The Great Space Elevator
Getting cargo into space on rockets is very expensive, time-consuming, and risky. (Sometimes the rockets blow up – taking their expensive payloads with them.)
A potential cheap solution? A 62,000-mile “tether” made of space-age materials (pun intended), anchored to the Earth and reaching out into orbit. A space elevator would be attached to this structure, allowing cargo and passengers to travel up and down at high speed.
Researchers who have worked out the complicated math and physics (don’t ask this writer to fact-check them) say it is possible. However, more work needs to be done as far as finding materials strong enough to support the weight.
(Source: BBC)
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