In the 21st century, elevators are no longer just mechanisms that lift loads to a certain height. With the increase in speed and capacity, elevators are becoming more vehicles.

An example is the Japanese automotive giant Mitsubishi. Its engineers have developed an elevator capable of ascending at speeds of 60 km / h. But as you will see now, this is not the limit.

Of course, such elevators are designed for the tallest buildings in the world - skyscrapers. And it doesn't matter in which country the building is located, the main thing is that the elevator works. And how else can you raise people to a height of 50 floors? And at 100? If the rate of ascent remains the same, then time will flow incredibly slowly. Therefore, the capacity of the elevators is increasing every day.

The best in this business are the Japanese. The Obayashi Corporation, on reflection, announced that skyscrapers are far from the limit for it. The company's engineers are creating an elevator into space. Creation time - about 40 years. Most likely, the grandiose construction will be completed by 2050.

It is planned to make the elevator cabin as spacious as possible in order to lift several dozen people. People will rise until they are in space. It is technologically possible. After all, engineers from Japan have developed a special cable made of carbon nanotubes. This material is almost two dozen times stronger and stronger than the most durable steel in the world, you can watch documentaries about it online. Moreover, the elevator will rise at a speed of 200 km / h, which means reaching an altitude of 36 thousand kilometers in a week.

It is difficult to say who will allocate the money for such a project. After all, the development of a space elevator has been going on for many years, starting with theories about this - at the beginning of the 20th century.

Usually such ambitious projects are taken into their own hands by NASA employees, but now, like the United States as a whole, they have huge economic problems.

Will the Japanese be able to pull off such a megaproject? Will he be able to recoup himself and bring real profits? We will not be able to answer these questions. However, the very fact that the Japanese think in categories for decades ahead reminds us once again that planning is not the strongest feature of the Russian mentality.

As long as science is so popularized in Japan, there is no need to fear for their technology sector, which is closely related to marketing and economics, which in turn feeds science.

The Japanese will build an elevator into space by 2050

This device will be able to deliver people and cargo to the space station, which will also appear in the future.

Japanese company Obayashi has revealed its plans to build an elevator into space by 2050. The Japanese are promising that it will be able to climb 60,000 miles and deliver people and cargo to a space station that will also appear in the distant future. It is reported by ABC News.

The builders are also guaranteeing that the new elevator will be safer and cheaper than space shuttles. Currently, shipping one kilogram of cargo by shuttle costs about 22 thousand dollars. And the sci-fi device Obayashi will be able to transport up to 200 kilograms for the same money.

The management of the construction company believes that the emergence of this transport system will become possible with the advent of carbon nanomaterials. According to one of the leaders of Obayashi Yoji Ishikawa, the elevator cables will be futuristic nanotubes that are a hundred times stronger than those made from steel. We are not able to create long cables right now. We can still make 3-centimeter nanotubes, but by 2030 we will succeed, he said, adding that the elevator will be able to deliver up to 30 people to the space station in just a week.

Obayashi believes her elevator will revolutionize space travel. The company is recruiting students from all universities in Japan to work on this project. She also looks forward to collaborating with foreign scientists.

Japanese elevators are considered to be some of the best in the world. A Japanese company is also currently developing the fastest elevator on Earth. Hitachi will provide it to one of the Chinese skyscrapers. This elevator will be capable of speeds up to 72 kilometers per hour and rise to a height of 440 meters, that is, up to the 95th floor.

Fifty years ago, people believed that by our time space travel would be as affordable as travel by public transport in their years. Unfortunately, these hopes did not come true. But, perhaps, already in 2050, it will be possible to reach space by elevator - the concept of this vehicle was presented by the Japanese company Obayashi Corporation.

Elevators are different! There is an ordinary elevator, there is an elevator in the bathroom, there is an elevator inside the aquarium, and the Obayashi Corporation promises to launch an elevator into space in a few decades! In fact, several scientific and engineering groups around the world, supervised by the NASA space agency, are engaged in the creation of such technologies. However, according to the Japanese, this process is very slow, so the Obayashi Corporation decided to develop a space elevator independently of others.

The main achievement of the competitions from NASA is that they proved the very possibility of creating a space elevator. Obayashi Corporation promises to launch this unusual vehicle by 2050!

This elevator will lead from Earth to a space station located at an altitude of 36 thousand kilometers. But the length of the cable will be 96 thousand kilometers. This is necessary in order to create an orbital counterweight. In the future, it can be used to extend the elevator route.

News Scientists ready to build a diamond elevator into space you can read on your phones, iPad, iPhone and Android and other devices.

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have discovered a way to create ultra-thin diamond nanowires that would be ideal for lifting a space elevator to the moon. Experts have previously suggested that diamond nanowires may be an ideal material for creating a cable for an elevator into space.

A team of scientists led by chemistry professor John Badding created alternating pressure cycles in a liquid medium for isolated benzene molecules. Experts were amazed at the result, when carbon atoms gathered in an ordered and neatly constructed chain. Scientists have created nanofilaments 20 thousand times smaller than human hair. However, it is diamond chains that can be the most durable material on Earth.

Most recently, a team from the University of Technology of Queensland in Australia modeled a mock diamond nanowire using large-scale molecular dynamics studies. Physicists have come to the conclusion that such a material in the long term is much more flexible than previously thought, if the correct molecular structure is chosen.

Scientists speculated that lengthening the diamond strand could ultimately make the resulting material very brittle, but research has proven otherwise. Therefore, carbon nanowires have great chances for space use, including as a cable for an elevator to the moon, the concept of which was first proposed back in 1895.

Sources: spaceon.ru, www.bfm.ru, dlux.ru, news.ifresh.ws, mirkosmosa.ru

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Despite the crisis and the war of sanctions in the civilized, economically developed countries, there is a great interest in space exploration. This is facilitated by successes in the development of rocketry and in the study of near-earth space, planets of the solar system and its periphery with the help of spacecraft. More and more states are joining the space race. China and India are loudly announcing their ambitions to conquer the universe. The monopoly of the state structures of Russia, the USA and Europe on flights beyond the Earth's atmosphere is becoming a thing of the past. Business is showing increasing interest in transporting people and cargo to space. Firms have appeared, which are headed by enthusiasts in love with space. They are engaged in the development of both new launch vehicles and new technologies that will make a leap in the exploration of the Universe. Ideas that were considered impracticable yesterday are being seriously considered. And what was considered a figment of the inflamed imagination of science fiction writers is now one of the possible projects to be implemented in the near future.

One such project could be a space elevator.

How realistic is this? Air Force journalist Nick Fleming tried to answer this question in his article "An elevator in orbit: science fiction or a matter of time?", Which is brought to the attention of those interested in space.

An elevator into orbit: science fiction or a matter of time?

Thanks to space elevators capable of delivering people and goods from the Earth's surface to orbit, mankind would be able to abandon the use of environmentally harmful rockets. But creating such a device isn't easy, BBC Future's correspondent found out.

When it comes to predictions about the development of new technologies, many consider the authority of the millionaire Elon Musk - one of the leaders of the private research sector, who came up with the idea of ​​"Hyperloop" - a project of high-speed pipeline passenger service between Los Angeles and San Francisco. (travel time will take only 35 minutes). But there are projects that even Musk considers practically impossible. For example, a space elevator project.

"This is too technical a challenge. It is unlikely that a space elevator can be created in reality," Musk said at a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last fall. In his opinion, it is easier to build a bridge between Los Angeles and Tokyo than to build an elevator into orbit.

The idea of ​​sending people and cargo into space inside capsules sliding upward along a giant cable held in place by the Earth's rotation is not new. Similar descriptions can be found in the works of science fiction writers such as Arthur Clarke. However, this concept has not yet been considered feasible in practice. Perhaps the belief that we are capable of solving this extremely complex technical problem is in fact only self-deception?

Space elevator enthusiasts believe that it is quite possible to build one. In their opinion, rockets operating on toxic fuel are outdated, dangerous for humans and nature, and an excessively expensive form of space transport. The proposed alternative is essentially a railway line laid into orbit - a super-strong cable, one end of which is fixed on the Earth's surface, and the other - to a counterweight located in a geosynchronous orbit and therefore constantly hanging over one point on the earth's surface. Elevator cabins would use electrical devices moving up and down along the cable. Space elevators could bring the cost of sending cargo into space down to $ 500 per kilogram - a recent report from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) that now stands at around $ 20,000 per kilogram.

