Space Elevator

Can i have floor 32,000 please?…

It seems Japan have got the ball rolling to create a space elevator. For those who don’t know what this is, it is an elevator… INTO SPACE. Great news for affordable star-seeing and even could be good news for space travel as we know it.

The project will be undertaken by the Obayashi Corp from Tokyo and will be built using Carbon Nanotubes which are twenty times stronger than steel. The elevator will be going up a quarter of the way to the moon which is approximately 96,000 kilometers up. Awesome.

I wonder how much it would be to take a ride. Anyway they want to finish the project by 2050 so there is still time to dream yet.

The full article is from http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120221004421.htm.

The article is also here:

The Yomiuri Shimbun

It may be possible to travel to space in an elevator as early as 2050, a major construction company has announced.
Obayashi Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, on Monday unveiled a project
to build a gigantic elevator that would transport passengers to a
station 36,000 kilometers above the Earth.
For the envisaged project, the company would utilize carbon
nanotubes, which are 20 times stronger than steel, to produce cables for
the space elevator.
The idea of space elevators has been described in several
science-fiction novels. Obayashi, however, believes it is possible to
construct one in the real world thanks to carbon nanotubes, which were
invented in the 1990s, the company said.
Some other organizations have also been studying the development of
space elevators, such as the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
In Obayashi’s project, a cable would be stretched up to 96,000
kilometers, or about one-fourth of the distance between the Earth and
the moon. One end of the cable would be anchored at a spaceport on the
ground, while the other would be fitted with a counterweight.
The terminal station would house laboratories and living space. The
car could carry up to 30 people to the station at 200 kilometers per
hour, which would mean a 7-1/2 day trip to reach the station. Magnetic
linear motors are one possible means of propulsion for the car,
according to Obayashi.
Solar power generation facilities would also be set up around the
terminal station to transmit power to the ground, the company added.
Whether carbon nanotubes can be mass-produced economically enough
and whether various organizations from around the world can work
together are two key issues facing the development of the space
elevator, according to the company.
“At this moment, we cannot estimate the cost for the project,” an
Obayashi official said. “However, we’ll try to make steady progress so
that it won’t end just up as simply a dream.”

(Feb. 22, 2012)

Thanks Obayashi Corp.

Also Weird Things article here http://weirdthings.com/2012/02/japan-seeks-to-build-space-elevator-by-2050/

Cheers.

Close Call Asteroid

Here be some kinda doom…

I may be pretty late at seeing this but i apologise i have been at work.

It seems there may have been certain doom tommorow (Monday) as there has been a giant asteroid spotted heading our way.
The space rock is going to just miss us but will reach within 11,000 miles of the surface. Apparently the telegraph states it as coming ’23 times closer than the moon’ to me that doesn’t make sense, but anyway the asteroid will reach within 11,000 miles of the surface which is close enough to be spotted by some telescopes.

Even if it did enter the atmospere an asteroid expert has said ‘We are certain that it will miss us, but if it did enter the atmosphere, an asteroid this size would mostly burn up in a brilliant fireball, possibly scattering a few meteorites.’ Which is good by me. This asteroid was only spotted wednesday in New Mexico and is only between 10 and 50 yards wide.

Another asteroid has been spotted to come by on November 8th and from what experts say it is 400 metres wide weighing 50 million tons and is expected to fly within the moons orbit, this will pass by at a distance of 201,000 miles thankfully. This one is the largest object to approach us so close that folks know about.

Phew…

Article read from Here!

To be honest though this original artice does make with the fear-mongering.

Doomsday Ark

That name is just awesome and obviously points to something interesting.

Well on my way across the internet finding something to blog about i found this article about how some plans being drawn up by the European Space Agency are being discussed to be put into motion.

The plans are for the ‘Doomsday Ark’ as you probably guessed from the title. What i gather from this article is that this ark will be a collection of information and maybe some natural evidence of our civilisation and our planet and plenty of history. The basic version would just be sort of like a collection of hard drives containing information on DNA sequencing and sequences and things such as Metal Smelting and planting crops. ( This makes me wonder if anyone who found this used these hard drives why would they need to know how to smelt or plant crops when they at least have the technology to get to this info. Huh?!)

The ark would be buried on the moon just under the surface and another thing i just read on their is that the European Space Agency are going to experiment trying to grow tulips on the moon….

Moon

But using an enclosed artifical environment of course along with algae to help make with the photosynthesis for the plant to survive. They chose tulips because they can be frozen and planted again with little nourishment. This will probably help to eventually try and sustain an ecosystem of sorts up there to possibly help with any natural evidence or specimens in the data vault.

The vault will be maintained by robots and also helped along by scientists on earth through radio transmissions.

The European Space Agency say they hope to have a manned station on the moon by the end of the century.

The vault though will be solar powered and the first should be on the moon by 2020 with a lifespan of 30 years and then the full archive will be launched is perhaps 2035.

It just seems to remind me of the film ‘Moon’ if you haven’t seen it yet go buy it, it should be nice and cheap now plus its a great film. Go and watch it.

Here is a Link to the article.

Now i seem to be imagining the moon overrun by tulips and the moon one day being multi coloured.

What would they call moon tulips if they were sold back on earth hmmm, Moolips, Toonlips, Moonlips, Toops, hmmm……

Ooh a hole in space.

I wonder if there is like a space donut somewhere to fit in there. Hmmm.

Space hole

http://bit.ly/af9AQo

ScienceDaily (May 11, 2010) The European Space Agency’s Herschel infrared space telescope has made an unexpected discovery: a hole in space. The hole has provided astronomers with a surprising glimpse into the end of the star-forming process.