Remember the space orbit lift that the Gundam Meisters used to travel around in Gundam 00? Have you ever thought of building such thing, or if such thing is even possible in our universe? Well, you’re not alone, and NASA even had it thought out. But how long will we need to wait until such technology arrives? Well, not in our lifetime apparently. “We try not to be narrow-minded and say it won’t happen for 150 years,” stated one NASA program manager. Well, there goes my dream of piloting a Gundam.

In fact, many of NASA’s dreams actually haven’t materialized yet. NASA’s related Beam Power Challenge ended without a winner for years on end, and the project’s Tether Challenge remains unconquered today. Not to mention that the week-long lift might expose you to deadly levels of radiation.

Lucky for us, attendees of the annual Space Elevator Conference aren’t ready to give up, and set to work last week brainstorming potential solutions. Could we replace the laser power system with solar panels? How strong are modern nanocarbons, and what issues do we need to be aware of to keep the carbon nanotube cables from breaking? Wouldn’t it be cool if the next design featured six cars instead of just three?

Although the outpouring of ideas flowed like water, the response towards many of them seemed to be the same: we really need to look into that. Despite the seemingly insurmountable issues, researchers remain optimistic

SOURCE via IT World