Times Online:
A material has been created which is apparently strong enough to make into a tether for a space elevator. Some black magic incantations are said, and a gram of carbon turns into smoke and then 18 miles of nanotube show up. Shazam!
It had better be strong enough to withstand a full-power strike from the International Space Station in the middle, full-size jetliners at the bottom, and superfreighters at the base, or somebody is going to be having a very bad day, but I think it could be done.
I read a science-fiction story about a planet that suffered catastrophe when their space elevator's tether broke. It was supersonic by the time the last few miles (having accelerated while falling, wrapping around the globe several times) smashed to the ground.
We'll see what happens. It's a long way from 18 miles of a single fiber a day, to several tens of thousands of miles of several fibers made into a cable, but I expect a serious attempt at it to be made in my father's lifetime.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment