Space Elevator: Physical Principles

zadar.net

10 points·wolfish··6 comments

Looks like some sort of undergrad-level exploration of some aspects of the physics of building a space elevator in a loose, bizarre style (a mix of layman's terms and "omg here's some equations")... I'm not entirely sure how this is interesting...

I couldn't get past the 1995 background, but I was hoping for something more then just the usual brief summary of here's how this might work.

Sadly this is not it, but perhaps people interested in this can contribute insightful, up to date and detailed comments on the state of related technology?

Does anyone know the latest on carbon nanotube based materials?

Well, this particular article (I refuse to call it a paper) was last updated in 2000, according to a note at the bottom, so it's certainly nowhere near the state of the art.

Last I heard, there were some concrete space elevator projects being put together. See the last paragraph under "21st century" at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

Here's some info on the trajectory of developments over the last ten years:

http://www.spaceward.org/elevator-when

The space elevator is one of my favorite topics. To date, no other technology to provide cheap access to space seems as viable.

For more info, here are a few links:

http://www.spaceward.org

http://www.spaceelevatorblog.com/

Also, this video isn't really technical, but I found it motivational:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfKKy33rb0U

Space elevator is the greatest scientific hoax of all times.

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