NOVA scienceNOW | NOVA Short | An Elevator to Space?

Join NOVA scienceNOW host Neil deGrasse Tyson as he visits the LiftPort Group in Bremerton, Washington. The entrepreneurs and engineers at LiftPort think space elevators aren't just a wild idea; they've staked their corporation on the concept. NOVA scienceNOW airs five Tuesdays a year on PBS and is available for viewing 365 days a year online.

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Space
• Science
• Technology
• Machines
• Robots
• NOVA
• Inventions
• Elevators

[r2dxhate]

in reality, we only need enough ribbon to provide a runway for a craft to build up speed with electric motors. even if the first elevator only got us 3/4 the way to space, we could accelerate a craft to have enough momentum to escape earths gravity without the use of expensive rockets.

[digemail]

It would actually have to stretch to geostationary orbit which is 35,786 km (22,236 mi) but you are very close. I bet there will be a working device carrying cargo to space by 2030. nano dot ms

[accellente]

we are talking miles and miles up the in sky man~!!!! Have you heard of satellite//????? maybe they should try and tie a ribbon on a satellite then they should throw the ribbon down banck to earth and we catch it and ...............IT WON'T WORK..............

[accellente]

this doesn't work.......i really htink it doesn't work

[accellente]

how do you keep the wire up?  The thing needs to climp up 'something'......how does the wire stay up?

[boundtogetdown]

it is possible its called geosynchronous orbit. it is 42,164 kilometers above the earths equator.

your angular velocity is the same as the earths angular velocity

the project would take centuries

[PepeLePew125]

i know i'm gonna sound like a quack. but if you wanna transverse space, you need to look into 'electro-magnetic field'.

not only does it protect you from space junks, but also provides power for ur vessels or maybe navigation?

i dunno, Mother Earth and other animals been using it since their existence.

[PepeLePew125]

Earth is not spinning fast enough to keep up with the other end of the elevator..satelites in space orbits faster than the Earth's rotation.

good idea though.

[FutureScientistOfUSA]

i know, you meant like shortest and least in depth.

[markbaland]

I didn't mean "least scientific" as an insult, by any means... I meant you put it succinctly. As of my analogy, I admit that I forgot to take into account that a person standing on the surface of the Earth spinning a rock on a string would be affected by gravity differently than the Earth and the anchor on the tether in the relative lack of gravity in outer space. Thanks.