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Space Elevator conference gets theoretical, says lift won't not happen in 150 years
With the shuttle program being mothballed, we're going to need a new way to get off this rock. How about that old space ladder concept? You know, the one riddled with issues that nearly trump its ambitions. The idea has faced its share of technological walls: NASA's related Beam Power Challenge ended without a winner for years on end, and the project's Tether Challenge remains unconquered today. Not to mention that the week-long lift might expose you to deadly levels of radiation. Lucky for us, attendees of the annual Space Elevator Conference aren't ready to give up, and set to work last week brainstorming potential solutions. Could we replace the laser power system with solar panels? How strong are modern nanocarbons, and what issues do we need to be aware of to keep the carbon nanotube cables from breaking? Wouldn't it be cool if the next design featured six cars instead of just three? Although the outpouring of ideas flowed like water, the response to many of them seemed to be the same: we really need to look into that. Despite the seemingly insurmountable issues, researchers remain optimistic, "We try not to be narrow-minded and say it won't happen for 150 years," stated one NASA program manager. We'll just take the stairs, thanks.
Japan planning its own damn space ladder
If the third time is the charm, yet you botch that attempt just like the earlier two, then what? That's the problem facing NASA and its Space Elevator Challenge, which has for three successive years failed to live up to the vision of Arthur C. Clarke. Japan isn't waiting for a fourth, announcing plans to spend $7.3 billion on its own lift to whisk passengers (and cargo) 22,000 miles aloft on composite cables. It's the cables that are the problem, as they need to be 180 times stronger than steel and obviously much, much lighter. The Japanese are focusing on carbon nanotubes, and while they will need to be engineered four times stronger than current stock before they're up to the task, their highly conductive nature means they can not only support the lift vehicle but also power it. Useful, that, because the ride up could take a couple of days or even weeks, and astronauts will need some way to recharge their PMPs.
NASA's third Space Elevator challenge falls short
The third time 'round hasn't brought any luck to the space elevator crowd. The NASA-sponsored challenge is in its third year of running, and while technology is improving at a rapid rate, it's still not quite ready to meet the Space Elevator challenge's demands. Speed requirements have been boosted to 2 meters per second, and this year's contest seems have gone off without the geeky rule disputes of last year. The University of Saskatchewan came closest to claiming the prize with its ground laser-powered bot, and only fell a few seconds short of the required speed. Hopefully next year will see a winner, and we'll all get our shot at being fried by ionizing radiation before the century is up.
Longest-ever space tether fails to deploy, flings capsule towards Earth
We've seen some pretty wild ideas for space tethers, but it seems like actually executing is a little trickier than people expect -- a joint Russian Space Agency / ESA Young Engineers Satellite 2 mission just screeched to a halt as the deployment of an 18-mile space tether went awry. The project, which was to involve the longest object ever deployed in space, was part of a challenge issued to European university students to safely return an object from space, but failed when the the capsule accidentally released after just 5 miles of tether had unwound. The team thinks the idea still has merit, saying that "they are extremely satisfied and would like to do more mission testing." Here's hoping the next time goes a little smoother.Read -- NewScientist article on the mishapRead -- Video of how the mission was supposed to go
Inspector Gadget tackles 'The Case of the Experimental Space Tether'
One thing we love about scientist-types is their nerdy humor, so when researchers launch a trio of satellites next month to test the feasibility of space tether propulsion, the 'gadget' tasked with 'inspecting' the line will obviously be referred to as bumbling cartoon detective Inspector Gadget. The mission -- called MAST (for Multi-Application Survivable Tether) -- is scheduled to begin April 17th with a payload launch on a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, after which the Washington state-based Tethers Unlimited's two anchor sats (less-cleverly dubbed Ted and Ralph -- um, hello, Penny and Brain...) will gradually separate until they've pulled the kilometer-long line taut. That's when Inspector Gadget goes into action, traveling back and forth across the triple-braided tether at a snail-like .006 mph, all the while using its built-in camera to search for damage caused by radiation, micrometeoroids, and other nasty space stuff. Eventually the company is hoping to use its research to create orbiting systems that can fling other satellites into deep space, but seeing how the last Dnepr rocket crashed and burned on liftoff in 2006, Team Tether is probably best off taking this endeavor one step at a time.
