Slide1: Slides composed by Brad Edwards. Prior to giving this presentation, please read the book The Space Elevator (available on Amazon). Reading and understanding this book will help an individual give a good, credible presentation.


The Space Elevator… building our future: The Space Elevator … building our future


Space Elevator Basics: Space Elevator Basics


The SE in Literature: The SE in Literature Artsutanov, Y. 1960. V Kosmos na Elektrovoze, Komsomolskaya Pravda, (contents described in Lvov 1967 Science 158:946). Isaacs, J.D., Vine, A.C., Bradner, H., and Bachus, G.E. 1966. Satellite Elongation into a true ‘Sky-Hook’. Science 151:682. Pearson, J. 1975. The Orbital tower: a spacecraft launcher using the Earth’s rotational energy. Acta Astronautica 2:785. Clarke, A.C. 1979. The Space Elevator: ‘Thought Experiment’, or Key to the Universe. Adv. Earth Oriented Appl. Science Techn. 1:39.


The Space Elevator in Science Fiction: The Space Elevator in Science Fiction


From SciFi to NASA: From SciFi to NASA Capture an asteroid and bring into Earth orbit Mine the asteroid for carbon and extrude 10m diameter cable Asteroid becomes counterweight Maglev transport system Tall tower base Large system 300 years to never... From Smitherman, 1999


Proposed System: Overview: Proposed System: Overview First elevator: 20 ton capacity (13 ton payload) Constructed with existing or near-term technology Cost (US$10B) and schedule (15 years) Operating costs of US$250/kg to any Earth orbit, moon, Mars, Venus, Asteroids


Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs): Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) 5km continuous 1% CNT composite fiber Carbon nanotubes: measured at 200 GPa (54xKevlar) – Sufficient to build the elevator Mitsui(Japan): 120 ton/yr CNT production, US$100/kg – Sufficient to build the first elevator CNT composite fibers: 3-5% CNTs, 3 GPa, 5 km length – Not strong enough yet but a viable plan is in place to get there (Carbon Designs, Inc.)


Deployment Overview: Deployment Overview


Ribbon Design: Ribbon Design The final ribbon is one-meter wide and composed of parallel high-strength fibers Interconnects maintain structure and allow the ribbon to survive small impacts Initial, low-strength ribbon segments have been built and tested


Initial Spacecraft: Initial Spacecraft Deployment spacecraft built with current technology Photovoltaic arrays receive power from Earth An MPD electric propulsion moves the spacecraft up to high Earth orbit Four 20-ton components are launched on conventional rockets and assembled


Climbers: Climbers Climbers built with current satellite technology Drive system built with DC electric motors Photovoltaic array (GaAs or Si) receives power from Earth 7-ton climbers carry 13-ton payloads Climbers ascend at 200 km/hr 8 day trip from Earth to geosynchronous altitude


Power Beaming: Power Beaming Power is sent to deployment spacecraft and climbers by laser Solid-state disk laser produces kWs of power and being developed for MWatts Mirror is the same design as conventional astronomical telescopes (Hobby-Eberly, Keck)


Anchor: Anchor Anchor station is a mobile, ocean-going platform identical to ones used in oil drilling Anchor is located in eastern equatorial pacific, weather and mobility are primary factors


Challenges: Challenges Induced Currents: milliwatts and not a problem Induced oscillations: 7 hour natural frequency couples poorly with moon and sun, active damping with anchor Radiation: carbon fiber composites good for 1000 years in Earth orbit (LDEF) Atomic oxygen: <25 micron Nickel coating between 60 and 800 km (LDEF) Environmental Impact: Ionosphere discharging not an issue Malfunctioning climbers: up to 3000 km reel in the cable, above 2600 km send up an empty climber to retrieve the first Lightning, wind, clouds: avoid through proper anchor location selection Meteors: ribbon design allows for 200 year probability-based life LEOs: active avoidance requires movement every 14 hours on average to avoid debris down to 1 cm Health hazards: under investigation but initial tests indicate minimal problem Damaged or severed ribbons: collatoral damage is minimal due to mass and distribution


Technical Budget: Technical Budget Component Cost Estimate (US$) Launch costs to GEO 1.0B Ribbon production 400M Spacecraft 500M Climbers 370M Power beaming stations 1.5B Anchor station 600M Tracking facility 500M Other 430M Contingency (30%) 1.6B TOTAL ~6.9B Costs are based on operational systems or detailed engineering studies. Additional expenses will be incurred on legal and regulatory issues. Total construction should be around US$10B. Recommend construction of a second system for redundancy: US$3B


Slide17: SE Operating Budget Annual Operating Budget per year in US$M Climbers 0.2 - 2 each Tracking system 10 Anchor station 10 Administration 10 Anchor maintenance 5 Laser maintenance 20 Other 30 TOTAL (50 launches) 135 This is ~US$250/kg operating costs to any destination.


Advantages: Advantages Low operations costs - US$250/kg to LEO, GEO, Moon, Mars, Venus or the asteroid belts No payload envelope restrictions No launch vibrations Safe access to space - no explosive propellants or dangerous launch or re-entry forces Easily expandable to large systems or multiple systems Easily implemented at many solar system locations


Applications: Applications Solar power satellites - economical, clean power for use on Earth Solar System Exploration - colonization and full development of the moon, Mars and Earth orbit Telecommunications - enables extremely high performance systems


Global Attention: Global Attention Have briefed Congress, NASA HQ, NASA MSFC, AFRL, NSA, NRO, DARPA, FCC, FAA, and satellite insurance companies. Invited talks at Harvard/Smithsonian CfA, APL, GSFC, Berkeley, National Space Society, SPIE, Space and Robotics 2002, ISU, etc. Held the three Space Elevator Conferences. One session at Space and Robotics 2002, two sessions at the IAC meeting in Oct., 2004, and Space Exploration 2005 are focusing solely on our work. ESA, Japan, Canada and Australia have expressed interests in being involved. Reported positively in New York Times, Washington Post, Discover, Wired, Seattle Times, Space.com, Canadian National Post, Ad Astra, Science News, Maxim, Esquire, etc. Globally over 1000 media spots including live interviews on CNN, Fox News, and BBC.


Next Steps: Next Steps Material development efforts are underway by private industry Space elevator climber competition will demonstrate basic concept Engineering development centers in the U.S., Spain and Netherlands are under development Technical conferences continuing Greater public awareness Increased financial support being sought


Summary: The space elevator is a revolutionary Earth-to-space transportation system that will enable space exploration Design, deployment and operational scenarios for the first space elevator have been put together. Potential challenges have been laid out and solutions developed. Development of the space elevator requires an investment in materials and engineering but is achievable in the near future with a reasonable investment and development plan. Summary