This also happens in Mars trilogy from Kim Stanley Robinson.

valugi, barcelona, spain

Ken, everyone will have their own portable music ipod, and there ARE such things as air filters. Now, would there be transparent panels, or viewing screens, so pasengers could see the transitions Clarke described, or would the elevators be opaque? Would there be emergency safety gear?

Chris Wozny, Tucson, AZ, USA

No, it won't happen. Look at global warming and the earth is getting worse. Nah, time will come accord to bible and it will never happen at all.

Bearmon, Winter Park,

It's NASA - NASA, not Nasa...

Sheesh...

Dave, Alberton,

Could you imagine what the Muzak would be like or to be stuck with someone with gas

Ken, New York, USA

So... you get to space on an elevator. Then what?

Brian, Billings, MT, USA

This is a fantastic development in the history of the space elevator! Biblical warnings not withstanding, this technology will change the world for the better. By creating cheaper safer access to space it will pave the way to a host of new products that can only be made in a zero gravity environment

pagan61, Downers Grove, IL, USA

"And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded
Go to let us go down, and there confound their language that they may not understand one another's speech...
and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." Genesis 11:5-9

Scott Benowitz, Rye, New York, U.S.A.

@ Bruce Sinton - given the strength and engineering involved, an aircraft collision would be unfortunate, but would probably result in a shockwave travel to both ends of the cable, and a large clean-up job.
Explosives in a cargo "car" on the cable would be more worrying.

Glenn, Belfast,

if the cables a problem, do without it. why not have the elevator crawl up rails,

it could be driven by using a motor powered gear to climb upwards, using electricity that is passed up the rails to work the rotor.

Too many negative views for an effort that should be applauded

jack, swindon, wiltshire

Why are some people saying there is no point in this?

Surely this is a great step towards solar generators in space, hence infinite pollution free electricity. Is that not something worth pursuing? I sure think so! Not to mention all the other inevitable technological developements that'll follow

Martin, York, U.K.

What's the big deal? I already built one of these in my garage..

BOb, Ettrick, USA

What will be the result of an aircraft flying into the cables?
It seems likely that there would be expensive crashing sounds as thousands of miles of cable come tumbling down.

Even if aircraft are forbidden in the area, pilots will still get lost/ confused or even become terrorists!

Bruce Sinton, Gisborne, New Zealand

First off, a Russian scientist first suggested the concept of a space elevator in the 1800's when the Eiffel tower was born. We need materials about 25 times stronger than what is available now[ we have 3GPa and need 62-80GPa at the very least. Other details not right either

Tom, St Albert,

China is becoming the number one economic power, North Korea the biggest armed force and Japan the leaders in Space technology. This is all happening while the US spends future funds to pay for wars over fossil fuels and poppy fields.

D.Able, Melbourne, Australia

The space elevator will not be cheaper than conventional means of accessing space because you will need massive amounts of fuel to keep the tension on the cables. Also we must remember the earth rotates on its axis, and this will cause the cables to act like a giant whip.

Alen Braxx, Jersey City, America

OK, any (technical) problem is something to be solved, sooner or later. It's just an issue of money and time. Ethical problems here are by far of more importance. That's something that counts! If clever japanese will succeed - then it is the real beginning of the Future.

Elgar, Alkmaar, The Netherlands

How would it keep from falling over being that high?

Preston Bolinger, Colorado Springs,

How would the cable be strung up in the first place?

John, NOBama,

A laser? Why not a moonbeam?

Andrew, London, UK

read kim stanley robinson's mars trilogy of novels if you want to know about space elevators.

matthew robertson, aberdeen,

What happens when it gets caught between floors?

Ralphie, Hoboken,

Arthur C Clarke was not the first person to write about space elevators. It was a Russian, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

gareth, London, england

Are there going to be stairs, in case of fire?

Ben, Fulton, MO

This idea will not work. Atmospheric windage on the cable will constantly tend to pull the satelite down. The counterweight will be balanced by what on its way up?

