Space elevator

Cosmic science in the 21st century has not only achieved great strides but is also marked by the great scientific works of human stature. Which must mention the dream of successfully building the elevator system in the universe of scientists.

Not only stop at the far-flung idea, the dream of building a space elevator is gradually being turned into reality by scientists and evaluated as one of the biggest works ever in the industry. Space science.

The interesting idea about space elevator was first mentioned by a British scientist named Arthur Clarke and was once a fascinating topic exploited in the series of science fiction novels of writers. However, this idea also appealed to the scientific community and urged British scientists to study it. In early 2009, the first steps of a plan to build a high-tech space elevator have begun to be implemented.

With a $ 4 million grant supported by NASA (US Aerospace Agency), the team of scientists at Cambridge University - UK has successfully researched and fabricated extreme force pulley equipment. The large structure is made of a carbon fiber cylinder with super light properties, but the structure allows for very large loads. This is the first and very important part of the elevator, because according to the scientists' expectations, the durable pulley device along with this load-bearing cable system will allow to lift and operate the elevator. they move smoothly over a distance of thousands of kilometers from the earth into the universe.

Artwork: blog.lib.umn.edu.

According to the scientific world, the space elevator project will bring a revolution in the space transport industry. It will make it easier for people to enter the universe at less cost, while effectively serving people from space, opening a new era of space travel, to research. future universe. A new door is also gradually being opened for humanity's space science and this space elevator. Currently the cost for each flight into space is quite expensive. An average flight into space according to NASA's calculations is nearly 308 million pounds (equivalent to nearly 552 million US dollars) for a missile launch and consumes approximately 900 tons of fuel to burn missiles.

The US aerospace company also envisions the huge budget gaps that the US will face at the time of replacing the entire old missile system. It is estimated that by 2010 or 2014, the US will have to replace all of the country's existing "old" missile systems. Currently, the US has signed many contracts with private aerospace service providers such as Space X, some internet service providers . In order to maintain smooth communication with the space station. in the coming years. In the event of a suspension of operations related to spacecraft launch, the space elevator may be a solution that NASA targets, although with a short time from now until 2014, the elevator lift works. pillars can hardly be completed.

Professor Alan Windle, the head of the Cambridge team of researchers, said that on average, scientists can only produce about 1 gram of high-tech materials for making about an average of one day. 29km super-heavy cable. And to complete the creation of a cable long enough for the space elevator, this job could last for years, even decades.

The total length of elevator cables needed to reach the earth orbit is 35,405km (to reach the international space station is 35,799km) and the cost to build it is extremely large. However, scientists put a lot of ambition into the success of this project.

In 1895, Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was the first person to lay the theoretical foundation for a space elevator. This idea was then debated for quite a long time, until 1970, when Clarke formally built his imaginary model of the space elevator in the science fiction novel. called "The Fountains of Paradise". In it, Clarke mentioned building an elevator system connecting the earth to the universe. This idea was later ridiculed by many people and considered impractical, until scientists began to see the real possibility of creating super-strong materials used to make cables. For the elevator system, the new issue is taken seriously. In fact, in 1990, after nano tubes came into being, and demonstrated the ability to resist and other superior elements of new materials. This type of material has the potential to withstand the Earth's enormous gravitational pull, in addition to the centrifugal force rotated around the axis to create and bring hope to be the material used to make the elevator elevator future pillars.

In 2008, the idea of ​​a space elevator was officially developed into a scientific work and practically built step by step. In order to achieve the results according to the plan, scientists will have to fabricate 2 meters of super-stressed cable in a second. In the most recent conference of scientists taking place in Luxembourg, scientists have contemplated that: In order to complete the space elevator cable system, it could take 5 to 10 years, and all The set of works will probably last for decades to come. Obviously, it will take a long time, however, this is a work that is likely to be realized in the future, which humanity is expecting.