Space elevator enthusiasts point to the harmfulness of rocket launch technologies

"This technology opens up phenomenal opportunities, it will provide humanity with access to the solar system," says Peter Swan, President of the International Space Elevator Consortium ISEC and co-author of the IAA report. For 15 years, we will have six to eight such devices at our disposal, safe enough to transport people. "

The origins of the idea

The difficulty is that the height of such a structure should be up to 100,000 km - this is more than two Earth's equators. Accordingly, the structure must be strong enough to support its own weight. There is simply no material on Earth with the required strength characteristics.

But some scientists think that this problem can be solved in the current century. A major Japanese construction company announced that it plans to build a space elevator by 2050. And American researchers have recently created a new diamond-like material based on compressed benzene nanowires, the calculated strength of which could make the space elevator a reality during the lifetime of many of us.

The concept of a space elevator was first considered in 1895 by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. The Russian scientist, inspired by the example of the recently built Eiffel Tower in Paris, has taken up the physical aspects of building a giant tower that could be used to deliver spaceships into orbit without the use of rockets. Later, in 1979, this topic was mentioned by the science fiction writer Arthur Clarke in the novel "Fountains of Paradise" - his protagonist is building a space elevator, similar in design to the projects being discussed now.

The question is how to bring the idea to life. “I love the audacity of the space elevator concept,” says Kevin Fong, founder of the Center for Altitude, Space and Extreme Medicine at University College London. "I can understand why people find it so attractive: the ability to get to Earth's low orbits inexpensively and safely opens up the entire inner solar system for us."

Security concerns

However, building a space elevator will not be easy. "To begin with, the cable needs to be made of a super-strong yet flexible material that has the necessary weight and density characteristics to support the weight of the vehicles moving along it, and at the same time can withstand constant lateral forces. This material simply does not exist now," says Fong. "In addition, the construction of such an elevator will require the most intensive use of spacecraft and the largest number of space walks in the history of mankind."

Safety concerns should not be discounted, he said: "Even if we manage to overcome the enormous technical difficulties associated with building an elevator, the resulting structure will be a giant stretched string that de-orbits spacecraft and is constantly bombarded by space debris."

Will tourists ever be able to use the elevator to travel into space?

Over the past 12 years, three detailed space elevator designs have been published worldwide. The first is described by Brad Edwards and Eric Westling in the book Space Elevators, published in 2003. This elevator is designed to transport 20-ton cargo using the energy of laser systems located on Earth. The estimated cost of transportation is $ 150 per kilogram, and the project is estimated at $ 6 billion.

In 2013, the IAA developed this concept in its own project, which provides increased protection of elevator cars from atmospheric phenomena up to an altitude of 40 km, at which the movement of the cars into orbit should be due to solar energy. The cost of transportation is $ 500 per kilogram, and the cost of building the first two such elevators is $ 13 billion.

In the early concepts of the space elevator, various possible solutions to the problem of a space counterweight designed to hold the tether in a taut position were presented - including the proposal to use for this purpose a captured asteroid and delivered to the desired orbit. The IAA report notes that someday such a solution may be possible to implement, but this will not be possible in the near future.

Drogue"

To support a 6,300 ton rope, the counterweight must weigh 1,900 tonnes. It can be partially formed from spaceships and other auxiliary vehicles that will be used to build the elevator. It is also possible to use nearby spent satellites by towing them into a new orbit.

They also propose to make the "anchor", fastening the cable to the Earth, in the form of a floating platform the size of a large oil tanker or aircraft carrier, and place it near the equator in order to increase its carrying capacity. An area 1000 km west of the Galapagos Islands, which is rarely prone to hurricanes, tornadoes and typhoons, is proposed as an optimal anchor point.

Space debris could be used as a counterweight at the top end of a space elevator cable

Obayashi Corp., one of Japan's five largest construction firms, announced last year plans to build a more robust space elevator that would carry automatic magnetically suspended booths. A similar technology is used on high-speed railways. A stronger cable is needed because the Japanese elevator is supposed to be used to transport people as well. The cost of the project is estimated at $ 100 billion, while the cost of transporting cargo into orbit could be $ 50-100 per kilogram.

While there will undoubtedly be plenty of technical difficulties to build such an elevator, in fact, the only structural element that cannot yet be created is the cable itself, says Swan: “The only technological challenge to be solved is finding the right material for making the cable. the rest we can build now. "

Diamond filaments

At the moment, the most suitable material for the cable can be considered carbon nanotubes, created in laboratory conditions in 1991. These cylindrical structures have a tensile strength of 63 gigapascals, that is, they are about 13 times stronger than the strongest steel.

The maximum achievable length of such nanotubes is constantly increasing - in 2013, Chinese scientists managed to bring it to half a meter. The authors of the IAA report predict that a kilometer length will be reached by 2022, and by 2030. it will be possible to create nanotubes of suitable length for use in a space elevator.

Meanwhile, in September last year, a new ultra-strong material appeared: in an article published in the scientific journal Nature Materials, a group of scientists led by Chemistry Professor John Badding of the University of Pennsylvania announced that super-thin "diamond nanowires" were obtained in the laboratory, which may even be stronger than carbon nanotubes.

Scientists have compressed liquid benzene at 200,000 times atmospheric pressure. Then the pressure was slowly lowered, and it turned out that the benzene atoms rearranged, creating a highly ordered structure of pyramidal tetrahedra.

As a result, super-thin threads were formed, very similar in structure to a diamond. Although it is impossible to directly measure their strength due to their ultra-small dimensions, theoretical calculations indicate that these threads may be stronger than the strongest synthetic materials available.

Reducing risks

"If we can learn how to create diamond nanowires or carbon nanotubes of the required length and properties, we can be almost confident that they will be strong enough for use in a space elevator," says Badding.

However, even if it is possible to find a suitable material for the cable, it will be very difficult to assemble the structure. Most likely, there will be difficulties associated with ensuring the safety of the project, the necessary funding and the competent separation of competing interests. However, this does not stop Swan.

One way or another, humanity strives for space and is ready to spend a lot of money on it.

“Of course, we will face great difficulties, but the problems had to be solved during the construction of the first transcontinental railroad [in the US], and in the construction of the Panama and Suez Canals, - he says. - It will take a lot of time and money, but, as in the case with any large project, you just need to solve problems as they arise, while at the same time gradually reducing possible risks. "

Even Elon Musk is not ready to categorically dismiss the possibility of creating a space elevator. “I don’t think this idea is feasible today, but if someone can prove otherwise, it would be great,” he said at last year's conference at MIT.

Today, spacecraft explore the Moon, Sun, planets and asteroids, comets and interplanetary space. But chemical-fueled rockets are still an expensive and low-power means of propelling payloads beyond gravity. Modern rocketry has practically reached the limit of the possibilities posed by the nature of chemical reactions. Has humanity reached a technological dead end? Not at all, considering the old idea of ​​a space elevator.

At the origin

The first who seriously thought about how to overcome the gravity of the planet by "pulling up" was one of the developers of jet vehicles Felix Zander. Unlike the dreamer and inventor Baron Munchausen, Zander proposed a scientifically based version of a space elevator for the Moon. On the path between the Moon and the Earth, there is a point at which the forces of attraction of these bodies balance each other. It is located at a distance of 60,000 km from the moon. Closer to the Moon, the lunar gravity will be stronger than the earthly, and further - weaker. So if you connect the moon with a cable with some asteroid left, say, at a distance of 70,000 km from the moon, then only the cable will not allow the asteroid to fall to Earth. The cable will be constantly pulled by the force of gravity, and it will be possible to climb from the surface of the Moon beyond the limits of the lunar attraction along it. From the point of view of science, this is an absolutely correct idea. It did not immediately receive the attention it deserved only because in the time of Zander there simply did not exist materials, the cable from which would not break off under its own weight.

