Back in September 2014, I though the Japanese company
Obayashi plan to build a Space Elevator using CNT (Carbon Nanotubes) as
reported in “Elevator
into Space: Japanese firm determined to proceed with bold engineering project”,
published September 23, 2014 By Trevor Mogg, Digitaltrends was crazy, not to
mention just plain difficult.
After all, making CNT into a rope that long isn't possible
and other exotic materials such as Carbon Nanothreads made from polymerized
benzene as described in my blog article entitled
“Penn
State University’s Carbon Nanothreads – How to make Carbon Nanothreads using
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Pressure Cooker” cannot yet be manufactured
in bulk form.
But what if there was an inflatable way to build this Elevator
to the heavens using current materials?
One Canadian construction and Defense Company Thoth Technology, based in Pembroke, Ontario has
filed a patent for a Space Elevators made up of inflatable cells as reported in
the article “Inflatable
Space Elevator gets a lift”, published August 5, 2015 by Eric Mack, CNET News.
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The idea of a Space Elevator is the stuff of science
fiction, but until now, it was though that super strong materials were needed. What
makes this idea ingenious is that this is a tower and even crazier, the
material for making such a tower nearly 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) into the
stratosphere is Kevlar, the same material used to make Bullet proof vests.
By building such a structure, Spacecraft could take off like
aeroplanes instead of being launched vertically like rockets, but much closer
to Space, thereby requiring less energy. Instead, the majority of the energy
would be expended on bringing the components up to the top of the Elevator to
be assembled for launch.
Currently they're working on a smaller prototype that's only
1.45 km (0.9 miles) high as reported in the article “This
ambitious Canadian company plans to build a Space Elevator out of inflatable
Kevlar cells”, published August 20, 2015 By Lulu Chang, Digitaltrends.
But how would such a structure be built?
Thoth Technology
Space Tower - Why this Tower of Babel marks the Civilian Chapter in Space Tourism
The actual material to be used to construct the tower is
polyethylene reinforced with Kevlar 49, which is available in bulk quantities
needed for such a massive construction project.
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The material will be made into inflatable cells that will
most likely be filled with Hydrogen or Helium to make the top segment float.
Then as the top segment floats upwards more Kevlar cells are
inflated and strapped together and floated upwards, making Space for adding on
additional Kevlar Cells. This is done until the full height of 20 kilometers
(12.4 miles) is reached
However, there are problems.
Even with the centripetal momentum of the upper section due
to its lower attraction by the Earth's gravity, the inflatable tower has a
large cross section, making it prone to wind shear.
Air pressure would have to be used to keep the lower portion
rigid and may involve the use of just regular compressed air rather than
hydrogen and helium or possibly an exotic mixture of both as pointed out in the
article “Could
an inflatable Kevlar tube make Space Elevators practical?”, published
August 19, 2015 by Graham Templeton, Extreme
Tech.
Gyroscopes on the structure would allow the designers to
track any wind shear and inflate sections to adjust the structure. Also the
tower would need to withstand high speed wind, rain, snow, ice buildup and even
lightening from thunderstorms as pointed out in the article “This
insane 12-mile-tall 'Space Elevator' concept is driving engineers crazy”,
published Aug. 20, 2015, by Julia Calderone, TechInsider.
A power plant, possibly nuclear, would be needed to keep the
inflatable Kevlar Tower pressurized and filled with air.
This implies that the tower may be hollow in the middle to
allow maglev based Elevators as described in my MICO Wars Blog article entitled
“ThyssenKrupp
Elevator develops MULTI, a Multi-Dimensional Travel Maglev by 2016” to ride
up to the top of the tower, a much safer and traditional Elevator setup, as
cars on the outside would need their own tube enclosure.
Advent of Space
Tourism - Cost of the Space Tower cheaper than Conventional Rockets
Still, offsetting the costs with Space tourism would make it
more appealing to have two (2) Elevator systems; one inside for Space flights
and to act as a service lift Elevator and then a whole set of Elevators outside
to lift tourists effortlessly into Space.
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It might be argued that the same amount of energy needed to
put a rocket in Space would be used by Elevators to overcome gravity. But at
US$5 billion to build, it's still cheaper than even using traditional Rockets.
Especially when you consider that rockets launch from atop
the tower need less stages than a traditional rocket, huge savings in terms of
money, if not energy for launching rockets!
So where’s best the build such a Tower? Somewhere with huge
land Space and a large unpopulated area, like Africa or Australia, as anything
falling from that height would hit the ground with explosive force.
If 1.45 km (0.9 miles) high test tower is a success, then
the full tower might get financing for global interests, making this truly a
tower of Babel. Thoth Technology Space Tower construction
would not only make Space travel easier, but mark the advent of Space Tourism
and an easier way to the heavens.
Here’s the link:
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