Comments on: Space elevator isn't going anywhere yet

For the third year in a row, no team rises to the challenge of building a robotic climber and a vertical tether that could one day comprise a workable space elevator.

[kieranmullen]

Because it is a stupid idea

Rocket assisted airplanes are a much better idea and are currently being focused on right now.

KieranMUllen
http://360oregon.com

[mmirage]

Not so stupid...

Actually, a space elevator would _likely_ be far less polluting,
require less (or possibly no) solid or liquid fuels, and would also
greatly ease wear-and-tear on re-entry. Space planes are a cool
idea, and they will definitely serve a purpose, but a space elevator
just makes more economic sense when it comes to heavy lifting.

[arluthier]

Teleporter Prize

Why didn't they just have a StarTrek teleporter xPrize instead? The elevator thing just sounds like a lot of problems.

[rnieves1977]

they got that already

although it can only teleport atomic sized packets

[grey_eminence]

Waste of Time

We will not depend on this questionable technology that chews up valuable financial resources for future space exploration.

Here is an idea that would give a bigger bang for the buck.

http://nlspropulsion.net

[orphu]

Need both

It's not a waste of time; in fact, it's the first leg of the trip. You've got to get things into orbit, whether it's parts to build a craft or the craft's cargo. Either way, you've got to overcome the force of gravity. Space elevator gets it to a reasonable altitude with a reasonable cost, another technology takes over. The technology you point out completely ignores the first leg of the trip.

[albizzia]

Needed to get to orbit.

The technology proposed on that site might be useful for interplanetary journeys, perhaps even interstellar probes, but is totally useless for getting from the earths surface up to earth orbit. Trust me, there are people far better versed in linear accelerators than what was shown on "nlspropulsion.net", and none of them think it would work to get off earth.

The space elevator is specially designed to get from the surface to earth orbit, and in the long run will be the only practical way to make space travel affordable - providing a few technical details can be worked out.

[spothannah]

Stupid?

It seems to me that this exercise teaches people how to work together and refine their learnings. How can that me stupid? What an experience for those involved. Maybe they should just sit back and watch football and drink a lot of beer.

[Hardrada]

"Refine their learnings"?

You need to refine your learnings of English syntax.