable would be in equilibrium with its center of mass in geosynchronous orbit. Once the cable is in place, ships and cargo can go up and down it at a cost about a hundred times less than launching them by means of a rocket (virtually the cost of the electricity needed to drive the elevator, which It can be renewable electricity from solar panels located in the counterweight).

The concept was formulated, as it is known today, by the Russian engineer Yuri Artsutanov in 1960, in an article in the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper «В Космос — на электровозе» (translated into English as &# 34;To the cosmos by electric train"), although he recognized that the tensile strength needed to construct the cable could not be obtained with any material known at the time. However, the idea of a space elevator dates back to 1895, conceived by the Russian physicist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Space elevator hypothesis

Nanotube wire

Molecular structure of carbon nanotubes.

Space elevators were until very recently the preserve of the science fiction genre, as no known material could withstand the enormous stress produced by their own weight. Certain materials are now beginning to appear viable as feedstock: new materials experts believe that carbon nanotubes can theoretically withstand the stress found in a space elevator. Due to this advance in the strength of new materials, several agencies are studying the feasibility of a future space elevator:

In the United States, a former NASA engineer named Bradley C. Edwards has drawn up a preliminary project that is also being studied by NASA scientists. Edwards says that the necessary technology already exists, that it would take 20 years to build it, and that its cost would be 10 times less than that of the International Space Station. Edwards' space elevator does not resemble those present in fictional works, being much more modest and at the same time innovative in regards to its eventual construction method.

Edwards proposes that the space elevator be built in a similar way to how bridges were built in the past: stretching a rope between both ends of the natural obstacle, and progressively reinforcing the initial rope with increasingly thick and resistant sections. The Edwards elevator would be an extremely thin (a few nanometers) ribbon of carbon nanotubes, which would be launched into space in the conventional manner. Once in geosynchronous orbit, the tape would be lowered to Earth with the help of a weight. The tape would be so light that the ship it was launched on would serve as a counterweight.

The cable would be retrieved upon reaching the earth's surface and anchored on a floating platform somewhere on the equator. This would complete the construction of the first space elevator. Despite its fineness, the carbon nanotube ribbon would be strong enough to withstand the ascent of a hundred-kilogram electric vehicle.

Edwards also proposes to use such initial load capacity not for load, but to reinforce the cable by adding more tapes to the first one, using an electric vehicle that would mount the cable by holding on to it, such a process would be repeated until a composite cable was built. capable of carrying the desired payload capacity into geosynchronous orbit.

Also the European and Japanese agencies are working on their own designs. Likewise, the Spaceward Foundation has established various contests and prizes for those who contribute improvements for the construction of said elevator.

LaserMotive LLC

In November 2009 a project developed in Seattle in the United States won a contest supported by NASA that aimed to design a space elevator based on ideas presented in scientific and fictional literature. The winning machine, named "LaserMotive LLC" managed to ascend 899 meters along a cable that hung from a helicopter and driven by an electric motor which received its charge from a set of voltaic cells that converted the light emitted by a laser on the ground that was aimed directly into electrical energy to the machine.

This machine managed to ascend the 899 meters of cable in three minutes and 48 seconds using this method, for which it was awarded a prize of $900,000 by the NASA Centennial Challenges Project.

Space elevators in science fiction

There is some dispute between Arthur C. Clarke and Charles Sheffield as introducers of the concept into a work of fiction. The former introduced the concept to a wider audience in his 1978 novel The Fountains of Paradise; In this work, engineers build a space elevator on top of the equatorial island of Taprobane (which bears some resemblance to Sri Lanka). Charles Sheffield mentions a space elevator in his novel The Web Between the Worlds, which was completed a few months earlier, though he did not manage to publish it until after Clarke's novel appeared.

Space elevators have become a fixture of hard science fiction, being one of the few efficient methods of placing large payloads into orbit. Space elevators are narrative plots in works such as:

• The fountains of paradise, Songs of the distant Earth and 3001: Final Odyssey of Arthur C. Clarke.
• The web between the worlds of Charles Sheffield
• Portico de Frederic Pohl, dentro de la Saga de los Heechees
• The trilogy formed by Red sea, Green sea and Blue sea Kim Stanley Robinson.
• DeepsixJack McDevitt
• The comic book series Battle Angel Alita Yukito Kishiro.
• In the anime Tekkaman Blade humanity built an orbital ring that surrounds the whole earth and which is accessed by impressive lifts that leave the surface, however after the invasion of the Raddam, the ring is fully populated by these creatures killing the humans who were still there forcing the few that were still left on the earth to seal the elevators or in more extreme cases, destroy them to prevent the aliens from coming down for them.
• In Halo 2 There is a New Mombasa and a Old Mombasa in Kenya. The first has a space elevator that is destroyed by the Covenant in Halo 3:ODST. Precisely in Halo 3At the "Autopista Tsavo" level, rings were seen forming part of the elevator and fell to the ground when the structure was destroyed.
• In Halo: Reach During the "Exodus" and "New Alexandria" missions that take place in the fictitious city of New Alexandria, you can observe three of these elevators called "The Delphi-Triple Strand Network" and which are visible to the far in the sea.
• In Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn, in the CAMS (Corbulo Academy of Military Sciences) you can notice the presence of a space elevator in the center of the complex, that elevator had the function of transporting UNSC staff and supplying the academy with various resources; In the film, the staff of the academy is forced to evacuate the complex through the space elevator, as they were under an attack from the Covenant. Finally, during the evacuation of students and staff of the CAMS, a corbeta-type ship of the Covenant marked the end of the operational life of the elevator by firing a plasma torpedo towards the structure of the same, causing its total collapse, in addition to the death of the personnel in the process of evacuation that was in the vehicles or gondolas of the elevator and causing death on land (by the fall of elevator rubble).
• In The travels of Tuf George R. R. Martin.
• In the video games Sid Meier's Civilization IV and Sid Meier's Civilization V There is the possibility of building a space elevator.
• The first science fiction anime in which a space elevator appears is the series Super Dimensional Century Orguss 1983.
• In the popular anime of 2007 Gundam 003 space lifts have been built on Earth that are connected to an orbital network of solar plates that supplies electricity to the entire world, as fossil fuels have been exhausted.
• During the film sequences of the video game I-War There appears a multiple space elevator that connects the earth with a space station.
• In the saga Akasa Puspa most of the planets in the globular cluster "mysteriously" have an elevator, a bib, space
• In the anime Legend of the galactic heroes, the planet Phezzan has a gigantic space elevator from which they control all the space traffic entering or leaving the planet
• In the video game Mega Man X8There's a space elevator called "Jakob" that serves to bring people to the moon.
• In the book Charlie and the big glass elevatorcontinuation Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryof the British author Roald Dahl.
• In the video game Airforce Delta Strike there is a level where you see a space elevator that is then destroyed by a space plane.
• In the book Limit by Frank Schätzing there is a two-wire lift to space.
• In the Infinite Space video game, each planet has space elevators that serve as ports for the ships of the game and to visit the areas of the planet.
• In the Anime film To Aru Majutsu no Index, called "To Aru Majutsu no Index: Endymion no Kiseki", the space lift is part of the plot.
• In the video game The moment of silence, in certain part of the game the protagonist travels to a space station, to which one of these lifts is reached.
• In Star Wars Season 4: The Clone Wars, in episode 86 "Bounty", an elevator is used to enter the planet due to the high pressure of this, too high for the ships to tolerate it.
• In the novel "Sun Navigator" by David Brin, The Earth's Space Lift, it was the only thing that surprised alien species.
• In Accel World's novels mention the construction of the space elevator that also comes out in the accelerated world, in a racing event called Hermes Cord.
• In the first book of La Vieja Guardia de John Scalzi, also called "La Vieja Guardia" the new recruits access their first cruise through a space elevator.
• In the video game World End Economica There is a space elevator that facilitates access to the Moon, connected to a space station in geostationary orbit. Thanks to this there are 3 cities on the Moon, including the main stage of the argument.
• In the video game Cities Skylines a space elevator can be placed as a monument that increases the number of tourists in the cities that can be built.
• In the video game Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown There is a space elevator that forms part of the central plot in which it is captured by the Kingdom of Erusea who in turn declares war to the Federation of Osea
• In the books of the Trilogy of the Three Bodies Liu Cixin a space elevator is used to reach a base in Earth orbit
• In the video game Satisfactory it is possible to build a space elevator to send resources to space
• In the video game Xenoblade Chronicles 2 the Tree of the World, located in the center of Alrest, is actually a space elevator used long ago, which by the lack of use ended up covering itself with vegetation and ending as it is known today. This space elevator connects Alrest with Orbital Station No1.

Building plans

• February 2012: the Japanese construction company Ohayashi announces a space lift of $1 billion, which will travel 200 km/h and take seven days on each journey, and is expected to be completed by 2050.