“In 1951, Professor Buckminster Fuller designed a free-floating ring bridge around the Earth's equator. All that is needed to translate this idea into reality is a space elevator. And when will we have it? I don't want to guess, so I'm adapting the answer Arthur Kantrowitz gave when someone asked him about his laser launch system. The space elevator will be built 50 years after the idea is no longer laughed at. " ("The Space Elevator: A Thought Experiment or a Key to the Universe?" Speech at the XXX International Astronautics Congress, Munich, September 20, 1979.)

First ideas

The very first successes of astronautics again awakened the imagination of enthusiasts. In 1960, a young Soviet engineer Yuri Artsutanov drew attention to an interesting feature of the so-called geostationary satellites (GSS). These satellites are in a circular orbit exactly in the plane of the earth's equator and have an orbital period equal to the duration of the earth's day. Therefore, a geostationary satellite is constantly hovering over the same point on the equator. Artsutanov proposed to connect the GSS with a cable to the point under it on the Earth's equator. The cable will be motionless relative to the Earth, and along it the idea suggests itself to launch an elevator car into space. This bright idea has captured many minds. The famous writer Arthur Clarke even wrote a science fiction novel "Fountains of Paradise", in which the whole plot is connected with the construction of a space elevator.

Elevator problems

Today, the US and Japan are already trying to implement the idea of ​​a space elevator at the GSS, and even contests are being arranged among the developers of this idea. The main efforts of the designers are aimed at finding materials from which it is possible to make a cable with a length of 40,000 km, capable of withstanding not only its own weight, but also the weight of the rest of the structure. It is great that a suitable material for the cable has already been invented. These are carbon nanotubes. Their strength is several times higher than what is needed for a space elevator, but we still need to learn how to make a defect-free thread from such tubes tens of thousands of kilometers long. There is no need to doubt that such a technical problem will be solved sooner or later.

From Earth to low-earth orbit, cargo is delivered by traditional chemical-fueled rockets. From there, orbital tugs drop cargo onto the "lower elevator platform", which is securely anchored by a cable attached to the moon. An elevator delivers goods to the moon. Due to the absence of the need for braking (and the rockets themselves) at the last stage and during ascent from the moon, significant cost savings are possible. But, unlike the one described in the article, such a configuration practically repeats the idea of ​​Zander and does not solve the problem of removing the payload from the Earth, while retaining rocket technology for this stage.

The second and also a serious task on the way of building a space elevator is to develop an engine for an elevator and a system for its energy supply. After all, the cabin must climb 40,000 km without refueling until the very end of the ascent! No one has yet figured out how to achieve this.

Unstable equilibrium

But the biggest, even insurmountable, difficulty for an elevator to a geostationary satellite is related to the laws of celestial mechanics. The GSS is in its remarkable orbit only because of the balance of gravity and centrifugal force. Any violation of this balance leads to the fact that the satellite changes its orbit and leaves its "standing point". Even small irregularities in the Earth's gravitational field, the tidal forces of the Sun and the Moon and the pressure of sunlight lead to the fact that satellites in geostationary orbit are constantly drifting. There is not the slightest doubt that under the weight of the elevator system, the satellite will not be able to remain in geostationary orbit and will fall. There is, however, the illusion that it is possible to extend the tether far beyond geostationary orbit and place a massive counterweight at its far end. At first glance, the centrifugal force acting on the tied counterweight will pull the cable so that the additional load from the car moving along it cannot change the position of the counterweight, and the lift will remain in the working position. This would be true if, instead of a flexible cable, a rigid non-bendable rod were used: then the energy of the Earth's rotation would be transmitted through the rod to the cabin, and its movement would not lead to the appearance of a lateral force not compensated by the tension of the cable. And this force will inevitably break the dynamic stability of the near-earth elevator, and it will collapse!

Heavenly playground

Fortunately for earthlings, nature has in store for us a wonderful solution - the moon. Not only is the Moon so massive that no elevators can move it, it is still in an almost circular orbit and at the same time is always turned to the Earth with one side! The idea just suggests itself - to stretch the elevator between the Earth and the Moon, but fix the elevator cable with only one end, on the Moon. The other end of the cable can be lowered almost to the very Earth, and the force of gravity will pull it like a string along the line connecting the centers of mass of the Earth and the Moon. You just cannot allow the free end to reach the surface of the Earth. Our planet rotates around its axis, which is why the end of the cable will have a speed of about 400 m per second relative to the Earth's surface, that is, move in the atmosphere at a speed greater than the speed of sound. No structure can withstand such air resistance. But if you lower the elevator car to an altitude of 30-50 km, where the air is sufficiently rarefied, its resistance can be neglected. The cockpit speed will remain about 0.4 km / s, and modern high-altitude stratoplanes can easily gain this speed. Having flown up to the elevator car and docked with it (this docking technique has long been worked out in the aircraft industry for air refueling and in spacecraft), you can move the load from the stratoplane to the cockpit or vice versa. After that, the elevator car will begin to climb to the moon, and the stratoplane will return to Earth. By the way, the cargo delivered from the Moon can be simply dropped from the cockpit by parachute and picked up safe and sound on the ground or in the ocean.

Avoiding collisions

The elevator connecting the Earth and the Moon must solve another important problem. In near-earth space there is a large number of working spacecraft and several thousand inoperative satellites, their fragments and other space debris. A collision of an elevator with any of them would break the cable. In order to avoid this trouble, it is proposed to make the "lower" part of the cable 60,000 km long to be lifted and to take it out of the zone of motion of the Earth satellites when it is not needed there. Controlling the positions of bodies in near-earth space is quite capable of predicting the periods when the movement of the elevator car in this area will be safe.

Space Elevator Winch

The space elevator to the moon is in serious trouble. The cabins of the usual elevators move at a speed of no more than a few meters per second, and at this speed even ascent to a height of 100 km (to the lower boundary of space) should take more than a day. Even if you move with the maximum speed of railway trains of 200 km / h, the journey to the Moon will take almost three months. An elevator capable of only two trips to the moon a year is unlikely to be in demand.

If the cable is covered with a superconductor film, then along the cable it will be possible to move on a magnetic cushion without contact with its material. In this case, it will be possible to accelerate half the way and brake the cab half the way.

A simple calculation shows that with an acceleration of 1 g (equivalent to the usual gravity on Earth), the entire journey to the Moon will take only 3.5 hours, that is, the cabin will be able to make three flights to the Moon every day. Scientists are actively working on the creation of superconductors operating at room temperature, and in the foreseeable future they can be expected to appear.

To throw out the trash

It is interesting to note that in the middle of the journey the speed of the cabin will reach 60 km / s. If, after acceleration, the payload is detached from the cockpit, then at such a speed it can be directed to any point in the solar system, to any, even the most distant planet. This means that an elevator to the moon will be able to provide non-rocket flights from Earth within the solar system.

And it will be quite exotic to be able to throw hazardous waste from the Earth into the Sun with the help of an elevator. Our dear star is a nuclear furnace of such power that any waste, even radioactive, will burn without a trace. So a full-fledged lift to the Moon can not only become the basis for the space expansion of mankind, but also a means of cleansing our planet from the waste of technological progress.

