[LINK] Space lift to the stars is now more than a dream

[David Boxall]

The space elevator concept has been discussed on Link before. The impact 
on telecommunications, if it can be made to work, should not be 
underestimated (cheaper satellite launches; economical repair of 
satellites in orbit, to name a couple).

<http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/space-lift-to-the-stars-is-now-more-than-a-dream-20091109-i48f.html>
>
> A START-UP company from Seattle has won a NASA contest to build a 
> miniature prototype of a machine that could one day climb from Earth 
> to outer space.
>
> The idea of a space elevator – passengers and cargo travelling up and 
> down a 97,000 kilometres cable – has long been a fixture of science 
> fiction, notably in Arthur C. Clarke's novel /The Fountains of Paradise/.
>
...
> Three competing teams built prototypes designed to climb a 
> one-kilometre cable held aloft by a helicopter...
> Last Wednesday a five-kilogram pyramid-shaped contraption built by 
> LaserMotive made the climb in four minutes, two seconds, to qualify 
> for a $US900,000 ($979,000) second prize. A second attempt was one 
> second faster.
Let's see: 97,000 kilometres of cable at more than four minutes per 
kilometre. Best take a packed lunch.

What puzzles me is how they intend to protect the cable from space junk: 
<http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/space-the-final-frontier-of-junk-20091019-h3yl.html> 

>
> It's home to everything from gloves to tool kits, spatulas to disused 
> rockets, urine bags to relic Cold War satellites.
>
> Space is quickly becoming a floating scrap heap, with more than 14,000 
> pieces of space junk larger than 10cm currently being tracked orbiting 
> the Earth. 

Imagine the cable being cut by a fast-moving bag of frozen wee. The 
embarrassment!

-- 
David Boxall | Dogs look up to us
| And cats look down on us
http://david.boxall.id.au | But pigs treat us as equals
--Winston Churchill