Space elevator to be built by Tokyo-based Obayashi Corp by 2050: Yomiuri Shimbun

TOKYO, Japan (Sat, Feb. 25) – Have you ever think of traveling to the space using an elevator??? If not, then start thinking of it as a Japanese construction firm has unfolded its plans to build a space elevator that can transport passengers to a space station 36,000 km above the Earth by as early as 2050.

Space elevator to be built by Tokyo-based Obayashi Corp by 2050

According to details published in the Yomiuri Shimbun; Tokyo-based Obayashi Corp. plans to use carbon nanotubes, which are 20 times stronger than steel, as cables for the space elevator. The firm wants to use magnetic linear motors as one likely source of thrust for the elevator car.

 All sounds OK, even exciting, until you come to know that the space elevator trip may take as much as a week because of its limited speed up to 200 kph, carrying 30 passengers maximum.

A cable would be stretched up to 96,000 km, 1/4^th of the distance between the Earth and the moon, the Yomiuri Shimbun report said further; and one end of the cable would be anchored at a spaceport on the ground, while the other would be attached with a counterweight.

The terminal station would house laboratories and living space.

SOURCE: For further details of this dream project read HERE.