The idea of ​​an astroengineering structure to launch cargo into a planetary orbit or even beyond. For the first time such an idea was expressed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895, the idea was developed in detail in the works of Yuri Artsutanov. The hypothetical design is based on the use of a tether stretched from the surface of the planet to an orbital station located in the GSO. Presumably, such a method in the future may be orders of magnitude cheaper than using launch vehicles.
The cable is held by one end on the surface of the planet (Earth), and the other - at a point fixed above the planet above the geostationary orbit (GSO) due to centrifugal force. An elevator carrying a payload rises along the cable. When lifting, the load will be accelerated due to the rotation of the Earth, which will allow it to be sent out of the gravity of the Earth at a sufficiently high altitude.
An extremely high tensile strength combined with a low density is required of the rope. According to theoretical calculations, carbon nanotubes appear to be a suitable material. If we assume their suitability for the manufacture of a cable, then the creation of a space elevator is a solvable engineering problem, although it requires the use of advanced developments and high costs of a different kind. The creation of the elevator is estimated at US $ 7-12 billion. NASA is already funding relevant developments at the American Institute for Scientific Research, including the development of a hoist that can move independently on a cable.
Contents [remove]
1 Construction
1.1 Foundation
1.2 Rope
1.2.1 Thickening of the cable
1.3 Lift
1.4 Counterweight
1.5 Angular momentum, speed and tilt
1.6 Launch into space
2 Construction
3 The economics of the space elevator
4 Achievements
5 Literature
6 Space elevator in various works
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
9.1 Organizations
9.2 Miscellaneous
Design

There are several design options. Almost all of them include a base (base), wire rope (cable), lifters and a counterweight.
Base
The base of the space elevator is the place on the surface of the planet where the cable is attached and the lifting of the load begins. It can be mobile, placed on an ocean-going vessel.
The advantage of a movable base is the ability to maneuver to avoid hurricanes and storms. The advantages of a stationary base are cheaper and more affordable energy sources, and the ability to reduce the length of the cable. The difference of several kilometers of the cable is relatively small, but it can help to reduce the required thickness of its middle part and the length of the part that comes out for geostationary orbit.
Cable
The rope must be made of a material with an extremely high tensile strength to specific gravity ratio. The space elevator will be economically viable if it can be produced on an industrial scale at a reasonable price a rope with a density comparable to that of graphite and a strength of about 65-120 gigapascals.
For comparison, the strength of most types of steel is about 1 GPa, and even in its strongest types it is no more than 5 GPa, and steel is heavy. A much lighter Kevlar has a strength in the range of 2.6-4.1 GPa, and for quartz fiber - up to 20 GPa and higher. The theoretical strength of diamond fibers may be slightly higher.
Carbon nanotubes should, according to theory, have extensibility much higher than required for a space elevator. However, the technology of their production in industrial quantities and their weaving into a cable is just beginning to be developed. Theoretically, their strength should be more than 120 GPa, but in practice, the highest extensibility of a single-walled nanotube was 52 GPa, and on average they broke in the range of 30–50 GPa. The strongest filament woven from nanotubes will be less strong than its components. Research to improve the purity of the tube material and to create different types of tubes is ongoing.
Most space elevator projects use single-walled nanotubes. Multilayers have higher strength, but they are heavier, and their strength-to-density ratio is lower. A possible option is to use a high pressure connection of single-walled nanotubes. At the same time, although strength is lost due to the replacement of the sp²-bond (graphite, nanotubes) with the sp³-bond (diamond), they will be better held in one fiber by van der Waals forces and will make it possible to produce fibers of arbitrary length. 810 days specified]

Defects in the crystal lattice reduce the strength of nanotubes
In an experiment by scientists from the University of Southern California (USA), single-walled carbon nanotubes demonstrated a specific strength 117 times higher than that of steel and 30 times that of Kevlar. It was possible to reach the index of 98.9 GPa, the maximum value of the nanotube length was 195 microns.
The technology of weaving such fibers is still in its infancy.
Even carbon nanotubes will never be strong enough to make a space elevator cable, according to some scientists.
Scientists' experiments from the Technological the University of Sydney made it possible to create graphene paper. Sample tests are encouraging: the density of the material is five to six times lower than that of steel, while the tensile strength is ten times that of carbon steel. At the same time, graphene is a good conductor of electric current, which allows it to be used to transfer power to the hoist, as a contact bus.
Thickening of the rope

Check information.

The space elevator must be able to support at least its own weight, which is quite considerable due to the length of the cable. Thickening on the one hand increases the strength of the cable, on the other, it adds weight and, consequently, the required strength. The load on it will differ in different places: in some cases, the section of the cable must withstand the weight of the segments that are below, in others it must withstand the centrifugal force that holds the upper parts of the cable in orbit. To satisfy To this condition and to achieve the optimality of the cable at each of its points, its thickness will be unstable.
It can be shown that taking into account the gravity of the Earth and centrifugal force (but not taking into account the lesser influence of the Moon and the Sun), the cross-section of the tether, depending on the height, will be described by the following formula:

Here A ® is the cross-sectional area of ​​the cable as a function of the distance r from the center of the Earth.
The following constants are used in the formula:
A0 is the cross-sectional area of ​​the cable at the level of the Earth's surface.
ρ is the density of the rope material.
s is the ultimate strength of the rope material.
ω is the circular frequency of rotation of the Earth around its axis, 7.292 × 10−5 radians per second.
r0 is the distance between the center of the Earth and the base of the cable. It is approximately equal to the radius of the Earth, 6,378 km.
g0 - acceleration of gravity at the base of the cable, 9.780 m / s².
This equation describes a tether, the thickness of which first increases exponentially, then its growth slows down at a height of several Earth radii, and then it becomes constant, eventually reaching a geostationary orbit. After that, the thickness starts to decrease again.
Thus, the ratio of the cable cross-sectional areas at the base and on the GSO (r = 42 164 km) is:
Substituting here the density and strength of steel and the diameter of the cable at the level of the Earth at 1 cm, we get a diameter at the level of the GSO of several hundred kilometers, which means that steel and other materials we are used to are unsuitable for the construction of an elevator.
It follows that there are four ways to achieve a more reasonable wireline thickness at the GSO level:
Use less dense material. Since the density of most solids lies in a relatively small range from 1000 to 5000 kg / m³, it is unlikely that anything can be achieved here.
Use more durable material. In the main, research is going in this direction. Carbon nanotubes are tens of times stronger than the best steel, and they will significantly reduce the thickness of the cable at the GSO level.
Raise the base of the cable higher. Because of the exponential factor in the equation, even a slight elevation of the base will greatly reduce the thickness of the cable. Towers with a height of up to 100 km are offered, which, in addition to saving on the cable, will avoid the influence of atmospheric processes.
Make the base of the cable as thin as possible. It must still be thick enough to support the hoist with the load, so the minimum thickness at the base also depends on the strength of the material. It is enough to have a cable made of carbon nanotubes only one millimeter thick at the base.
Another way is to make the base of the elevator moveable. Moving even at a speed of 100 m / s will already give a gain in circular speed by 20% and shorten the cable length by 20-25%, which will lighten it by 50 percent or more. If you "anchor" the cable supersonic [source not specified 664 days] by plane, or by train, then the gain in cable mass will already be measured not as a percentage, but dozens of times (but losses on resistance air).
Lift

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Conceptual drawing of a space elevator ascending through the clouds
A space elevator cannot function like a normal elevator (with moving cables) because the thickness of its cable is not constant. Most projects suggest using a hoist that climbs up on a fixed line, although there have also been options for using small segmented movable lines along the main line.
Various types of hoist construction are offered. On flat ropes, you can use pairs of rollers held by friction. Other options are moving knitting needles with hooks on plates, rollers with retractable hooks, magnetic levitation (unlikely, since bulky paths will have to be fixed on the cable), etc. [source not specified 661 days]
Serious lift design problem - energy source [source unspecified 661 days]. The energy storage density is unlikely to ever be high enough for a hoist to have enough energy to lift the entire cable. Possible external energy sources are laser or microwave beams. Other options are to use the braking energy of downward-moving lifts; difference in tropospheric temperatures; ionospheric discharge, etc. The main variant [source not specified 661 days] (rays of energy) has serious problems associated with with efficiency and heat dissipation at both ends, although if one is optimistic about future technological advances, it is realizable.
The hoists should follow each other at an optimal distance to minimize the load on the cable and its oscillation. and maximize bandwidth. The most unreliable area of ​​the cable is near its base; there should not be more than one ski lift [source not specified 661 days]. Lifts moving only upward will increase the capacity, but will not allow the use of braking energy when moving downward, and will also not be able to return people to the ground. In addition, the components of such lifts must be used in orbit for other purposes. In any case, small lifts are better than large lifts because their schedule will be more flexible, but they impose more technological restrictions.
In addition, the elevator thread itself will constantly experience the action of both the Coriolis forces and atmospheric currents. Moreover, since the "lift" must be located above the altitude of the geostationary orbit, it will be subject to constant loads, including peak ones, for example, jerk [source not specified 579 days].
However, if the above obstacles can be removed in some way, then the space elevator can be realized. However, such a project would be extremely costly, but in the future it may compete with disposable and reusable spacecraft [source unspecified 579 days].
Counterweight

