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View Full Version : Space Elevator planned for 2050



newyorklily
02-23-2012, 10:25 PM
Honestly now, do any of you feel that you would use something like this, if you had the chance?

http://www.space.com/14656-japanese-space-elevator-2050-proposal.html?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=SP_02232012


People could be gliding up to space on high-tech elevators by 2050 if a Japanese construction company's ambitious plans come to fruition.Tokyo-based Obayashi Corp. wants to build an operational space elevator (http://www.space.com/2956-space-elevator-hoist-heavens.html) by the middle of the century, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Wednesday (Feb. 22). The device would carry passengers skyward at about 124 mph (200 kph), delivering them to a station 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth in a little more than a week.
In Obayashi's vision, a cable would be stretched from a spaceport on Earth's surface up to an altitude of 60,000 miles (96,000 km), or about one-quarter of the distance between our planet and the moon. A counterweight at its end would help "anchor" the cable in space.

I used to get nervous going to the 106 floor in the World Trade Tower.

southerncross
02-23-2012, 11:03 PM
They've been kicking this around for decades. But even with great strides in lightweight, strong materials this is a just not a practical solution.
It's frought with problems but right now all I can hear is "Stairway to Heaven"

There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh-ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven

There's a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven

Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder

There's a feeling I get
When I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking

Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it really makes me wonder

And it's whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter

Ohh-ooh ohh-ooh ohh-ooh ohh-ooh ohh hoh

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May-Queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on

And it makes me wonder
Ahhh, hoh-hoh

Your head is humming and it won't go
In case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

(Guitar Solo)

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How ev'rything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all, yeah-ee-yeah
To be a rock and not to roll