A team based in Japan is testing out a space elevator prototype near the International Space Station. It obviously won’t be the kilometres-long kind of cable linking Earth to an asteroid that’s common in sci-fi novels, but it will at least be a proof of concept.
Also Read :- Nokia 9 hands-on image leaks, shows five cameras on the back
According to a local newspaper, two ultra-small cubic satellites developed by Shizuoka University’s Faculty of Engineering will be deployed from the ISS. Both are connected by a steel cable roughly 10m long, which will run a sort of elevator car between the two using a motor. A camera attached to each satellite will record the car’s progress and monitor the experiment in space.
The idea for a space elevator was first conceived in 1895 by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, after he saw the Eiffel Tower. Since then, the potential of such a system has excited space engineers and writers alike, becoming a common theme in science fiction.
The idea is that a space elevator could connect Earth to a geosynchronous object in orbit, like an asteroid or maybe even space station. A cable, hundreds of thousand kilometres long and made from an ultra-strong material not yet discovered would be dropped to the planet, where it would be affixed.
After that, customised elevator climbers would be able to carry humans or cargo into space for a far cheaper price than it would take to fly them in a rocket. Supposedly, the Earth’s gravity and centripetal force from the object’s motion would stop it from crashing down to Earth.
Comments
Post a Comment