Keji zhibao: the world's first space elevator to Mars will be launched in 2035Astronauts presented a project that will allow people to move easily and quickly in space, writes Keji Zhibao.
It's about the elevator. Adapted to the new conditions, it will take passengers to the moon and to Mars. Colonization of space will soon become not a dream, but a reality.
Getting into the elevator, pressing the "up" button and going into space would be great, wouldn't it? At the 2022 International Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technologies to Promote Human Health, held from November 18 to 20, Peter Swan, president of the International Consortium for the Creation of the ISEC Space Elevator and academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), proposed that the future space elevator function as a permanent logistics infrastructure. It could transport supplies and personnel into space and would become a new space channel.
With a space elevator, it will be possible to get to Mars in just 61 days
The principle of building a space elevator is simple. A long cable hangs between the sky and the earth, one end of it goes into the depths of the ocean at the equator of the Earth — the so-called "anchor", and the other end "captures" a counterweight (for example, a satellite or a space station) in geosynchronous orbit. The device moves up and down along the cable (the cabin of the space elevator).
Swan said: "In the current project, the space elevator cabin weighs about 20 tons and has a lifting speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. In the future, as the cable lengthens and the cabin ascent speed increases, it is expected that it will be able to reach geosynchronous orbit in 8 days, the Moon in 14 days, and Mars in 61 days."
"Compared to rocket transportation, space elevators are more environmentally friendly, cheaper and more reusable, which is why they are also called "green sky roads"." Swan explained that the power of the space elevator is supported by solar energy and it does not consume a large amount of chemical fuel, like rockets at launch.
At the same time, the probability that space elevators will produce space debris is negligible. Scientists have found that as of January 2020, there were 29 thousand pieces of space debris around our planet with a size of more than 10 centimeters and more than 170 million particles with a size of more than 1 millimeter, which seriously pollute the space environment.
"In addition, the use of such an elevator for cargo transportation will cost about $ 500 per kilogram, which will be much cheaper than using rockets," said Jean—Michel Contan, Secretary General of the International Academy of Astronautics.
Swan believes that in the future, people will need to transport a large amount of cargo into space to build colonies on Mars and the Moon. Interstellar travel is also considered quite an expected development of cosmonautics, and space elevators are very competitive from a commercial point of view.
But they will not refuse to launch missiles because of the new transport. Dennis Wright, vice president of ISEC, said that rockets will be faster than space elevators because they can rapidly cross the radiation belt. Some scientists suggest using the "space elevator + rocket" transportation method so that they complement each other. "If you think of a space elevator as a cargo ship, then a rocket is a cargo plane."
Everything seems feasible in the project, but in practice there are still problems
The dream of a space elevator has existed for a long time. Back in 1895, Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed the idea of a space elevator, inspired by the Eiffel Tower. Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke also described it in his novel Fountains of Paradise. But due to technical problems, such an elevator remained at the concept stage for a long time.
With the continuous development of aerospace technologies, there are more opportunities to create space elevators. According to Swan and Wright, carbon nanotubes and heavy-duty diamond threads are considered ideal materials for the manufacture of elevator cables. In terms of design, scientists have already proposed eight reliable and sound scientific design schemes. As for the engineering side of the issue, researchers in some countries have conducted several small experiments and are preparing for an in-depth analysis.
"Of course, there are still many problems at the theoretical, technical and engineering levels. For example, dynamics and control methods, research and development of new materials, design and construction of equipment, and so on," said Shi Gefei, associate professor at the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Sun Yat—sen University.
Scientists and engineers must find answers to many questions: which way of movement should the space elevator cabin use? How to overcome gravitational attraction? How should the cable withstand the bombardment of high-energy cosmic rays and effectively resist rocking? What to do if the elevator collides with space debris and meteorites...
Wright said scientists estimate that the first space elevator will be launched around 2035, but using it to transport people needs further testing to ensure its safety and feasibility. This may happen around 2045, but there is no exact schedule yet. Since this is a long, time-consuming and expensive project, Swan calls for deepening research and cooperation in the field of space elevators.
Author: Dai Xiaopei (代小))