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The counterweight can be created in two ways - by tying a heavy object (for example, an asteroid) behind the geostationary orbit or the extension of the cable itself over a considerable distance for geostationary orbit. The second option has become more popular recently, since it is easier to implement, and in addition, it is easier to launch loads from the end of the elongated cable to other planets, since it has a significant speed relative to the Earth.
Angular moment, speed and tilt

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When the elevator moves up, the elevator tilts 1 degree because the upper part of the elevator moves faster around the Earth than the lower part (Coriolis effect). Scale not saved
The horizontal speed of each section of the cable increases with height in proportion to the distance to the center of the Earth, reaching at the geostationary orbit the first cosmic speed. Therefore, when lifting a load, he needs to get an additional angular momentum (horizontal speed).
The angular momentum is acquired due to the rotation of the Earth. At first, the lift moves a little slower than the cable (Coriolis effect), thereby "slowing down" the cable and slightly deflecting it to the west. At an ascent speed of 200 km / h, the cable will tilt 1 degree. Horizontal tension component in non-vertical the rope pulls the load to the side, accelerating it in an easterly direction (see diagram) - due to this, the elevator gains additional speed. According to Newton's third law, the tether slows down the Earth by a small amount.
At the same time, the influence of centrifugal force forces the rope to return to an energetically favorable vertical position, so that it will be in a state of stable equilibrium. If the center of gravity of the elevator is always higher than the geostationary orbit, regardless of the speed of the elevators, it will not fall.
By the time the load reaches the GSO, its angular momentum (horizontal velocity) is sufficient to put the load into orbit.
When lowering the load, the opposite process will occur, tilting the cable to the east.
Space launch
At the end of the 144,000 km high cable, the tangential component of the velocity will be 10.93 km / s, which is more than enough to leave the Earth's gravitational field and launch ships towards Saturn. If the object is allowed to glide freely along the top of the tether, its speed is sufficient to leave the solar system. This will happen due to the transition of the total angular momentum of the cable (and the Earth) into the speed of the launched object.
To achieve even higher speeds, you can lengthen the cable or accelerate the load due to electromagnetism.
Construction

Construction is underway with geostationary station. This is the only one a place where a spacecraft can dock. One end is pulled down to the surface of the Earth, pulled by gravity. Another, for balancing, - in the opposite side, pulling by centrifugal force. This means that all building materials must be lifted. to geostationary orbit in the traditional way, regardless of the destination of the cargo. That is, the cost of lifting the entire space elevator to geostationary orbit - the minimum cost of the project.
Space elevator economics

Presumably, the space elevator will significantly reduce the cost of sending cargo into space. Space elevators are expensive to build, but their operating costs are low, so they are best used over a long period of time for very large volumes of cargo. Currently, the cargo launch market may not be large enough to justify building an elevator, but the dramatic price cut should lead to a greater variety of cargo. In the same way, other transport infrastructure - highways and railways - justifies itself.
The cost of developing an elevator is comparable to the cost of developing a space shuttle [source unspecified 810 days]. There is still no answer to the question of whether the space elevator will return the money invested in it or whether it will be better to invest it in the further development of rocket technology.
Do not forget about the limit on the number of repeater satellites at the geostationary Orbit: Currently, international agreements allow 360 satellites - one repeater per angular degree, in order to avoid interference when broadcasting in the Ku-band. For C-frequencies, the number of satellites is limited to 180.
Thus, the space elevator is minimally suitable for mass launches. to geostationary orbit [source not specified 554 days] and is most suitable for the exploration of outer space and the Moon in particular.
This circumstance explains the real commercial insolvency of the project, since the main financial costs of non-governmental organizations are focused on to satellites repeaters, occupying either a geostationary orbit (television, communications), or lower orbits (global positioning systems, observation of natural resources, etc.).
However, the elevator can be a hybrid project and, in addition to the function of delivering cargo into orbit, remain the base for other research and commercial programs not related to transport.
Achievements

Since 2005, the United States has hosted the annual Space Elevator Games, organized by the Spaceward Foundation with the support of NASA. There are two nominations in these competitions: "best rope" and "best robot (hoist)".
In the competition of lifts, the robot must overcome the set distance, climbing the vertical cable at a speed not lower than the speed set by the rules (in competitions 2007 standards were as follows: cable length - 100 m, minimum speed - 2 m / s). The best result of 2007 is the covered distance of 100 m with an average speed of 1.8 m / s.
The total prize pool for the Space Elevator Games in 2009 was $ 4 million.
In the competition for the strength of the cable, participants must provide a two-meter ring made of heavy duty material weighing no more than 2 grams, which a special installation checks for rupture. To win the competition, the strength of the cable must be at least 50% higher in this indicator than the sample already at NASA's disposal. So far, the best result belongs to the cable, which withstood a load of up to 0.72 tons.
The Liftport Group, which became famous for its statements to launch a space elevator in 2018 (later this date was postponed to 2031), does not take part in these competitions. Liftport conducts its own experiments, so in 2006 a robotic lift climbed on a strong rope pulled by balloons. From one and a half kilometers, the lift managed to cover the path only 460 meters. The next stage the company plans to carry out tests on a cable with a height of 3 km.
At the Space Elevator Games from November 4 to 6, 2009, a competition was held, organized by the Spaceward Foundation and NASA, in Southern California, at the Dryden Flight Research Center, within the boundaries of the famous Edwards Air Force Base. The scoring length of the cable was 900 meters, the cable was lifted by a helicopter. Leadership was taken by LaserMotive, which introduced the lift with a speed of 3.95 m / s, which is very close to the required speed. The lift covered the entire length of the cable in 3 minutes 49 seconds, and the lift carried a payload of 0.4 kg.
In August 2010, LaserMotive demonstrated their latest invention at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems Conference in Denver, Colorado. The new type of laser will help to more economically transfer energy over long distances, the laser consumes only a few watts.
Literature

Yuri Artsutanov "Into space - on an electric locomotive " newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" dated July 31, 1960.
Alexander Bolonkin "Non-Rocket Space Launch and Flight", Elsevier, 2006, 488 pgs. http://www.scribd.com/doc/24056182
Space elevator in various works

One of Arthur Clarke's famous works, Fountains of Paradise, is based on the idea of ​​a space elevator. In addition, the space elevator is featured and in the final parts of his famous tetralogy A Space Odyssey (3001: The Last Odyssey).
The Battle Angel features a Cyclopean Space Elevator, at one end of which is the Celestial City of Salem (for citizens) along with the lower city (for non-citizens), and at the other end is the space city of Yero. A similar structure is found on the other side of the Earth.
In Star Trek: Voyager, in 3x19 episode Rise, the space elevator helps the crew escape a planet with a dangerous atmosphere.
Civilization IV has a space elevator. There he is - one of the later "Great Miracles".
Timothy Zahn's science fiction novel "Spinneret" (1985) mentions a planet capable of producing super fiber. One of the races interested in the planet wanted to get this fiber specifically for the construction of a space elevator.
In Sergey Lukyanenko's dilogy "Stars are cold toys", one of the extraterrestrial civilizations in the process of interstellar trade put on the Earth super-strong threads that could be used for the construction of a space elevator. But extraterrestrial civilizations insisted exclusively on use them for their intended purpose - to help with childbirth.
In the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00, there are three space elevators, a ring of solar panels is also attached to them, which allows the space elevator to also be used for generating electricity.
In the anime, Z.O.E. Dolores is present with a space elevator, and it is also shown what could happen in the event of a terrorist attack.
In the science fiction novel by J. Scalzi, John. Old Man's War, space elevator systems are actively used on Earth, numerous earthly colonies and some planets of other highly developed intelligent races to communicate with the docks of interstellar ships.
In the science fiction novel by Alexander Gromov "Eternity will come tomorrow" the plot is built around the fact of the existence of a space elevator. There are two devices - a source and a receiver, which, by means of the "energy beam", are able to lift the "car" of the elevator into orbit.
The fantasy novel by Alastair Reynolds "City of the Abyss" provides a detailed description of the structure and functioning a space elevator, the process of its destruction (as a result of a terrorist attack) is described.
Terry Pratchett's science fiction novel Strata features the Line, an extra-long artificial molecule used as a space elevator.
Mentioned in the song of the group Sounds of Mu "Elevator to Heaven"
The space elevator is referenced in the anime series Trinity Blood and is counterbalanced by the spaceship Arc.
At the very beginning of the Sonic Colors game, Sonic and Tehils can be seen taking the space elevator to reach Dr. Eggman's Park.
see also

Space cannon
Starting loop
Space fountain
Notes (edit)

http://galspace.spb.ru/nature.file/lift.html Space elevator and nanotechnology
Into space - by elevator! // KP.RU
Orbits of the space elevator Socio-political and popular science magazine "Russian space" No. 11, 2008
Carbon nanotubes are two orders of magnitude stronger than steel
MEMBRANA | World News | Nanotubes won't survive a space elevator
New graphene paper turns out to be stronger than steel
Lemeshko Andrey Viktorovich. Space lift Lemeshko A.V.
en: Satellite television # Technology
Elevator to Heaven sets records with an eye to the future
Developed a laser that can power space elevators
LaserMotive to Demonstrate Laser-Powered Helicopter at the AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2010

IV Interregional conference of schoolchildren

"Road to the Stars"

Space elevator - fantasy or reality?

