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.

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.

What is a space elevator? A space elevator is a physical connection from the surface of the Earth to a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) above the Earth .35,786 km in altitude. Its center of mass is at the geostationary point such that it has a 24-hr orbit and stays over the same point above the equator as the Earth rotates on its axis. The vision is that a space elevator would be utilized as a transportation and utility system for moving people, payloads, power, and gases between the surface of the Earth and space. It makes the physical connection from Earth to space in the same way a bridge connects two cities across a body of water. The Earth to GEO space elevator is not feasible today, but could be an important concept for the future development of space in the latter part of the 21st century. It has the potential to provide mass transportation to space in the same way highways, railroads, power lines, and pipelines provide mass transportation across the Earth's surface. The low energy requirements for moving payloads up and down the elevator could make it possible to achieve cost to orbit

This study report summarizes the assessment of the space elevator as of the summer of 2018. The encouraging aspect is that the space elevator community has been reinvigorated and is pulling together experiments and test programs to push the technology along the path to readiness. Several of these breakthroughs are the ones we were searching for after completion of the first IAA study. We see the way forward!

Michel van Pelt explains for the first time the principle of space tethers: what they are and how they can be used in space. He introduces non-technical space enthusiasts to the various possibilities and feasibility of space tethers including the technological challenges and potential benefits. He illustrates how, because of their inherent simplicity, space tethers have the potential to make space travel much cheaper, while ongoing advances in tether material technology may make even seemingly far-fetched ideas a reality in the not too distant future.

"A towering epic to rank with Douglas Preston's Blasphemy and Michael Crichton's Prey... Pandemic drought, skyrocketing oil prices, dwindling energy supplies and wars of water scarcity threaten the planet. Only four people can prevent global chaos. Gary Morgan--a brilliant, renegade scientist is pilloried by the scientific community for his belief in a space elevator: a pillar to the sky, which he believes will make space flight fast, simple and affordable. Eva Morgan--a brilliant and beautiful scientist of Ukrainian descent, she has had a lifelong obsession to build a pillar to the sky, a vertiginous tower which would mine the power of the sun and supply humanity with cheap, limitless energy forever. Gunther Rothenberg--the ancient but revered rocket-scientist who labored at Peenemunda with von Braun to create the first rockets and continued on to build those of today. A legend, he has mentored Gary and Natalia for two decades, nurturing and encouraging their transcendent vision. Franklin Smith--the eccentric Silicon Valley billionaire who will champion their cause, wage war with Congress and government bureaucracy and most important, finance their herculean undertaking. This journey to the stars will not be easy--a tumultuous struggle filled with violence and heroism, love and death, spellbinding beauty and heartbreaking betrayal. The stakes could not be higher. Humanity's salvation will hang in the balance"--

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.