This is news right out of an Arthur C Clarke or Robert A. Heinlein novel. The patent office granted a patent to a Canadian firm, Thoth Technology, for a Space Elevator. It will be a freestanding space tower that reaches over 12 miles above the Earth. This would be 20 times taller than the tallest structure currently on Earth. It will save 30 percent of a rocket’s fuel.
The tower will have multiple purposes beyond just being a tower into space. Wind-energy generation is a potential use. It would be a perfect fit as a communication tower. Of course it would be a huge (literally) tourist attraction.
Once an astronaut would ascend 12 miles through the elevator to the top of the tower, “space planes will launch in a single stage to orbit,” returning back and forth to the tower for refueling, said Brendan Quine, the space elevator’s inventor.
“Landing on a barge at sea level is a great demonstration,” Caroline Roberts, the company’s CEO said, alluding to SpaceX’s attempts to land a booster rocket on a floating platform off the coast of Florida. “But landing at 12 miles above sea level will make space flight more like taking a passenger jet.” (Fox News)
(Via Fox News)
Stay Geeky My Friends!
