Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Liftport Closer To Space Elevator Goal
Liftport Group has moved one step closer to making a working space elevator this past week. They announced that a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will allow them to use airspace to conduct preliminary tests of a high altitude robotic lifter.
(Prototype lifter - front view)
The tests are planned for early this fall. The intent is to simulate a working space elevator by launching a model elevator ribbon attached to moored balloon initially up to a mile high. The robotic lifters will be tested for their ability to climb up and down the free-hanging ribbon. This would be the first-ever test of this technology with an eye to the eventual development of a working space elevator.
(Prototype robotic lifter - demonstration model)
The earliest and most famous of the science fiction treatments of the space elevator is found in Arthur C. Clarke's 1978 novel The Fountains of Paradise. In the novel, he also writes about a "spider" that is used for testing the ribbon of cable that extends all the way up to orbit:
The flimsy spider - a prototype test vehicle that looked like a motorized bo'sun's chair - had already made a dozen ascents to twenty kilometers, with twice the load it would be carrying now.
(Read more about the space elevator spider)
The Liftport group is serious about building a working space elevator by 2018. Recent developments in carbon nanotube ribbons (see Carbon Nanotube Ribbon For Space Elevator) have greatly increased speculation that a space elevator might be possible.
Read more at Space Elevator Gets FAA Lift and the Liftport Group.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/18/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 8 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.' -
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?' - Frank K. Kelly, 1935.
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...' - Murray Leinster, 1953.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'
Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons
'That little robot rabbit knew what it was talking about...'
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
