2035: How was the space elevator built?

Space elevators are a means of proposing to replace missiles and space shuttle to bring people into space, according to scientists, in about 50 years it will be very popular.

>>>Visitors enter the universe by a 200km / h elevator

From April 12, 1981 - when Colombia's first spacecraft flew into space, about 100 more spacecraft were flown into space. And from there according to statistics, the cost to transport 1kg of tonnage into the universe is 22,000 USD. The idea of ​​a space elevator also originates from here. It is predicted that when the space elevator project comes into operation, the cost of transporting goods and people into the universe will be less than 50-100 times. So what is a space elevator really?

The basic components of the space elevator include: The cable shaft (cable) is attached one end to the Earth. Usually the sea is above the equator. The other end is hooked into counterweight (counterweight) in outer space. There is also an elevator (climber) attached to the cable shaft and will be responsible for transporting people and goods to outer space. The cable axis is expected to have a length of up to 100,000km, which is much higher than the orbits of satellites that spy around the Earth a lot.

The backbone component of the cable axle system in the super-space elevator project is the cable axle system. Unlike cable axles in conventional buildings, the cable axis of the space elevator is expected to be only . a few centimeters wide and thin like a paper? If you compare the length of this space elevator, it is no different from a silk strip with a length of more than a hundred times the width. When shrinking the size of this space elevator in proportion, if the length is 1 meter, the width of the space elevator is only 10 nautical meters - a few times thicker than DNA cells.

Model of space elevator

Keeping the same scale, if the length of the space elevator is equivalent to the length of a football field, the width is still only a few . micro meters - smaller than red blood cells in human blood. So what exactly is that paper made of that can pull tons of loads from Earth onto space?

We all know: Diamond is one of the most durable materials in the world. However, to meet the needs of space elevators, materials for cable shafts for this elevator need to meet 3 criteria: Extremely durable, extremely light, and extremely flexible.

Based on this, after many years of research the dentists also found a bright candidate: Materials made from carbon nanotubes (carbon nanotubes) . The twin brother of this diamond also has the basic composition that carbon molecules connect to each other into tubes. Suitable weight, 100 times more durable than steel, flexible as plastic are the foundation standards for experts to continue to research and develop the space elevator cable shaft.

Illustration of nano carbon tube molecule - a backbone material for a space elevator project

In addition to drastically reducing transportation costs and transportation fuel costs, the introduction of the space elevator will open a lot of new directions in the fields of telecommunications, military and especially science. Discover the universe. For example, setting up bases directly on Mars, the moon will go into the past, when in the future we will use space elevators as a mass launcher of mobile bases into space.

With the development of a carbon nanotube project, along with many other similar projects, the IAA ( International Academy of Astronautics ) predicts that there will be ladder works. The first machine brought people to a height of 1000km above the sea level in 2025.

Thereby, the space elevator project will come into effect about a decade later. The IAA also predicts that space elevators can withstand loads of up to 20 tons. Once the space elevator becomes a launch pad to bring the Earth people to the universe, surely in the near future we will have more unexpected announcements of achievements from the universe of scientific discovery. And maybe in the future, we will have the answer to the golden question: Are we alone in the universe?