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Space colonization has reached an impasse, for reasons far more fundamental than a lack of money for the Space Shuttle program. There is simply no way humans can travel easily offworld without using massive amounts of rocket fuel to escape the gravity well — and that's both expensive and environmentally unsustainable. So how will we get off this rock? More »
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To help humanity explore the universe and spread to the stars, we first need to escape the gravity well of planet Earth. The only way to do that right now is to ride a rocket - which takes an enormous amount of energy and money, especially if you want to send anything bigger than a mobile phone into orbit. Rockets are useless for the kind of offworld commuter solution we'll need if we're going to become an interplanetary civilization - let alone an interstellar one. That's why an international team of scientists and investors are working on building a space elevator. Using very little energy, these 62,000-mile-high elevators could carry travelers out of the gravity well and up to a spaceship dock. More »
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The idea of a 'space elevator' has been around since the late 1800s. Until now, there wasn't a material strong enough to build it. Then carbon nanotubes stepped in. More »
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If cleanliness is next to godliness, then I can't help but think God must like 1980's Hugo-winning novel, The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke — even if it's all about getting in His face. More »
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Only three teams remain, competing for NASA's latest $2 million prize for advancing space-elevator technology. Good thing one of them, the Kansas City Space Pirates, is using a fast-climbing robot and lasers shot through telescopes. More »
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A space elevator, carrying people and objects off the planet and into orbit, is the kind of cool mega-engineering project that thrills science-fiction fans. But it could happen in your lifetime (if you're young), and it may save the planet. More »
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Author David J. Williams has premiered some amazing art from his upcoming future-thriller book The Burning Skies on his blog, including this fantastic Phoenix Space Elevator. Click through to see a gorgeous space station. More »
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A new form of carbon ribbon that's ultra-flexible and super-strong could become the infrastructure for the first working space elevator. Such a structure would usher in a new era in easy space travel. More »
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As Japan Space Elevator Associated contemplates building a space elevator, Esquire writer Chuck Klosterman sees one on the horizon in his "A Brief History of the 21st Century." Artist Bruce Irving conceptualizes the elevator to the stars above, and Klosterman gives us the details below. More »
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When you finally take that lunar vacation, you may find yourself traveling not by space shuttle, but by elevator. Space elevators may be our best bet for establishing colonies on the moon, potentially able to transport people and materials more far cheaply and efficiently than propulsion-based spacecraft. The actual construction of such an elevator doesn't appear on NASA's roadmap until 2200, but a Japanese group reports that we could be lifting cargo and people to the moon in just a few decades. More »
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