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.

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.

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.

"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"--

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!