First steps for space elevator company
There’s more than one way out of the gravity well. The LiftPort Group are working on an ambitious project…they plan to build the world’s first space elevator by April 2018. They have announced the partial success of an early test stage, in which they stretched out a mile (1.6km) of carbon cable between the Arizona desert and a trio of weather balloons, and got some of their robots to ascend and descend sections of the cable.
The company are attempting to win a NASA co-sponsored prize for their feat. It is encouraging, while slightly ironic, that NASA is encouraging a project that could significantly reduce our reliance on conventional rocketry for space projects. Go, LiftPort!
Story found on KurzweilAI.net.
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