Completed:

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Supervisor:

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Yaroslavl

Introduction

Space elevator ideas by K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Yu.N. Artsutanova, G.G. Polyakova

Space elevator structure

Description of modern projects

Conclusion

Introduction

In 1978 Arthur Clarke's science fiction novel The Fountains of Paradise, dedicated to the idea of ​​building a space elevator, was published. The action takes place in the XXII century on the nonexistent island of Taproban, which, as the author points out in the preface, 90% corresponds to the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Often science fiction writers predict the appearance of an invention not of their own century, but of a much later time.

What is a space elevator?

The space elevator is a concept of an engineering structure for the missile-free launch of cargo into space. This hypothetical design is based on the use of a tether extending from the surface of the planet to an orbital station located in the GSO. For the first time such an idea was expressed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895, the idea was developed in detail in the works of Yuri Artsutanov.

The purpose of this work is to study the possibility of building a space elevator.

Space elevator ideas by K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Yu.N. Artsutanov and G.G. Polyakova

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is a Russian and Soviet self-taught scientist, inventor and school teacher. The founder of theoretical cosmonautics. Justified the use of rockets for space flights, came to the conclusion about the need to use "rocket trains" - prototypes of multistage rockets. The main scientific works are related to aeronautics, rocket dynamics and astronautics.

Representative of Russian cosmism, member of the Russian Society of Amateurs of World Studies. Author of science fiction works, supporter and promoter of the ideas of space exploration. Tsiolkovsky proposed populating outer space using orbital stations. He believed that the development of life on one of the planets of the Universe would reach such power and perfection that it would allow to overcome the forces of gravity and spread life throughout the Universe.

In 1895, the Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was the first to formulate the concept and concept of a space elevator. He described a freestanding structure extending from ground level to geostationary orbit. Rising 36 thousand kilometers above the equator and following in the direction of the Earth's rotation, at the end point with an orbital period of exactly one day, this structure would remain in a fixed position.

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Ry Nikolayevich Artsutanov is a Russian engineer who was born in Leningrad. Leningradsky graduate

Institute of Technology, known as one of the pioneers of the space elevator idea. In 1960, he wrote an article "Into Space - by Electric Locomotive", where he discussed the concept of a space elevator as a cost-effective, safe and convenient way to access orbit to facilitate space exploration.

Yuri Nikolaevich developed the idea of ​​Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Artsutanov's concept was based on connecting geosynchronous satellites with a cable to the Earth. He suggested using the satellite as a base from which to build a tower, since the geosynchronous satellite would remain above a fixed point at the equator. With the help of the counterweight, the cable will be lowered from the geosynchronous orbit to the Earth's surface, while the counterweight will move away from the Earth, keeping the cable's center of gravity motionless relative to the Earth.

A rtsutanov proposed to fix one end of such a "rope" on the earth's equator, and to hang a balancing weight to the second end, which is far beyond the planetary atmosphere. With a sufficient length of the "rope", the centrifugal force would exceed the force of gravity and prevent the load from falling to the Earth. From the calculations given by Artsutanov, it follows that the force of gravity and centrifugal force are equal at an altitude of about 42,000 kilometers. The equal to zero resultant of these forces securely fixes the “stone” at the zenith.

Now sealed electric locomotives will run vertically upward - to orbit. A smooth build-up of speed and smooth deceleration will help to avoid the overloads characteristic of a rocket separation. After several hours of travel at a speed of 10 - 20 kilometers per second, the first stop will follow - at the point of equinox of forces, where the transfer station stretched out in zero gravity will open the doors of bars, restaurants, lounges for guests - and a wonderful view of the Earth from the windows.

After stopping, the cabin will not only be able to move without the expenditure of energy, since it will be thrown away from the Earth by centrifugal force, but, in addition, generate the engine switched to dynamo mode, which is necessary to return the electricity.

The second - and the final stop was proposed to be made at a distance of 60,000 kilometers from the Earth, where the resultant of the forces equals the force of gravity on the earth's surface, and will create artificial gravity at the “terminal station”. Here, on the edge of the longest cable car, a real orbital spaceport will be located. He, as expected, will launch spaceships across the solar system, giving them a solid speed and assigning a trajectory.

Not wanting to be limited to a primitive rope, Yuri Artsutanov hung on it solar power plants that convert solar energy into electric current, and solenoids that generate an electromagnetic field. The "electric locomotive" should move in this field.

If we estimate the weight of such a magnetic roadbed, given the length of 60,000 kilometers, it turns out - hundreds of millions of tons? Much more. More than one thousand rockets will be required to tow this weight to orbit! It seemed impossible at the time.

However, this time the scientist threw up the correct idea: the elevator does not have to be built from the bottom up, like a huge cyclopean tower - it is enough to launch an artificial satellite into geostationary orbit, from which the first thread will be launched. In cross section, this thread will be thinner than a human hair, so that its weight does not exceed a thousand tons. After the free end of the thread is fixed on the earth's surface, a "spider" will run from top to bottom along the thread - a light device weaving a second parallel thread. It will run until the rope is thick enough to withstand an electric locomotive, an electromagnetic belt, solar power plants, lounges and restaurants.

It is quite understandable why in the era of space races, the idea of ​​Yuri Valerievich Artsutanov remained unnoticed by anyone. Then there was not a single material capable of withstanding such a high breaking pressure of the cable.

In the development of Artsutanov's ideas, Georgy Polyakov from the Astrakhan Pedagogical Institute proposed his project of a space elevator in 1977.

Basically, this elevator is almost no different from the above. Polyakov only points out: a real space elevator will be arranged much more complicated than the one described by Artsutanov. In fact, it will consist of a series of simple lifts with successively decreasing lengths. Each is a self-balanced system, but only thanks to one of them that reaches the Earth, the stability of the entire structure is ensured.

The length of the elevator (approximately 4 times the Earth's diameter) was chosen so that the apparatus, separated from its top, would be able to escape by inertia into open space. A launching point for interplanetary spacecraft will be mounted at the top point. And the ships returning from the flight, having previously entered a stationary orbit, "lift up" in the area of ​​the base.

From a design point of view, a space elevator consists of two parallel pipes or shafts of rectangular cross-section, the thickness of the walls of which changes according to a certain law. On one of them, the cabins move up, and on the other - down. Of course, nothing prevents you from building several of these pairs. The pipe may not be solid, but consisting of many parallel cables, the position of which is fixed by a series of transverse rectangular frames. This facilitates the installation and repair of the elevator.

Elevator cabins are simply platforms driven by individual electric motors. They are used for attaching loads or living quarters - after all, an elevator journey can take a week, or even more.

In order to save energy, you can create a system that resembles a cable car. It consists of a number of pulleys through which closed cables with cabins suspended from them are thrown. The axles of the pulleys, where the electric motors are mounted, are fixed to the carrier of the elevator. Here, the weight of the rising and falling cabins is mutually balanced, and, therefore, energy is spent only on overcoming friction.

For the connecting “threads”, from which the lift is actually formed, it is necessary to use a material whose ratio of breaking stress to density is 50 times greater than that of steel. It can be a variety of "composites", foam steels, beryllium alloys or crystalline whiskers ...

