space elevator for the masses

I found this from Space Elevator Guy's photostream.



As some of you know Space Elevator is conceived as a project to transport material into outerspace with even its own Ansari-X-like NASA prize existent for incentive. A concept that was seriously considered since 1960s, is pending for tether material technology strong enough for orbital heights around 10000 km.


All the bet is on carbon nanotubes. The stress needed for the tethers to build terran space elevators, for a graphite like density is around 150 GPa (that's giga pascal for us, geeky scientists), whereas carbon nanotube tests show that their stress limit is around 60 GPa.

While the aspiration for orbital transport technologies continues, my initial hatred towards the space elevator comes from the hero cult of Serkan Anılır in Turkey. He is a research associate in the University of Tokyo, an architect from Turkey who worked both in industry and space agencies, both in U.S. and Japan. He worked especially on the publicity of the Space Elevator.

I am sure he is very successful but there is a noise of information in the web about him, which is the result of the hero cult in Turkey nevertheless. I will come back to this issue, while you wait you can check his blog or webpage in University of Tokyo.

Any how, i am touched by the poster, since it wants space not only for the proletariat but the proletarian, which means the supporters of the cause are very much welcome.