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Scientists Design Giant Elevator to the Stars

environmentalgraffiti.com — what if, instead of an expensive and perilous ship that only a few could find passage on, we built a bridge to the stars that anyone could cross. Imagine that, instead of having to strap yourself to thousands of tons of rocket fuel, getting into orbit was a simple as boarding a train, albeit a train that goes straight up for over 100,00km.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 2, 2008

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  • c0mputar, on 10/01/2008, -0/+75Only $10-15 billion to make this elevator? Damn, this $700 billion bailout is really messing up my sense of worth.
  • taketheleap, on 10/01/2008, -5/+43what is this!? an elevator for ANTS?
  • FitteMas, on 10/02/2008, -0/+35So, according to this we could have a space elevator by early 2020s. We are the first generation that have a realistic chance of seeing the earth from orbit without beeing astronauts. What an awesome thought. I really hope i dont get stabbed or shot, or run over by a drunk driver in the near future.
  • TheSkunkMonkey, on 10/02/2008, -1/+29... and she's buying... a Stairway to Heaven...
  • BXRWXR, on 10/02/2008, -0/+26Could we maybe have an escalator to the stars instead? That way if it breaks down we still have stairs.

    /RIP Mitch
  • honeybrass, on 10/02/2008, -0/+24We can build 70! The earth will look like a giant hair brush.
  • inactive, on 10/02/2008, -0/+20it needs to be at least....3 times as big!
  • inactive, on 10/02/2008, -0/+19How are they supposed to climb on it if they can't even fit??!!
  • blast_flame, on 10/02/2008, -0/+18If we keep worrying about the terrorists then were never going to build anything impressive.
  • scubajim, on 10/02/2008, -0/+16Arthur C. Clarke wrote about this in the 1950's in his book Fountains of Paradise.
  • Junkey, on 10/01/2008, -1/+15And you thought normal elevator rides were awkward.
  • lornefs, on 10/02/2008, -2/+16That doesn't make any sense, the reason to build this is as an alternative to rockets to overcome the earths gravity, not for space travel.
  • MikeFromAmerica, on 10/02/2008, -0/+12Don't worry, when the terrorists blow it up, we'll find out that the Japanese built a second one in secret. I saw it in a movie. I think it was called Contact.
  • Specializedone, on 10/02/2008, -0/+12And It'd be worth every single penny spent. Whomever controls the elevator, controls near space.
  • sponeil, on 10/02/2008, -1/+13Ever hear of cost overruns? Or the "foot in the door" technique? There's no way this would only cost $10-$15 billion. Although I agree with your sentiment. We could've built 10 of these instead of paying for a pointless war.
  • dragoonUNIT, on 10/02/2008, -0/+11they have space elevators in gundam 00 :D

    the fangirl in me is coming out lol
  • terryhuang, on 10/02/2008, -2/+13how long before some high school english teacher says this is a giant penis and people are building it to compensate?
  • BXRWXR, on 10/02/2008, -0/+11Take solace, you weren't the first - by a long shot.
  • VigRoco, on 10/02/2008, -0/+10This could also be used as a skydive elevator.
  • lornefs, on 10/02/2008, -5/+15The US spends about that in a month to kill people for oil.
  • krisscofield, on 10/02/2008, -0/+10*points to sign*
    "No stairway, denied!"
  • thcobbs, on 10/02/2008, -0/+9"So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. "

    Correction... its $425 I even did it twice to be sure.

    $85,000,000,000
    ......200,000,000 person

    therefore

    $85000/200person = $425/person


    That alone makes me thing the rest of your diatribe is a bunch of *****. If you're off on your first assertion by 10^3... something is wrong. Did you work for enron?


  • TrueXtremeIcon, on 10/02/2008, -0/+9All I saw was "The fangirl in me is coming"
  • feliks2, on 10/02/2008, -2/+10That's *****, if they can even make this work in 12 years as the article said, I think it would run into the trillions of dollars.
  • inactive, on 10/02/2008, -0/+8If you want to know about how easily we could make a space elevator, check out the LiftPort Group, which is making one to be completed in 2030. www.liftport.com
  • Gutterpunk, on 10/02/2008, -0/+7The Large Hardon Collider was built for ~6 Billions

    Remember that the bulk of the elevator will be a cable... It's not 62000 miles of habitable spaces.
  • drewbe121212, on 10/02/2008, -0/+7He who controls the spice, controls the universe!

    ... wait.

    He who controls the space elevator, controls the universe!
  • lornefs, on 10/02/2008, -1/+8I agree, let's all take sanctuary and huddle down in our churches and pray that nothing bad happens to us rather than taking a few risks and trying to better humanity.

    Are you a LHC black hole worrier?
  • lornefs, on 10/02/2008, -0/+7Psych teacher.
  • Specializedone, on 10/02/2008, -1/+8No ... Did you watch the movie? Where's the elevator in that?
  • MeatyMcBeef, on 10/02/2008, -1/+8No. The funny was over.
  • boerema, on 10/02/2008, -1/+7The theory really isn't that complicated. We are just waiting on material science to catch up. All you do is launch the orbital platform, build the planet-side platform, lower the tether from the orbital platform, and attach the counterweight to the space platform. Now you have a space elevator. Its powered by physics!...and the broken dreams of the innocent.
  • Specializedone, on 10/02/2008, -1/+7Dont worry, reading logic is lacking in the general populace.
  • lornefs, on 10/02/2008, -3/+9Terrorists are stupid and incompetent and no match for good security.
    They just caught the US with their pants down in 9/11.
    How many nuclear power plants have been compromised?
    Is the space shuttle in danger of terrorists? The LHC?
    Let's focus on scientific endeavors and stop pissing off the rest of the world.
    Maybe things will change in 09. Gobama!
  • krisscofield, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5Wasn't there something like this in one of the Civilization games?
  • camiller, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5Actually it predates halo

    I suppose you think halo had the original idea of a ring shaped habitable structure too?
  • phosphite, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5Farting and then blaming it on somebody else in this elevator will be priceless.
  • mrfritz, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5yes, completed it in only 28 turns, should be a piece of cake
  • LonesomeFighter, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5@carstan. All the Nazi's currently live in the US, most Southern US, but they exist throughout. And last I checked it was illegal to do that Nazi belief stuff in Germany.
  • Gutterpunk, on 10/02/2008, -1/+6Terrorists...

    You know why the USA is losing "big scientific contracts" (like the LHC) these days? Because you guys can't shut up about terrorists attacking everything.
  • lornefs, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5What a really terrible post!

    I don't disagree, I just think you should explain the statement.

    Is it the writing, the content?
    Do you not think this is possible? Warranted?
  • phosphite, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5How else are we supposed to make oil, if not from humans?
  • Jektal, on 10/02/2008, -1/+6Which seems like a good argument for it's validity to me.
  • counterplex, on 10/02/2008, -1/+6Dugg for "could've" instead of "could of". Also I agree with the cost overruns bit. Regardless, this is something we need to build to make space travel cheaper. Only then will we be able to focus on colonizing the moon or Mars.
  • inactive, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5As opposed to strapping ourselves to explosives.
  • YoctoYotta, on 10/02/2008, -0/+5Whatever you do, DO NOT ask how many people that would feed and educate for how many years.
  • zomgwaffles, on 10/02/2008, -0/+4hot
  • MatiBech, on 10/02/2008, -0/+4"Where were you, when they build that ladder to heaven?"
  • Specializedone, on 10/02/2008, -1/+5No it wouldn't. The scale of this is going to be enormous.
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