However, Georgy Polyakov does not stop at specifying the characteristics of the space elevator. He points out the fact that by the end of the 20th century the geosynchronous orbit will be densely "dotted" with spacecraft of various types and purposes. And since they will all be practically motionless relative to our planet, it seems very tempting to connect them to the Earth and to each other using space elevators and the circular transport highway.

Based on this consideration, Polyakov puts forward the idea of ​​a cosmic "necklace" of the Earth. The necklace will serve as a kind of rope (or rail) road between the orbital stations, and will also provide them with a stable balance in geosynchronous orbit.

Since the “necklace” is very long (260,000 kilometers), many stations can be placed on it. If, say, the settlements are at a distance of 100 kilometers from each other, then their number will be 2600. With the population of each station being 10 thousand, 26 million people will live on the ring. If the size and number of such "astro-cities" are increased, this figure will increase dramatically.

Space elevator structure

Base

O The base of the space elevator is the place on the surface of the planet where the cable is attached and the lifting of the load begins. It can be mobile, placed on an ocean-going vessel. The advantage of a movable base is the ability to maneuver to avoid hurricanes and storms. The advantages of a stationary base are cheaper and more affordable energy sources, and the ability to reduce the length of the cable. The difference of several kilometers of the tether is relatively small, but can help to reduce the required thickness of its middle part and the length of the part that goes beyond the geostationary orbit. In addition to the base, a platform on stratospheric balloons can be placed to reduce the weight of the lower part of the cable with the ability to change the height to avoid the most violent air currents, as well as to damp unnecessary vibrations along the entire length of the cable.

Cable

The rope must be made of a material with an extremely high tensile strength to specific gravity ratio. The space elevator will be economically viable if it can be produced on an industrial scale for a reasonable price a rope with a density comparable to that of graphite and a strength of about 65-120 gigapascals. For comparison, the strength of most types of steel is about 1 GPa, and even in its strongest types it is no more than 5 GPa, and steel is heavy. Much lighter Kevlar has a strength in the range of 2.6-4.1 GPa, and for silica fiber - up to 20 GPa and higher. Carbon nanotubes should, according to theory, have extensibility much higher than required for a space elevator. However, the technology of their production in industrial quantities and their weaving into a cable is just beginning to be developed. Theoretically, their strength should be more than 120 GPa, but in practice, the highest extensibility of a single-walled nanotube was 52 GPa, and on average they broke in the range of 30-50 GPa. The strongest filament woven from nanotubes will be less strong than its components.

In an experiment by scientists from the University of Southern California (USA), single-walled carbon nanotubes demonstrated specific strength 117 times higher than steel and 30 times higher than Kevlar. It was possible to reach the index of 98.9 GPa, the maximum value of the nanotube length was 195 microns. Even carbon nanotubes will never be strong enough to make a space elevator cable, according to some scientists.

Experiments by scientists at the University of Technology Sydney have led to the creation of graphene paper. Sample tests are encouraging: the density of the material is five to six times lower than that of steel, while the tensile strength is ten times higher than that of carbon steel. At the same time, graphene is a good conductor of electric current, which allows it to be used to transmit power to a hoist as a contact bus.

In June 2013, engineers from Columbia University in the United States announced a new breakthrough: thanks to a new technology for producing graphene, it is possible to obtain sheets with a diagonal size of several tens of centimeters and a strength of only 10% less than the theoretical one.

Thickening of the rope

The space elevator must at least support its own weight, which is quite considerable due to the length of the cable. Thickening on the one hand increases the strength of the rope, on the other, it adds weight, and, consequently, the required strength. The load on it will differ in different places: in some cases, the section of the cable must withstand the weight of the segments that are below, in others it must withstand the centrifugal force that holds the upper parts of the cable in orbit. In order to satisfy this condition and to achieve the optimality of the cable at each of its points, its thickness will be unstable.

It can be shown that taking into account the gravity of the Earth and the centrifugal force, BUT, without taking into account the lesser influence of the Moon and the Sun, the cross-section of the cable, depending on the height, will be described by the following formula:

Where is the cross-sectional area of ​​the cable as a function of the distance r from the center of the Earth.

The following constants are used in the formula:

- cross-sectional area of ​​the cable at the level of the Earth's surface.

- the density of the rope material.

- tensile strength of the rope material.

- the circular frequency of rotation of the Earth around its axis, 7.292 · 10−5 radians per second.

- the distance between the center of the Earth and the base of the cable. It is approximately equal to the radius of the Earth, 6,378 km.

- free fall acceleration at the base of the cable, 9.780 m / s².

This equation describes a tether, the thickness of which first increases exponentially, then its growth slows down at a height of several Earth radii, and then it becomes constant, eventually reaching a geostationary orbit. After that, the thickness starts to decrease again.

Thus, the ratio of the cable cross-sectional areas at the base and on the GSO (r = 42 164 km) is:

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Putting here the density and strength of steel, and the diameter of the cable at the level of the Earth at 1 cm, we get a diameter at the level of the GSO of several hundred kilometers, which means that steel and other materials we are used to are unsuitable for the construction of an elevator.

It follows that there are four ways to achieve a more reasonable cable thickness at the GSO level:

Use less dense material. Since the density of most solids lies in a relatively small range from 1000 to 5000 kg / m³, it is unlikely that anything can be achieved here.

Use more durable material. In the main, research is going in this direction. Carbon nanotubes are tens of times stronger than the best steel, and they will significantly reduce the thickness of the cable at the GSO level. The same calculation made on the assumption that the density of the rope is equal to the density of carbon fiber ρ = 1.9 g / cm3 (1900 kg / m3), with the ultimate strength σ = 90 GPA (90 109 Pa) and the diameter of the rope at the base 1 cm ( 0.01 m), makes it possible to obtain a cable diameter on the GSO of only 9 cm.

Raise the base of the cable higher. Because of the exponential factor in the equation, even a slight elevation of the base will greatly reduce the thickness of the cable. Towers with a height of up to 100 km are offered, which, in addition to saving on the cable, will avoid the influence of atmospheric processes.

Make the base of the cable as thin as possible. It must still be thick enough to support the hoist with the load, so the minimum thickness at the base also depends on the strength of the material. It is enough to have a cable made of carbon nanotubes only one millimeter thick at the base.

Another way is to make the base of the elevator moveable. Moving even at a speed of 100 m / s will already give a gain in circular speed by 20% and shorten the cable length by 20-25%, which will lighten it by 50 percent or more. If we “anchor” the cable on a supersonic plane or train, then the gain in cable mass will already be measured not in percent, but dozens of times (but losses due to air resistance are not taken into account). There is also an idea, instead of a cable made of nanotubes, to use conditional lines of force of the Earth's magnetic field.

Counterweight

The counterweight can be created in two ways - by tying a heavy object (for example, an asteroid, space settlement, or space dock) beyond the geostationary orbit, or by extending the tether itself a considerable distance beyond the geostationary orbit. The second option is interesting in that it is easier to launch cargoes to other planets from the end of the elongated cable, since it has a significant speed relative to the Earth.

Angular moment, speed and tilt

The horizontal speed of each section of the tether increases with height in proportion to the distance to the center of the Earth, reaching the first cosmic speed in the geostationary orbit. Therefore, when lifting a load, he needs to get an additional angular momentum (horizontal speed). The angular momentum is acquired due to the rotation of the Earth. At first, the lift moves a little slower than the cable (Coriolis effect), thereby "slowing down" the cable and slightly deflecting it to the west. At an ascent speed of 200 km / h, the cable will tilt 1 degree. The horizontal component of tension in the non-vertical cable pulls the load to the side, accelerating it eastward - due to this, the elevator gains additional speed. According to Newton's third law, the cable slows down the Earth by a small amount, and the counterweight by a large amount, as a result of slowing down the rotation of the counterweight, the cable will start to wind on the ground. At the same time, the influence of centrifugal force causes the cable to return to an energetically favorable vertical position, so that it will be in a state of stable equilibrium. If the center of gravity of the elevator is always higher than the geostationary orbit, regardless of the speed of the elevators, it will not fall. By the time the load reaches the geostationary orbit (GSO), its angular momentum is sufficient to put the load into orbit. If the load is not released from the cable, then stopping vertically at the level of the GSO, it will be in a state of unstable equilibrium, and with an infinitely small push down, it will leave the GSO and begin to descend to the Earth with vertical acceleration, while slowing down in the horizontal direction. The loss of kinetic energy from the horizontal component during descent will be transmitted through the cable to the angular momentum of the Earth's rotation, accelerating its rotation. When pushing upwards, the load will also come off the GSO, but in the opposite direction, that is, it will begin to rise along the cable with acceleration from the Earth, reaching its final speed at the end of the cable. Since the final speed depends on the length of the cable, its value can thus be set arbitrarily. It should be noted that the acceleration and increase in the kinetic energy of the load during lifting, that is, its unwinding in a spiral, will occur due to the rotation of the Earth, which will slow down. This process is completely reversible, that is, if you put a load on the end of the cable and begin to lower it, compressing it in a spiral, then the angular momentum of the Earth's rotation will increase accordingly. When lowering the load, the opposite process will occur, tilting the cable to the east.

