Going Up? Waiting for the Space Elevator

Going Up? Waiting for the Space Elevator

Going Up? Waiting for the Space Elevator







		Space elevator technology, a long-established science fiction staple, is about to be tested here in the real world.

		The Japanese STARS-Yo On September 27 he arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on September 27, aboard the HTV-7 robotic cargo spacecraft from Japan. The experiment was produced by researchers from the University of Shizuoka in Japan, in collaboration with Obayashi, a Japanese construction company.

		The experiment is scheduled to be deployed in free space sometime on Saturday (October 6), Japan time (which is 13 hours before Eastern Standard Time), said Japanese space officials. The test will include a small box (a "climber") that will move along a cable about 30 feet (9 meters) long, which will stretch between two cubosats. The cameras in the mini satellites will monitor the movement of the motorized box.

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		"The next experiment reminds us that testing in space is critical to progress in big projects," said Pete Swan, president of the International Space Elevators Consortium (ISEC). "The demonstration of satellites and climbers by Japanese researchers" will meet a necessary engineering test on the way to space elevator operations, even at this point in the megaproject called Space Elevator, "Swan told Space.com.

		"They, in fact, can claim the first mooring climber in space," he added. "This could be the story of the century: reliable, safe and efficient access to space as a transportation capacity that is closer than you think."





						


Artistic illustration of the Japanese STARS-Me experiment (Mini Satellite Robotic Satellite Tied Space).

            						    Credit: University of Shizuoka 




		Galactic port

		While STARS-Me is an important experiment, establishing an elevator from Earth to space remains a "miles to go" task. Still, Swan is optimistic.

		"The space elevator community feels that we are 'prepared for technology.' We would pass the classic. technology evaluation of the preparation that is standard for the development process, "Swan said.

		Recently, ISEC recognized that the general project of space elevators should be discussed within a broader framework. The new vision of space elevators focuses on the understanding that basic infrastructure is the starting point for discussions. But configuring that infrastructure could lead to very big things, say advocates: a "Galactic Port" that will allow a lot of Comercial activity In the final border.

		"What we see are large commercial and industrial regions in space, backed by this new revolutionary system of transport access to space: an elevator," Swan said. 





						


The operations of space elevators from Earth could make possible a "Galactic Port" of commercial enterprises, say the defenders.

            						    Credit: ISEC 




		Critical problems

		Two critical problems get in the way of a space elevator, but each has a solution. That's the opinion of space elevator expert Jerome Pearson, the president of STAR of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

		The first (and most difficult) problem is to make Mooring material Strong enough to support its own weight hanging from geostationary altitude. 

		"It has advanced, and after decades of work, there is the possibility of unique crystals of 62,000 miles. [100,000 kilometers] Long with the required force. "The best materials are based on carbon structures, either nanotubes or graphene sheets," Pearson told Space.com.

		The second problem is to avoid collisions of the elevator belt with satellites and space debris, Pearson said. As the elevator would be fixed and the debris move at high speed, the collision speed is high enough to cut the belt. One solution is to create "waves" in the tape to avoid the satellites, but this is difficult with debris objects because there are many of them, he said.

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		"The collision problem is getting complicated with the plans of OneWeb, SpaceX and others to provide Internet connectivity worldwide by launching thousands of new satellites to low Earth orbit, "Pearson said." The space elevator must avoid all these satellites, or the satellites themselves will need active avoidance and sufficient propellant to maintain the station to avoid the space elevator. Either approach is difficult. "



		Shooting the moon

		Michael Laine, president of the LiftPort Group, wants to shoot the moon. The plan is to create a permanent. mooring system on the moon That is reusable, replaceable and expandable. 

		One end of the rope would be on the surface of the moon, secured in Sinus Medii, the landing place of the elevator at the lunar equator. The other end would be at the equilibrium point of the cislunar space, at the Lagrange point L1. The commissioning of the system would allow the transport of material along the length of the rope to and from the surface of the moon and the environment of the cislunar space, said Laine.

		By using a solar-powered "lift cabin" to deliver cargo to the moon's surface, complete spacecraft systems (such as landing gear, descent engines, and thrusters) will no longer be necessary to carry out the operations of The mission.





						


A diagram showing an operational "lunar space elevator infrastructure".

            						    Credit: LiftPort Group 




		Reducing the severity restrictions.

		The space elevator infrastructure proposed by LiftPort has been under study for almost two decades, evolving from the original project of an Earth elevator, without the severe restrictions of gravity.

		"The materials exist" to build this huge bond, Laine told Space.com, although he said that LiftPort is still working to find the "Goldilocks" that is appropriate. "We have 12 materials that are more than strong enough," he said, adding that the core of the lunar space elevator would be wrapped with other materials to create a composite bond.

		Laine said the idea of ​​a moon belt is gaining more momentum, given the increased attention the moon is receiving now, not only from NASA but also from the European Space Agency. "Moon people"concept.





						


The space elevator expert, Jerome Pearson, anticipates great opportunities from the concept, but more work needs to be done.

            						    Credit: Sully Witte, Moultrie News, Mount Pleasant, S.C. 




		Earth truth

		The extraction and exploitation of lunar resources could help stimulate the activity on the surface of the moon and the construction of a lunar attachment. But those resources have yet to be evaluated, Laine said.

		"The data is beginning to come in. We need some fundamental truth, I think water ice is probably the one that makes us all thrill," he said. "But it's a little gunfire, there's a need for an army of robots to dig into the lunar earth and rock and see what there is." 

		The lunar ice could be processed into oxygen and water, as well as rocket fuel. The lunar tether operation could create a primary fuel tank off the moon and a shipyard for an advanced space mission, Laine explained.

		Although Laine and her group have ambitious goals, they have designed a step-by-step methodical plan to achieve them. 

		"The ground tests of the mooring materials come first, to select what materials are most suitable for the initiative of the lunar space elevator," he said. "Then, we see that carrying materials to the International Space Station to validate the rope can survive ultraviolet rays and radiation, and the next step is to send those materials to be exposed to a Lagrange point."

		Laine said that a lunar elevator would transform our interaction with the moon, Mars and the rest of space.



	Leonard David is the author of "Mars: our future on the red planet", published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." Writer of Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published in Space.com.

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