We are in the era of Space tourism and the concept of Space elevators could exponentially decrease the cost of space transport and thereby could make space tourism accessible to everyone. The Space Elevator is the mode of transport that could help us transport cargo or passengers from the Earth's surface to space. We won't be needing fuel to power the elevator as it could easily be powered by solar panels. The satellites could be launched with the help of this infrastructure. So is it really possible to construct this massive infrastructure?
 |
| The Artistic Impression of Space Elevator carrying passengers and cargo. Image by Glenn Clovis. |
Why do we need Space Elevators?
The thing that solved most of our transportation problems on the Earth is what you call an Infrastructure. Infrastructure is what made getting to a destination relatively easier, whether roads for cars, rails for trains, or runways for airplanes. This is also what we require for Space exploration and it could be done by building a Space Elevator infrastructure. This could open up new heights for Space exploration, yeah! I mean literally, this space infrastructure has to be built for an altitude of more than 36,000 km (22369 miles) to be stable. It could potentially reduce the cost of going to space from the Earth.
 |
| The Traditional Rocket launch |
Currently, rocket launches are expensive, you need about $20,000 to launch one kilogram of payload into space and that would estimate to cost $1.3 million for an average person just to go to space. Even with the advancements made in space tourism and recent space launches, they are still overpriced and prices are not going to go down any time soon. But the Space Elevator could change our fortunes, once the infrastructure is built, it would only cost $200 to launch one kilogram into outer space. So Space tourism is going to be available for every human on Earth, not just the billionaires. The very important achievement of the Space Elevator is proving the Earth is not flat to Flat Earthers. That is just going to cost us $90 billion, which seems like a fair amount to prove the Flat Earthers that they are wrong!
More heavy payloads could be embarked upon space and only a little fuel is required for the trip back to the Surface. The spaceport could be our checkpoint for space travel and more research can be performed in the zero-gravity inside the elevator. This project could open up a new world of possibilities and it could make colonization of mars achievable. We could also try to build the Space Elevators on the moon, which might make the terraforming of the moon plausible.
How do Space Elevators work?
Constructing an infrastructure for a Space Elevator is not going to be an effortless task as it is going to be the single largest and most expensive structure ever constructed by Humans. Building a Space Elevator requires four key components:
- The Climber
- The Anchor
- The Tether
- The Counterweight
The Tether extends from the surface of the Earth to space which has to be at least 36,000 km (22369 miles) to be stable in space and the Climber is the elevator that we are going to use to travel up and down the surface and space. As we know constructing a tall structure requires a larger base, but we could solve this problem by having an anchor as the base which pins the tether to the counterweight on the top of the structure. The necessity of having a wide base will be solved by using a counterweight on top of the space structure which could provide stability to the base by Earth's centrifugal force.
The Counterweight could also act as a space station or a launchpad for several space exploration missions. The Climber can transport the cargo from the surface of the Earth to the geostationary orbit. The Climber could be powered by a laser beam projected from the Earth and it can only travel slowly in a way that the trip will be smoother for the passengers. So we would be needing a piece of lengthy elevator music for our trip to space.
Why Space Elevator might not be a good idea?
While the idea of Space Elevator might sound good, but many scientists are optimistic about this mission as it could require a lot of money and effort to make this project successful. Even if the engineering problems are solved, finding the ideal material for the construction of the tether is going to be tough. We don't have any proper material which can stretch up to 36,000 and which has a high strength to build the tether. The Tether also needs to be strong enough to survive against radiation and possible space debris.  |
| The problems of Space Elevator |
The possible solution we have today is the nanomaterials, which are 100 times stronger than steel and also only a fraction of their weight. But enormous production of nanomaterials might not help our mission, because as the nanomaterials get connected they lose their tensile property. So constructing the tether using nanomaterials might not be possible. We don't have any material on Earth, which could stretch the quarter of the way to the moon. To put it simply, there are various technological hurdles to overcome to build a Space Elevator. Even if we construct that using any material and made the dream of Space Elevator possible, there is a potential risk to the infrastructure and the Earth.
Firstly constructing this enormous structure would need a lot of money and talented engineers and scientists working on them. Many governments could lose their economy and go bankrupt. The tether has to be protected from space debris or potential asteroids, but protecting and monitoring the entire structure might not be possible. The International Space Station (ISS) is protected from debris because of its thrusters, but the space elevators won't have that luxury. The Space Elevator is static and it cannot deviate from its orbit, so it lies at the mercy of the object headed its way. If the Tether breaks near the anchor, the entire structure will go up and into space because of the centrifugal force of the Earth and if the Tether breaks near the counterweight, the tether will fall and wrap around the Earth and serious damage could be done to the Earth and a lot of space debris will be flying around making our space travel problematic. We might also invest in a less fancy concept than Space Elevators: Skyhooks.
Conclusion
There is only one try and we have to do it properly or the consequences could be severe. The risks and hurdles of building a Space Elevator are far too many. We might even try to build a space elevator on the moon where the construction would require effort and time because of its low gravity. If we solve the hurdles and built the arduous project, it might be our first step in revolutionizing space travel. Even if we fail, we just might learn a lot about space technologies.
by 