Space launch

At the end of the 144,000 km high cable, the tangential velocity component will be 10.93 km / s, which is more than enough to leave the Earth's gravitational field and launch ships towards Saturn. If the object is allowed to glide freely along the top of the tether, its speed is sufficient to leave the solar system. This will happen due to the transition of the total angular momentum of the cable (and the Earth) into the speed of the launched object. To achieve even higher speeds, you can lengthen the cable or accelerate the load due to electromagnetism.

Description of modern projects

More detailed proposals emerged in the middle and late 20th century. It was hoped that the space elevator would revolutionize access to near-Earth space, to the Moon, Mars and beyond. This structure could once and for all solve the problem associated with sending a man into space. The elevator would greatly help many space agencies in the delivery of astronauts into orbit on our planet. Its creation could mean the end of space-polluting rockets. However, the initial investment and the level of technology required made it clear that such a project was impractical and gave it a place in the field of science fiction.

Is it possible to solve the problem of such construction at the moment? Proponents of space elevators believe that there are currently sufficient opportunities to solve this technical problem. They believe that space rockets are outdated and cause irreparable harm to nature and are too expensive for modern society.

The stumbling block lies in how to build such a system. “To begin with, it must be constructed from a non-existent but tough and flexible material with the right mass and density characteristics to support transport and withstand the incredible impact of external forces,” says Fong. "I think all of this will require a series of the most ambitious orbital missions and space walks in low and high Earth orbits in the history of our species."

There are also security concerns, he adds. “Even if we could solve the significant technical difficulties associated with the construction of such a thing, looms a terrible picture of a giant cheese with holes punched by all this space debris and debris above. "

Scientists around the world are developing the idea of ​​a space elevator. The Japanese announced in early 2012 that they were planning to build a space elevator. The Americans reported the same at the end of 2012. In 2013, the media recalled the Russian roots of the "space elevator". So when will these ideas become reality?

Obayashi Japan Corporation Concept

The corporation offers the following construction method: one end of a very high strength cable is held by a massive platform in the ocean, and the other is anchored to the orbital station. A specially designed booth moves along the rope, which can deliver cargo, astronauts or, say, space tourists.

Obayashi considers carbon nanotubes, which are tens of times stronger than steel, as the material for the cable. But the problem is that currently the length of such nanotubes is limited to about 3 cm, while the space elevator will require a cable with a total length of 96,000 km. It is expected that it will be possible to overcome the existing difficulties approximately in the 2030s, after which the practical implementation of the concept of a space elevator will begin.

Obayashi is already considering creating special tourist booths that can carry up to 30 passengers. By the way, the way to orbit along a cable made of carbon nanotubes will take seven days, so you will have to provide the necessary life support systems, a supply of food and water.

Obayashi expects to launch the space elevator only by 2050.

Space elevator by LiftPort Group

Not only the Earth will become the object where such an elevator will be built. According to a group of experts from the LiftPort Group company, the Moon may well act as such an object.

The basis of the lunar space elevator is a flat ribbon cable made of high-strength material. Transport gondolas carrying people, various materials, mechanisms and robots will walk along this cable to the surface of the Moon and back.

The "space" end of the cable will be held by the PicoGravity Laboratory (PGL) space station located at the L1 Lagrange point of the Moon-Earth system, at the point where the gravity of the Moon and Earth cancel each other out. On the Moon, the end of the cable will be connected to the Anchor Station, located in the Sinus Medi region (approximately in the middle of the Moon's face looking at the Earth) and part of the Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure.

The tension of the space elevator cable will be carried out by a counterweight, which will be held by a thinner cable 250 thousand kilometers long, and which will already be at the mercy of Earth's gravity. The PicoGravity Laboratory space station will have a modular structure, similar to the structure of the existing International Space Station, which will make it easy to expand it and add docking nodes that allow spacecraft of various types to dock with the station.

The main goal of this project is by no means the construction of the space elevator itself. This elevator will only become a means of delivering automatic vehicles to the Moon, which will autonomously extract various minerals, including rare earth metals and helium-3, which is a promising fuel for future fusion reactors and, possibly, fuel for spacecraft of the future. ...

“Unfortunately, this project is still practically impracticable due to the lack of many key technologies in people. But research on most of these technologies has been going on for some time, and the moment will surely come when the construction of a space elevator will move from the category of science fiction to the field of practically doable things. "

The specialists of the LiftPort Group company promise to make a working detailed design of the structure by the end of 2019.

"General planetary vehicle"

Consider a project called the General Planetary Vehicle (GPV). It was put forward and substantiated by the engineer Anatoly Yunitskiy from Gomel.

In 1982, an article was published in the "Technology of Youth" magazine, in which the author claims that mankind will soon have a need for a fundamentally new vehicle capable of providing transportation on the "Earth - space - Earth" route.

According to A. Yunitskiy, GPV is a closed wheel with a transverse diameter of about 10 meters, which rests on a special flyover installed along the equator. The height of the overpass, depending on the relief, ranges from several tens to several hundred meters. The flyover is located on floating supports in the ocean.

In the sealed channel located along the axis of the GPV housing, there is an endless tape, which has a magnetic suspension and is a kind of engine rotor. A current is induced into it, which will interact with the magnetic field that generated it, and the tape, which does not experience any resistance (it is placed in a vacuum), will start moving. More precisely, in rotation around the Earth. Upon reaching the first cosmic speed, the tape will become weightless. With further acceleration, its centrifugal force through the magnetic suspension will exert an ever-increasing vertical lift on the GPV hull until it balances each of its running meters (the vehicle seems to become weightless - why not an anti-gravity ship?).

Cargo and passengers are placed in a vehicle held on an overpass with an upper belt having a mass of 9 tons per meter, previously untwisted to a speed of 16 km / s, and exactly the same, but the lower belt lying motionless. This is done mainly inside, and partly outside the GPV case, but so that the load as a whole is evenly distributed. After being freed from the grips that hold the GPV on the overpass, its diameter will slowly grow under the action of the lifting force, and each of its running meters will rise above the Earth. Since the shape of a circle corresponds to a minimum of energy, the vehicle, which had previously copied the profile of the overpass, will take the shape of an ideal ring after lifting.

The lifting speed of the GPV on any of the sections of the path can be set within a wide range: from the speed of a pedestrian to the speed of an airplane. The vehicle passes the atmospheric section at minimum speeds.

According to Anatoly Yunitskiy, the total weight of the GPV will be 1.6 million tons, carrying capacity - 200 million tons, passenger capacity - 200 million people. The estimated number of GPV space walks over a fifty-year service life is 10 thousand flights.

Conclusion

There are many space elevator projects, and they all differ little from what Artsupanov proposed, but now scientists proceed from the assumption that materials from nanotubes will become available.

The space elevator will transform the space industry: people and cargo will be transported into orbit at a significantly lower cost compared to traditional launch vehicles.

Let's hope that in the second half of the 21st century, space elevators will function outside the Earth: on the Moon, Mars and other corners of the Solar System. With the development of technology, the cost of construction will gradually decrease.

Despite the fact that this time seems distant and unattainable, it depends on us what the future will be like and how quickly it will come.