DescentBB

Having read in some sci fi novels about space elevators, I never fully realised how close we are to actually implementing them. Seems space elevators are not some pie in the sky (fitting metaphor dontcha think?) but are being seriously looked at:

"Edwards is not just some guy with an idea. He's head of the space elevator project at the Institute for Scientific Research in Fairmont, W.Va. NASA (news - web sites) already has given it more than $500,000 to study the idea, and Congress has earmarked $2.5 million more."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&c ... &printer=1

I wonder if they'll get Otis to build it?

As someone who is too lazy to go to that page, how fast would these space elevators go?

you can't say:

"It's not new physics â?? nothing new has to be discovered, nothing new has to be invented from scratch,"

and

Edwards' elevator would climb on a cable made of nanotubes

in the same article. unless you are stupid.

coz carbon nanotubes are no-where near even small scale mass production.

The difference now, Edwards said, is "we have a material that we can use to actually build it."

no you don't you brain repellent test dummy!

Edwards said he probably needs about two more years of development on the carbon nanotubes to obtain the strength needed. After that, he believes work on the project can begin.

pfff... 2 years? dude, we havn't even made a GOLFCLUB outof carbon nanotubes yet, and he thinks we can start making a 62,000 mile rope outof it 2 years from now. what a space man.