Man's Next Migration

Of Rockets, Space Elevators, and the future of Space Exploration

The expansion of man’s reach into space will not be possible without the discovery of rockets. They have taken us to the moon and back. We have sent numerous probes and captured close glimpses of most members of our planetary neighborhood. Rockets enabled us to construct space stations and artificial satellites. They are still the mainstay of space propulsion and will continue to do so until we discover something better.

The primary usefulness of rockets is their incredible power to overcome earth’s gravity (or gravity in general), without which none of the above could have been possible. The only disadvantage is the direct correlation of the payload mass and the rocket fuel. The more people and instruments we want to put in space, the more rocket fuel we will need. Add to that the mass of the rocket fuel itself and we will see the reason of man’s slow advance in this final frontier. Using rockets is costly, limited, and requires a lot of complex logistics and management.

A famous alternative, one which has been around since 1895, that has developed into many designs is the space elevator concept. The idea is not just prevalent among enthusiasts and science buffs, but the concept itself has found its way into popular media. One such example is the science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke, The Fountains of Paradise, where a space elevator is constructed on a mountain in an island near the planet’s equator. The 2007 Japanese TV anime series Mobile Suit Gundam 00 presented three huge space elevators that have been built to harvest solar energy in space, unobstructed by earth's atmosphere to increase solar conversion efficiency.

The construction of a space elevator is said to bring not only a significant breakthrough in space economics but it also opens a wider gate for everyone else to reach space at an affordable expense. The space elevator is also scalable but at much greater ratio than rockets. In fact, the comparison is practically nonsensical; space elevators can carry any payload size with relatively minor adjustments. Just doubling the space elevator’s cable diameter will enable it to support at most 100 times the original payload mass!

But therein also lies the challenge, the elevator has to be constructed using extremely lightweight material and at the same time it has to be super-strong. The lifter or climber has to have a propulsion system that must overcome gravity until it reaches geostationary orbit where it will have sufficient velocity to escape earth. A counterweight at the end of the cable in space is needed to make sure the space elevator remains taut and stretched. A mobile platform back on earth is recommended to ensure relocation in case of storms or other hazards. It must be able to keep the elevator system stable.

Mathematically speaking, the space elevator is a defined reality. In terms of engineering, at the moment, no commercial material is able to meet the physical standards of the space elevator. In recent years, there has been a lot of work put into the research of carbon nanotubes, the strongest candidate in this area. Progress is slow but researchers are definite of its potential and are in the process of developing processes that would yield large quantities of carbon nanotube at the same time further refining its quality and strength. There is also the matter of the cable climber which we have mentioned still requires a source of energy to make it climb.

The Goldilocks Mission is inherently interested in making this concept a reality for it will pave the way to making our goals a reality. We can avoid the large amount of time and resources needed to put people, instruments, and ships to space. Thus, we strive to keep ourselves updated with the developing technologies surrounding the space elevator concept. We know it is only a matter of time until the physical challenges are resolved. But once they get dealt with, the first leg of our journey will begin. Space will become just another regular destination and the distance to the stars a mile or two nearer to our reach.

References:

The Space Elevator Reference. SpaceRef Interactive Inc. Retrieved 19-December-2009.

Ben Shellef. Did you just say "a Space Elevator ?!". The Spaceward Foundation 2008. Retrieved 19-December-2009.