An Elevator Leading All The Way To Space! the title says it all

[Avalon 1]

Seriosly, I'm not an engineer nor do I pretend to be, but that is one of the most stupid and inefficient ideas i have seen thus far.

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And just think, not so long ago some people thought a network of computers all linked together across the world was a stupid idea. Why would a person want to allow some other person's information to pass through their computer system and use their resources, free of charge? It's called the Internet.

 

Where would we be if we didn't explore some of these stupid ideas?

[Cerebral Stasis 0]

elevinmil, did you even read any of the posts before yours? I mentioned in the post right above yours what the benefits would be - millions of dollars saved in fuel required to lift off, heat shielding would no longer be an issue, and those two things are the main (if not only, thus far) causes of failed manned space missions.And in order to fix a stopped lift, all one would have to do would be send up another lift after it, have some "spacewalkers" repair the lift, and then you're good to go again. Of course, that's assuming a lift would break down, which, considering how much service the lift would have, wouldn't be a problem, since it would be constantly being upgraded, repaired, etc. before being used.

[Avalon 1]

Of course, that's assuming a lift would break down, which, considering how much service the lift would have, wouldn't be a problem, since it would be constantly being upgraded, repaired, etc. before being used.

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Trust me, it WILL breakdown. I don't care how much maintenance it gets, it will still break down at some stage. Take for example the space shuttle program, how many problems has that had? They spends millions on checking, testing and checking again, but being we are human, we make mistakes from time to time.

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

lol, and if it brakes down it should have like a secondary one right next to it to finish it off..or they would have a trained professional go out and fix it, they have things like these figured out just hidden from us.. unfortunatly..but umm i would still be willing to be the first to do it, wether is is sure fire (good to go) or not. lol it would be a once and a lifetime oppertunity..i would imagine they would have the first person go up and try it without making them pay, i mean if it does brake their life could be on the line..

[Arigato 0]

I remember reading about this elevator a while back. When I first heard of it I thought it was a crazy idea that wouldn't work but then I read about people who were working on projects to create such a thing. I still think that the idea won't work.

[elevenmil 0]

elevinmil, did you even read any of the posts before yours? I mentioned in the post right above yours what the benefits would be - millions of dollars saved in fuel required to lift off, heat shielding would no longer be an issue, and those two things are the main (if not only, thus far) causes of failed manned space missions.

 

And in order to fix a stopped lift, all one would have to do would be send up another lift after it, have some "spacewalkers" repair the lift, and then you're good to go again. Of course, that's assuming a lift would break down, which, considering how much service the lift would have, wouldn't be a problem, since it would be constantly being upgraded, repaired, etc. before being used.

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I don't believe in benefits from this, and like I said before all of this is fairy tale gibberish.

 

How can we possibly "save" millions of dollars? Firstly, the cost of this thing would be horrendous, and I don't believe it's free to travel up however-many-miles it takes to get to space. The whole project in itself is unsafe and would be undesireable by a majority. In addition imagine the elements this object would go through. Obviously we are aware that as we climb the elements change (weather, wind, and up 30 miles God-knows-what...) The stress just from nature's elements would be of significance.

 

I'm all against the stupid space studies we do anymore. Why in the heck are we sending some spacecraft to roam around Pluto??? Why not use that money to stregthen our economy? Why not halt the project and buy each American a couple loaves of bread instead? NASA is unbelievable...I wish I could blow off hundreds of millions of dollars just because I was curious about something...

 

Why don't we examine our own planet before venturing off onto others? I think Earth has a level of importance incomparable to anything else other than our sun...

[Cerebral Stasis 0]

I'm not saying that NASA knows how to conserve money (they practically wipe their butts with a roll of $100 bills), nor am I saying that this whole lift concept is a good idea; I'm just saying that it's possible, and it probably would save money in the long run.True, a lift that would climb all the way to space would cost money, but not near as much as it costs in fuel for a craft as large as a space shuttle to overcome Earth's gravitational pull. Although the tether and station would no doubt be very costly to build and keep running, over time the saved money would outweigh the original cost of construction. Thus is the reason people upgrade (in most cases) - to save money over time.Now, as I said, if a lift stopped halfway up, another lift could be sent up after it, and a repairman in a suit and tethered to a lift could repair it within a few minutes (unless something major happens, like a motor burnout, in my opinion, would be unlikely) - far before the oxygen in the lift would run out, causing everyone inside to suffocate (furthermore, it would probably be equipped with some kind of air scrubber/recycler).As for weather being a problem, I'm pretty sure that a tether that can hold the weight of a lift and spacecraft can withstand hurricane-strength winds, especially since it would be tethered by something as gigantic as a space station. Besides, in order for it to remain in geosynchronous orbit and not just wrap the tether around the planet, it would have to be tethered on an island somewhere along the Equator, and in that latitude (depending, of course, on which island is used), hurricanes usually aren't too much of a problem (at least *I've* never heard of any hurricanes go as far south as to the Equator).I'm pretty sure that the idea is quite sound. It is, after all, being worked over by minds far greater than any of ours (at least in some aspects), so I'd expect that, for the most part, they know what they are doing/talking about.

