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Lasermotive Takes Home Prize Money in 2009 Space Elevator Games! November 6, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : 2009 Space Elevator Games, Lasermotive, Space Elevator , 1 comment so far

Seattle-based competitor Lasermotive has scored prize money in the 2009 Space Elevator Games—a rare feat!

Designed to spur ideas for the development of space elevators, a conceptual carbon-tethered lift from Earth to orbit that would cut the cost of transporting goods to space (including the Moon) dramatically, the competition requires teams to maintain certain average speeds and heights with their test climbers.

For a great intro to the games, see the video below, and keep up on the day-to-day details of the ongoing event via the official site and the Space Elevator Blog!:

Japan Moving Forwards on Space Elevator (News) September 22, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Current News, Integration, Japan, Space Elevator , 2comments

Up until now, the space elevator (a high-concept, low-cost alternative way of moving goods from the Earth and other planetary surfaces out of gravity fields and into space) was something that ‘could’ be done, that some were ‘thinking’ of doing, a project for ‘someone, someplace’ to take on ‘someday’.

News from the Times Online today (and subsequently hitting the legendary front page of Drudge Report) is that the Japan Space Elevator Association (official website, which is entirely in Japanese) is moving forwards on actually building a space elevator, with a conference (“JpSEC2008″) set for later this year to establish a specific timetable.

This is much sooner than I personally had anticipated; to see such concrete initiative on the concept in 2008 is a big, and really exciting, step. Though it still sounds like they’re essentially in the planning stages, to have such large media exposure for their effort/conference is a major event in its own right.

Keep an eye here at Luna C/I for updates on the JSEA’s progress as they continue to gain steam, and be sure to check out my earlier features on Space Elevators for the full skinny on the concept :)

Neat Youtube Video: Michio Kaku on the Space Elevator September 17, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Carbon Nanotubes, Integration, Space Elevator, Youtube , add a comment

The above is a video I came across featuring a great look at space elevators from Michio Kaku , a technology that could greatly amplify the speed and efficiency of moon colonization efforts, both through moving supplies off the Earth and for actually building these on the Moon itself for exports.

Check out the video for an excellent explanation of the whole concept, as well as my original look at space elevators and this example of a space elevator company (Black Line Ascension).

Conan O'Brien: Space Elevator Interview (News) May 6, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Carbon Nanotubes, Current News, Space Elevator, Youtube , add a comment

This past Friday (May 2nd), Brian Turner of the Kansas City Space Pirates was a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, to be interviewed about the Space Elevator concept (a concept covered here just the other day).

Here’s the interview via Youtube, and the full episode is actually also available from the official site.

The interview’s very funny, as you might expect from Conan, and there’s some great stuff in there about the plan for space elevator(s), e.g. how many and when. A great, short layman’s-terms rundown of what’s up in the world of the space elevator.

I think this makes Brian Turner/the Space Pirates something of geek heroes, as well :)

Elevator to the Moon (and the Fountains of Paradise Along the Way) May 3, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Arthur C. Clarke, Black Line Ascension, Carbon Nanotubes, private sector, Space Elevator , add a comment


“Elevator to the moon, whistling a favorite tune…”
-“Satellite” , by Guster

A concept supported/pioneered by the likes of Arthur C. Clarke (initially in his book The Fountains of Paradise, and that he considered to be the greatest part of his science legacy; he also described the idea of communications satellites….in 1945) and NASA itself as of late, the Space Elevator is a seemingly radical, and yet very real, alternative for transport into space.


It’s pretty much as it sounds, functioning as an elevator that climbs upwards along a ribbon, a 22,000-mile-long cable or tether going straight up into a fixed position in orbit from an oceanic, equatorial location on the Earth’s surface, allowing cheap and easy transport of all kinds of materials (or people) in a similar manner to a more typical elevator.

“What we’re talking about is building the biggest thing…ever.”
-Steven Steiner, MIT, in a NOVA feature on the Space Elevator

Initially described as a concept in 1960 by a Russian engineer, Yuri Artsutanov, the recent (approx. 1991) discovery of carbon nanotubes (a material 10,000 times as thin as a human hair, but stronger than steel) provides a base for the actual design and construction of a space elevator. The concept is real enough for NASA to support an annual X prize-like contest to race prototypes, and for various companies to pop up that are taking the idea very seriously.

A space elevator would be far less expensive than space shuttles, despite the spectacular nature of it, even down to ’100th or 1,000th’ of the cost, particularly for the actual transport of goods per weight. The cost to build it would be around $10 billion, compared to $1.7 billion for one space shuttle, with a cost of $450 million to launch it each time. Not too bad, considering.

A space elevator would make population and transport of goods to Lunar and Martian colonies far easier, and could be constructed on the Moon itself for surface-orbit transport there.

Space elevators are an (as the amount of links here attests to) enormous concept/movement, with a lot of momentum behind it; almost as much as I’ve seen for lunar colonization itself. Any time private companies are investing themselves in an idea as large as this, that can be an indicator of the seriousness and imminent nature of a technology or concept. In other words, this could be something in the headlines before the end of the next President’s administration.

Expect a lot of discussion here about the various aspects of the space elevator, and how they pertain to moon colonization and integration; perhaps, even, I’ll manage to explore to topic personally at some point soon for you all.