k wrote:
] ] "It's not new physics nothing new has to be
] ] discovered, nothing new has to be invented from scratch,"
] ] he says. "If there are delays in budget or delays in
] ] whatever, it could stretch, but 15 years is a realistic
] ] estimate for when we could have one up."
] ]
] ] Edwards is not just some guy with an idea. He's head of
] ] the space elevator project at the Institute for
] ] Scientific Research in Fairmont, W.Va. NASA already has
] ] given it more than $500,000 to study the idea, and
] ] Congress has earmarked $2.5 million more.
] ]
] ] "A lot of people at NASA are excited about the idea,"
] ] said Robert Casanova, director of the NASA Institute of
] ] Advanced Concepts in Atlanta.
] ]
] ] Edwards believes a space elevator offers a cheaper, safer
] ] form of space travel that eventually could be used to
] ] carry explorers to the planets.
] ]
] ] Edwards' elevator would climb on a cable made of
] ] nanotubes - tiny bundles of carbon atoms many times
] ] stronger than steel. The cable would be about three feet
] ] wide and thinner than a piece of paper, but capable of
] ] supporting a payload up to 13 tons.
]
] [ I love space stuff, and the things i've read about space
] elevators all excite me to no end. I really want to see a
] viable plan. I want to blow my retirement funds on a trip to
] space. So, the scientists have 40 years, at the outside, to
] get it working... hop to! -k]

Here here. Spaceship One is very exciting, but $100,000 for a sub orbital? Don't think so. I want orbit - I want to VACATION in space for a few DAYS. I have a friend who did some parabola manuvers in a small plane with me on board, so I've experienced "weightlessness" (about 10 seconds each time) and it IS as much fun as it looks, but I wouldn't pay $100,000 for 3 minutes of that. Now a week in orbit might be worth $100k if you had the $$$, but I think if this elevator becomes a reality, you might eventually see a week jaunt in orbit for under $10,000. -LB

RE: Scientist sees space elevator in 15 years