Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientist Sees Space Elevator in 15 Years

Posted by michael on from the dream-big dept.

bofh31337 writes "Scientist Bradley C. Edwards, head of the space elevator project at the Institute for Scientific Research, thinks an elevator that climbs 62,000 miles into space could be operating in 15 years. He pegs the cost at $10 billion, a pittance compared with other space endeavors. 'It's not new physics--nothing new has to be discovered, nothing new has to be invented from scratch,' he says. 'If there are delays in budget or delays in whatever, it could stretch, but 15 years is a realistic estimate for when we could have one up.' NASA already has given more than $500,000 to study the idea, and Congress has earmarked $2.5 million more."

5 of 503 comments (clear)

  1. frosty pisth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    nah i didn't think so....

  2. Re:Working elevators on Earth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    reminds me of the elevator in my dorms. If you jumped just right between floors, it would hit the emergency brakes and you'd be stuck... time to call the emergency phone guy.

    on the other hand, that's why we had hot girls in the dorms.

  3. Re:15 years? by JPriest · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I predict people will drive flying cars to work by the 21st century.

    --
    Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
  4. Space Elevator for Moon & outer Planets by newpath4com · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Space elevators are going to be extremely expensive for Earthans. NASA should be concentrating on using them for exploring Mars, the Moon, and other visitable places in the Solar System. Places that have much lower Gravity and the elevators would not require to be so gravity-resistant. Such a system gains importance that way in that our astronaut teams would not need all that much fuel since they would not have to "land" on the planet to explore it. Specifically this would be an advantage for Moon exploration eh? BTW today I solved the riddle of what Black Holes really are doing. I'll be adding it to my "ANWAR 9-1-1 ANWAR 911" Page in the next week or so. Hey, I'm writing as FAST AS I CAN. www.newpath4.com and the link is on ../sitelist.htm "ANWAR DRILLING?" link at top.

  5. ROFLCOPTER by Obscenity · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    this is a ascii sword:


    (o)==(::::::::;:;:;:;>


    --
    OMG OMG OMG WTF OMG WTF BBQ STFU RTFM, OMFG OMG OMG OMG ROFL LMAO OMG WTF STFU ROFLMAO