Researchers are looking for new ways to access the outer space, more efficient and cheaper. The creative thinking of Canadian scientists has lead to a project for a space elevator that would use a giant tower to carry materials and humans in space. The company Thoth Technology from Ontario, Canada, already achieved an American patent for their revolutionary space travel technology.
Scientists working on space elevators need to find new materials and designs that can make their project feasible and provide a viable alternative to rocket technology to access space. This month in Seattle will take place the Space Elevator Conference 2015 where Thoth Technology will present their project.
According to the Spaceward Foundation, the space elevator will serve as a track for electric vehicles to travel up and down carrying about 10 tons of payload. Since there are no intense gravity-loads during the trip, no onboard fuel, no acoustic vibration or any of the rest of the cost associated with rocket launches, Spaceward Foundation explained that the new space elevator would help to dramatically save on space travel.
The Canadian company Thoth Technology obtained its U.S. patent for a space elevator to access space, able to reach 20km (12 miles) above the planet. According to the company's engineers, compared with a conventional rocket this technology could save more than 30 percent of the fuel. The space elevator could be used to lift astronauts to a level in the atmosphere requiring less force to further launch a spacecraft.
Global Construction Review (GCR) News described the concept as a freestanding space tower. The structure will be held rigid by pressurized gas. The publication Fast Company also shared the thoughts of Charlie Sorrel on this project. He declared that the patent specifies the elevator could be scaled to reach 200km. However, he added, this is a similar to "saying that your bank balance could be scaled to reach $1 billion". It might be technically true, but it could be proved tricky to implement in practice.
The 20 km Space Tower will be a self-supporting structure able to deliver payloads to at least one platform or pod above the surface of the Earth, according to the U.S. patent obtained by the Canadian company. These payloads will be used for the purposes of space launch. It will be possible using the space elevator tower to deliver personnel, equipment and other objects or people for the purpose of communications, scientific research, and even tourism.
Thoth's innovative approach to space travel certainly suggests an innovative alternative. According to Eric Mack in a CNET article "getting to space hasn't become any easier, technically speaking, over the past half century. We still need huge rockets to create a massive enough amount of force In order to escape Earth's gravity. Information Week also agrees on this. According to them, rockets are extremely hard to launch because of air resistance and gravity. The space elevator, according to Mark, in contrast uses "much simpler gravity-defying technologies to access space."
