An easy guide to the most exciting development in space travel since the rocket. Stripped of the technical jargon, this is a laymans guide to the breathtaking developments surrounding the space elevator: a plan to string a 100,000 km from Earth to space, revolutionising space access.

The authors take the reader through the history of the concept, technical design and economic practicalities of building an elevator to space, and, ultimately, the implications of what such a low cost transportation system would mean to society. Based on three years of NASA-funded studies and written for the technically literate layperson, Edwards and Westling discuss the recent technological advances that now make the space elevator feasible. They conclude by addressing the effects that the space elevator could have on mankind's future from communications and energy to colonizing space.

What Is Space Elevator One concept for a transportation system that would link planets to space is called a space elevator. A cable that is attached to the surface and extends into space would be the primary component of this system. Without the need for huge rockets, the architecture of the system would enable vehicles to ascend the cable from the surface of a planetary body, such as the surface of the Earth, and enter orbit directly. Because of the enormous weight, a space elevator based on Earth could not simply be a tall tower supported from below. Instead, it would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator and the other end attached to a counterweight in space beyond geostationary orbit. This would allow the elevator to move between the surface and the counterweight. The opposing forces of gravity, which is stronger at the lower end, and the upward centrifugal force, which is stronger at the upper end, would result in the cable being held up, under tension, and stationary over a single position on Earth. Gravity is stronger at the lower end, while the upward centrifugal force is stronger at the upper end. After the tether has been deployed, climbers will be able to use mechanical methods to repeatedly ascend and descend the tether in order to release their payload into and out of orbit. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Space elevator Chapter 2: Interplanetary spaceflight Chapter 3: The Fountains of Paradise Chapter 4: Counterweight Chapter 5: Skyhook (structure) Chapter 6: Lunar space elevator Chapter 7: Megascale engineering Chapter 8: Yuri Artsutanov Chapter 9: Momentum exchange tether Chapter 10: Launch loop Chapter 11: Orbital ring Chapter 12: Globus Cassus Chapter 13: Space elevators in fiction Chapter 14: Specific strength Chapter 15: Gravity of Earth Chapter 16: Non-rocket spacelaunch Chapter 17: Space elevator safety Chapter 18: Space elevator construction Chapter 19: Space tether Chapter 20: Space elevator competitions Chapter 21: Hypothetical technology (II) Answering the public top questions about space elevator. (III) Real world examples for the usage of space elevator in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of space elevator' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of space elevator.

After aliens constructed an elevator from Darwin, Australia into space, humanity established orbital colonies along the elevator's cord. Years later, those outside of the machine's protective aura were wiped out by a mysterious plague. When the elevator's virus shield begins to break down, a scavenger and a scientist must unravel the mystery of the failing alien technology to save what's left of the world.

Hypothetical Spacecraft and Interstellar Travel collects information about the latest and greatest hypothetical spacecraft.

Under the editorship of David Raitt, this timely book brings together for the first time the record of people, places, developments and activities, in fiction and in fact, of the space elevator - a 100,000 km long, meter wide, ribbon reaching up from the Earth and into space along which robotic climbers that will travel to bring payloads into orbit at a fraction of the price of rocket launches. The chapters in the book cover the early pioneers who dreamt up the concept initially some 120 years ago; the work of modern day scientists and engineers who have developed the concept into doable plans; how the concept has been portrayed in novels, films and art; the conferences at which interested people could present and discuss their work and ideas; the global community that has grown up around space elevators and the competition challenges that have been held; and what the future may hold.

From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Last seen flying through the sky in a giant elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket's back for another adventure. When the giant elevator picks up speed, Charlie, Willy Wonka, and the gang are sent hurtling through space and time. Visiting the world’' first space hotel, battling the dreaded Vermicious Knids, and saving the world are only a few stops along this remarkable, intergalactic joyride.