Abstract
Abstract
The idea of a space elevator has captured the imagination of scientists and engineers and writers and artists alike. The space elevator, the subject of studies in the past by both the Russians and NASA, as well as the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), has been extensively refined and developed and is currently conceived as a 100,000 km ribbon of carbon nanotubes extending into space up which climbers will travel to release payloads in different orbits. When the wider world took a greater interest in the concept of space elevators following the work done by Dr. Brad Edwards and funded by NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts in the early 2000s, the time was ripe for a major conference that would bring together like-minded scientists and engineers to discuss ideas, further work, and progress to try and make a space elevator happen. This article provides an overview of the early history of the space elevator concept as well as some of the conferences that have been organized on the theme. It also gives some details on the cosmic study undertaken for the IAA on the feasibility of a space elevator.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.