[unicornrose 0]

I believe the space elevator thing is going to be using nanotehnology or something like that. The cable would not be moving around. It would have to be anchored in place. You can not have a cable just willy-nilly floating around the globe. I will eventually hit something. Ideally there would be more than one space elevator. It will not be a quick jaunt up to space like the space shuttle. We are talking about something that will take days to do. Ideally as you are being transported you will be gradually being exposed to weightlessness. A space elevador is not like a normal elevator at all. Its design and implimentation will take much planning and thought. Ideally when it comes to opperating a space elevator there will have to be a mechanic on the elevator at all times to fix any problems that may come up. There will also have to be alternative ways to get into the space elevator or to get out of the space elevator if problems do arise. I think of a space elevator as kind of like a small lounge or shuttle of some sort. Its all very facinating.

[wariorpk 0]

My point is what is the point of this. So what if there is an elevator to space? I have no reason to go there and I never want to go there. It is a hostile land of no heat except from radiation and there is no gravity or life. Besides that, getting up the elevator would take days. Aircraft could crash into the elevator killing all the poor souls in it. This just seems like territory I wouldn't want to venture in even though its a cool idea in theory.

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

well obviously the cable would have some kind of signal letting airplanes jets etc.. know that it was there, they would have the lights etc..lol and obviously there are loads of things that they would need to work out..

[JC05 0]

Well, it would be very cool. But there are some thing that would have to be worked on. How would they get the cable up into outer space? That would be kinda hard. And how fast would this thing go? And how would it propell its self? And if there were lights on it the elevatot would have to be able to go up without hitting them. Very complicated. I don't even want to think about it. But it would be very cool if they ever got it up and working.

[icemarle 0]

That rings a bell... Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. If it ever came to life, it would be extremely non-economical. It's not worth it. And who would like to ride an elevator to space? There are so many things to consider. The elevator has to withstand the forces of gravity and the atmosphere. It has to be able to lift itself up fast, etc... etc... but apparently, those are just minor concerns. How about safety and passenger comfort? If it's not going to be used for people, but rather, for goods, then why waste so much money to make an unstable thing?

[Zabb 0]

you lazy people we dont need an elevator the kids in southpark already built a ladder to heaven.the exercise will be good for you.

[Absolute 0]

Today during lunch, i was hanginng out with my math teacher and he was talking about plans on building an elevator that leads into outer space!!
personally i think this would be total awsome!! but here is how it would be donw,

ok, welll as some of us know once you reach a certin point in space gravity gives awayand instead of pulling down towards the planet, it pulls away from the planet.. and so the ideal is to get a HUGE weight, probably like a humongus space station or somthing big n heavy and putting it right outside of the earths geosynchronous orbit (which is: basicly the last part of the atmosphere... but defined by wikepedia! it is A geosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that has the same orbital period as the sidereal rotation period of the Earth. It has a semi-major axis of 42,164 km [1] Thanx!)

so now, wit that counterweight they would have all of the mechanics i would imagine up there with a cable built up of material with a super high tensile strength..i think my teahcer said it was somthing like microorganisms or somthing like that.. but the cable would span from earths surface to the counterweight in space with an elevator that basicly went up and down hat cable..

people would prefer this over using rockets..i think it would be safer..

i had a question but it was answered--the weight in space would move around with the earth, so i wouldn't stay in one place...

i think it would be much better to do this..less polution! and they can have things take off from a platform in space >_< that would be soo cooll

i also thing it would be cool if you could pay to go up there and stay for a while!

i hope somthing like this does happen before i die! hehe

Well its a start. However, you have to think of the realistics of the idea. There is so much space junk in the beginning portions of space that is caught in our orbit that they would constantly crash into the elevator. Not to mention the giant rocks coming at us from everywhere that would crash into it as well. Thus, it would have to be made with some sort of titanium shielding and that costs money. It would also have to protect itself from solar flares. Have you ever noticed that the everytime you see a picture of the space shuttle in space it is flying upside down (not all the time but alot)....its doing that for a reason. The heat shields. So the elevator would have to be made to protect from that as well.

I think we would be best suited creating a way of teleporting from one spot to the other. I'll let a few million people go before me to make sure its safe though

[grnjd 0]

Doesn't the earth spin like 500 miles a hour? How will the elevator be stable enough to stay attached to the earth? And won't the elevator be longer then the earth, how much material and manpower will that take? This will not happen in our lifetime if it will ever happen at all. A great idea, but I don't think that its possible