Space, often termed the final frontier, could, in fact, be the next frontier with the aid of one scientific marvel—the space elevator. Physicist Bradley C. Edwards contends that space elevators, potentially one of the greatest technological advancements in the history of the world, could be a reality in only fifteen years! Scientists' research on a new form of carbon called nanotubes paves the way to solving difficult engineering and mechanical details while winning over pessimists in the field.

Click on the image to see a movie of what the building of the Space Elevator might look like.
(The movie file is almost 4MB. We recommend a high speed connection or a lot of patience.)

The first discussions of space elevators date back to 1895 when Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, struck by the construction and image of the Eiffel Tower, envisioned a "Celestial Castle" in a geostationary orbit around the earth.

A ribbon made up of nanotube fibers

In 1975, Jerome Pearson of the Air Force Research Laboratory published an article outlining space elevator engineering, which inspired Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel, Fountains of Paradise, in 1978. The novel introduced the idea of space elevators to the general public, with references to "carbon nanofibers" and oceanic-equatorial docking stations.

The space elevator would be exactly that - a device that could take you all the way to space. Instead of launching people using rockets, a space elevator would have a cable running from the surface of the earth right into space, connected to an orbiting satellite. Elevators could run up and down the cable taking people and resources to and from space. The cost of travelling into space would be just a fraction of what it is with current methods. All sorts of new possibilities would open up: space bases, holidays in space and more!

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