Comment Why not the space elevator? (Score 1) 1159
Since the Columbia tragedy, I have also wondered which direction NASA should take with future missions. In the course of my investigation, I found this paper, commissioned by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts in 2000, that claims that a space elevator is not only technologically feasible, but is possible to build within the next 15-20 years at a cost of approximately $40 billion US dollars. This would be a tremendous project, but on the same scale as other large American engineering feats.
It seems that such a promising technology, which would not only decrease launch costs by orders of magnitude but also result in many 'spin-off' technologies, would be at the top of NASA's list of research topics. However, I can find no evidence that NASA has pursued the idea since. I am not advocating that we start building a space elevator tomorrow; however, I think it would be horrible for NASA to shelve a radical but potentially remarkable invention for another 50 years. How can we encourage NASA to, at the very least, begin a second round of research to independently and skeptically study the results of the first team and put together a plan to actually build this, if possible? Or is the American space program doomed to another 50 years of risky and minimally rewarding shuttle flights?
It seems that such a promising technology, which would not only decrease launch costs by orders of magnitude but also result in many 'spin-off' technologies, would be at the top of NASA's list of research topics. However, I can find no evidence that NASA has pursued the idea since. I am not advocating that we start building a space elevator tomorrow; however, I think it would be horrible for NASA to shelve a radical but potentially remarkable invention for another 50 years. How can we encourage NASA to, at the very least, begin a second round of research to independently and skeptically study the results of the first team and put together a plan to actually build this, if possible? Or is the American space program doomed to another 50 years of risky and minimally rewarding shuttle flights?
