Here is a project
that could push us into the forefront in space exploration.
Laughing? This is not a joke.
Firstly what is
space elevator. Essentially a space elevators would be made up of a
long cable attached at one end to a point on the Earth surface and
the other end to a geostationary
satelite 36,000 kilometers in space. Centripital force of this
orbiting satelite would pull the cable taut and hence enabling it
to act as a tether on which payloads could travel along like an
elevator. This could effectively render all Earth launched rockets
and space shuttles obsolete.
Ok, so how is this
project something that we are in a position to excel in? Firstly
the stationary point on Earth; it has to be in the equator. Being
just 1°17'35" north of the equator we are right smack in the the
belt for space elevator ground base.
Next – the cable.
Here is where the challenge is. At this point in time – no material
is sufficiently strong and extremely light enough. We are talking
about a 36,000 kilometer cable suspended from space. This
futuristic material may already exist! Carbon nanotubes. It is 100
times the strenght of steel. The current challenge is to refine it’s compostition to make
it stronger and lighter and to come up with a technique to
manufacture 36,000 kilometers of it – Unbroken!. Here again is
where we come in. This is something akin to rocket science and as
challenging as putting man on the moon; but not beyond our
capabilities. We will not be able to built a rocket but we have the
facilities and resources to come up with a production method to
make a functional carbon nanotube cable. We have the material
scientists and engineers.
So may I suggest to
the EDB – let us start the Singapore Space Elevator poject
rolling.