Space elevator by 2050

[Zeta333]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/22/o...elevator-2050/

Makes me a little sad that it will take so long but def on the right track.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

I get to live that long if I die of old age.

neener neener old people

[Very Tired]

Someone is still probably go in and push all the buttons before leaving.

[Arkenaw]

This will never happen

[Herecius]

And who, exactly, is funding this?

[Zeta333]

This will never happen

and why is that?

And who, exactly, is funding this?

The most technologically advanced nation on the planet?

Nope. I would never get in that.

Sounds better and cheaper than sitting in a small cocpit strapped to thousands of pounds of explosive material.

[icausewipes]

Sign me and my future colostomy bag up.

[Fabled]

This will never happen

They said the same thing about going out in space too. Never say never.

[Dhrizzle]

This is definitely going to happen, maybe not in that time frame but the only thing that will stop us having a space elevator is if the laws of physics make it impossible.

Whilst we all like to think that humans are going to space for science and exploration, what we're really going to do is grab some nice fat asteroids and milk them of their minerally goodness. Once we start doing that the stuff coming down basically lets us send stuff up for free, and that's when we can start doing some really neat stuff.

[Arkenaw]

http://io9.com/5984371/why-well-prob...space-elevator
http://www.rense.com/general54/wef.htm
http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...ators-15185070
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_safety
http://spaceref.com/space-elevator/o...y-of-hype.html

[Zethras]

http://io9.com/5984371/why-well-prob...space-elevator
http://www.rense.com/general54/wef.htm
http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...ators-15185070
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_safety
http://spaceref.com/space-elevator/o...y-of-hype.html

You link 5 articles telling us why we CAN'T. I feel sorry for you, humans are all about "How can we accomplish X" not "Why we can't accomplish X".

[Arkenaw]

You link 5 articles telling us why we CAN'T. I feel sorry for you, humans are all about "How can we accomplish X" not "Why we can't accomplish X".

Oh please, maybe if we lived in some fantasy magical land where physics, money and safety was a non-issue. Would I be excited to see this succeed? Yes. Will I hold my breath or come anywhere within 100 miles of said structure? Not a chance.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Oh please, maybe if we lived in some fantasy magical land where physics, money and safety was a non-issue. Would I be excited to see this succeed? Yes. Will I hold my breath or come anywhere within 100 miles of said structure? Not a chance.

I wouldn't discount it just yet. Having a closed mind is bad.

[Chickat]

Space elevator is a terrible idea. What if terrorist bomb it, or if it falls? It would be so high millions could die if it fell.

[shadowfyre27]

Sooooo ummmmm, what exactly are the poor souls that ride this space elevator going to do for the 7 days it takes them to get to the space station? I mean that's alot of time to spend in an elevator lol. It's gonna have to be huge elevator at that, gonna need restrooms, sleeping quarters, a kitchen, some form of entertainment.

[Gumboy]

Yeah, and 50 years ago they said we would have flying cars and robot sex slaves

[Daethz]

Yeah, this entire concept seems to go against my limited knowledge of physics..
Earth has a rotation, the further you get from the core, reduces the rotational pull, if this thing goes all the way into zero-gravity space, wouldent this thing essentially just snap off and potentially cause the entire thing to topple over?
Also, space debris, we have our own asteroid shield at this point.

[Zethras]

Space elevator is a terrible idea. What is terrorist bomb it, or if it falls. It would be so high millions could die if it fell.

It wouldn't fall if the line broke, it would fly off into space. Also, one of the theories on the material used in its construction would be Densified Buckministerfulleryne(buckyball), which is a fancy way of saying structurally sound diamonds(proper term is Aggregated Diamond Nanorods), which would make it virtually indestructible.

[Daethz]

Yeah, and 50 years ago they said we would have flying cars and robot sex slaves

...I think we do already.... they aren't mainstream though.
Human Piloted Flying Cars would never be allowed, especially not after 9/11.
May be possible for mainstream flying cars if they where completely automated. (self driving)

- - - Updated - - -

It wouldn't fall if the line broke, it would fly off into space.

Im pretty sure only part of it would fly into space, the part on the fringe of space would likely float off.

[Chickat]

It wouldn't fall if the line broke, it would fly off into space.

That seems unlikely to me. A fraction 1-5% would be in space. The rest would be on earth where gravity applies 100%. It would snap off at some point, and fall.