Space Elevator Conference Wraps Up

slavitos writes "The Space Elevator: 2nd International Conference, organized by the Los Alamos National Lab and the Institute for Scientific Research has just finished its work in New Mexico. To be sure, most people still think it's absolutely ridiculous to even consider building such a thing. However, that's exactly what organizers wanted - an open discussion on the issue, plus some free PR."

Comments

Conference notes / reports on LiftWatch

[Quaelin PoD]

It sounds like the conference was a success. Critics were given some podium time, and Arthur C. Clarke updated his now famous prediction to a bolder "10 years after everybody stops laughing". (He originally said "50 years after everyone stops laughing".)

At LiftWatch we're putting up reports by people who attended, as they become available. Blaise Gassend, one of the speakers, posted some good notes on the first two days of the conference.

Nearly impossible to destroy from groundRe:hmmm...

[WolfWithoutAClause]

You can't destroy it from the ground- if you cut it at ground level it gradually drifts up away from the Earth; and then it's fairly straight forward to repair and reposition it.

To take it out in a big way you would have to load a bomb onto a elevator car and take it up to quite high altitude, taking maybe a few days or a week, before detonating it. Needless to say, with sensible security practices at the embarkation point this is unlikely to be a problem.

Japan

[pyrrho]

Has long been the leader in absolute dollars, though the US may have surpassed them last year.

However, per capita or as percent of GNP, the US is very low on the list. It depends how you count.

We give a lot away, but a lot of that comes back as those countries contract with american engineering firms, or buy american arms, and I just don't like the indignation of the parent post, where the assumption is that we are great, we save the world, we are selfless, and they just hate us anyway... biting the hand that feeds them.

America profits FROM the world, from doing business around the world. Which is great, by the way! Let's just face facts and not act all indignant and hurt like we should get less stink-eye from the world.

Re:Maybe not accessible?

[lars-o-matic]

Distan, the thing is really, really tall. (Think "goes into space".) The challenge is getting OUT of sight of it without leaving the hemisphere...