If you could take an elevator to space, would you dare to try it?

According to Science and Technology Daily, at the 2022 International Symposium on Peaceful Uses of Space Technology (Health) held from November 18 to 20, Peter Swan, chairman of the International Space Elevator Consortium and academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, proposed that in the future, space elevators, as permanent logistics infrastructure, can transport materials and personnel into space, becoming a new channel for entering space.

Russian scholar Tsiolkovsky was the first to propose the idea of ​​building a space elevator. It is reported that scientists at the Samara Space University in Russia have been studying the construction of such a device that can send many items back to Earth from the International Space Station, and this work has entered the final stage.

The envisioned space elevator consists of several parts: a base, cables, an elevator cabin and a space station.

First of all, the base. Currently, two types of bases have been proposed: fixed and drifting. The fixed base is conducive to the construction of surrounding facilities, while the platform of the drifting base can avoid space debris. If the base is set on the equator, the distance from the geosynchronous orbit is the shortest.

The thickness of the cable is determined by the amount of tension it is subjected to. The part in the geosynchronous orbit is the thickest, and the parts on the sides are thinner. However, the most suitable cable material has not yet been found.

The elevator cabin is the part that climbs on the cable, and the way to make it rise is to install two reflectors on the elevator cabin, and then use lasers from the ground to launch the elevator cabin up.

The space station is located at a higher altitude than the geostationary satellite orbit, which can offset the weight of the cable.

Although the construction cost of a space elevator is high, it is powered by solar energy, so the transportation cost may be lower than that of a rocket and it is more environmentally friendly. Peter Swan said, "The space elevator is expected to reach geosynchronous orbit in 8 days, the moon in 14 days, and Mars in 61 days." Interstellar travel may become a reality.

However, whether in terms of materials or technology, there are still many problems and challenges in building a space elevator. Once an accident occurs, the losses will be huge. (Xu Mingyang)