This strange concept seems like a strange idea, but officials say it can be implemented
There are those who say you can get to the moon by folding a piece of paper, although when it comes to space exploration, it's more common to rely on rockets to launch astronauts and cargo. There are many satellites orbiting the Earth, perhaps In a few decades We can also talk about A The structure that will be the entrance door From one A new generation of transportation Towards the stars. It's science fiction at the moment, but it's an unusual idea.
To space without rockets, but with elevators
The company Obayashi Corporation He believes that extraterrestrial travel should not be limited to giant rockets and high costs. There is a kind of structure that is not new in the minds of the most innovative engineers, but it does not yet seem possible with our knowledge. Or maybe yes. It is not us who say that, but rather the Japanese company that invites us to discover it Space elevator project.
The idea is easy to understand and practically impossible to implement in our time: devise a plan A space elevator connects the Earth's surface to a space station in our orbit They serve as the basis for future elevators that connect us to other celestial bodies in the solar system, such as the Moon or Mars.
A picture of the port from which one can ascend into space
The company confirms that “the concept has been considered feasible from a construction point of view and is now in development.” It all starts with a port It is located in the sea, and from there the elevator will ascend to Earth's orbit. This port It will float at the equator. The planet will be Connected to the coast through a 10 km long underwater tunnel From the length.
This outlet It will not only be the entrance and exit door for space elevator transportation, but will also serve as Cable attachment point It would join with Space station In orbit. This will be present a Geostationary orbitAt 36,000 km high, it will serve as a vertical plant that can be expanded in the future and is sustainable through solar energy collected by panels located nearby.
Reconstruction of the port that will serve as the base for Obayashi's space elevator
The mentioned solar power generation system can also send excess energy to the Earth. at the end of the cableoutside the station and 96,000 kilometers from Earth, will be A counterweight Which would also serve as Solar System Exploration PortalThis allows ships to be sent “to extract resources from other planets and other parts of the solar system, such as Jupiter and asteroids.”
for now, This concept It sounds very good, but it clearly is Many points to solve Before we can even begin to think about building what will be the largest undertaking our species has ever undertaken. In concluding this space elevator presentation, we reveal what we believe will be the major obstacles to its construction:
- If the cable will be made of stainless steel, There is not much stainless steel on our planet.According to him Article published by Christian Johnson on the website of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance.
- Instead of stainless steel, other materials can be exploited, such as, for example, carbon nanotubes. In this case, the problem would be its manufacturing, as the longest carbon nanotube ever made is only 60 centimeters long.
- We will have to take into account create new materialThis may take years or decades of research.
- The cable will have to fight the elements. So that it does not break due to the stress it will bear.
the Japanese company It confirms that you take all these problems into account and that you are in 2025 could Construction begins For a huge project worth 100 billion dollars. On the horizon there is 2050date the first show from U.S Space elevator At the moment it is more fiction than science.
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