K Bowers, Phoenix, usa

A visionary project that has the potential to produce so many technological breakthroughs, this project could help us solve many other problems. I applaud Japanese innovation and courage.

James, San Francisco, USA

Rob , London, UK..

Get real, is there any greater sight in the world than being able to see the earth from orbit?
(And the stars, the moon)

Aside from that, there's nothing to see and that's pretty much the point of it, the endless nothingness.
Oh and, zero gravity is probably really cool

victor, stockholm, sweden

No body has walked on the moon since 1969 because there's not enough reason to go back to justify the huge cost. The US went to the moon pretty much entirely to show up the USSR.

Maciej, Chicago, US

The big philosophical question is, is it, Hanging up, or, Hanging down?
Will it be constructed in space and lowered down?Presumerbly some cable will have to be made up there and lowered down,then the main cable hauled up. I would love to see this.,

Richard, Chichester, West Sussex

This has been a fairly standard engineering problem in schools around the world for years. It is a project to get students used to large numbers in an entertaining way -- stretching the imagination for budding engineers in a positive way. Bravo!

L Swinford, Springfield, USA

To all the weirdos, space freaks and geeks out there - there is NOTHING to see in space. REM were pot on in their 'man on the moon' song...''there's nothing up there,nothing that's cool''. Chillies were right when they said it was all conceived in a hollywood basement. Please people JUST GET REAL!

Rob , London, UK

If the Americans REALLY landed on the moon in 1969, how come no one has walked on it since? this is worth thinking about. Anyway who wants to go on holiday in space? there's nothing to see and it would be totally boring. No nice scenery. What is it with some people!

Rob, London, UK

It's impossible to consider a tether so heavy and long, the only way is by riding a laser beam or beam of light, at the very least a tether that is temporary and on guidance, see stargate series and the bending of light for travel and messages. Best bet is still transporter. See the Australians.

Lee Owen, Bucharest, Romania

Kim Stanley Robinson envisioned capturing an asteroid by moving it into orbit. Drop a factory onto it that consumes the asteroid material and spits out the cable. After several years, the cable will reach down to an anchor on the planet.

RC, Calgary, Canada

If humanity is going to survive it needs to begin utilizing space. I'm glad someone on this planet is taking the lead and planning to make this happen.

James, marietta,

Never mind a space elevator (just yet).

It is a pity we cannot get Japan to work with the UK on a national emergency footing for the development of wave power since they are just about as well placed as the UK for coast line and oil.

cliff hamer, Barnsley, Yorkshire

They can't wait to pollute other areas. ( A space elevator could carry people, huge solar-powered generators or even casks of radioactive waste. )

Cindy, Etters, USA

I'm sure that even if the cables are cut, there will be brake-like devices like an otis to hold it in place

liber tarian, el paso, usa

If you hope to colonize other planets you need first a cheap access to space. The elevator is I think the greatest sci-fi vision off all for a simple reason: we may see it built before our death. You don't need antigravity or subspace travelling, just a really strong cable and a *lot* of money.

Alex, Nice, Europe

Wait until the terrorists get hold of it.

Martyn, Arzal, France

here are a few promising thoughts. 1 what happens when (not if) someone decides they don't like it. It cant be that hard to bring down a cable going all the way up to space.

Andrew, San Antonio, USA

Did you mean 62 miles? An SR71 flies at 80,000 feet or 15 miles up. Which is near the edge of space (which is the reason they wear astronaut suits). So 62 miles up would be in space.

Ryan, Bellevue, USA

Wouldn't "the greatest sci-fi vision of all" be something grander, like traveling to other galaxies or colonizing other planets?

Chris, St. Petersburg, USA

I believe anything that doesn't violate the laws of physics as we understand them is possible but this project does seem a bit farfetched in its conception. Even a lay person can dream up a myriad of technical and practical landmines that they will face. Of course its just a matter of money.

J. Thomas Wilton, Los Angeles, USA

To say that the Japanese have inspired NASA in this area is incorrect. NASA has been working on this for years. But because of a lack of funding, the project has inched along at snail's pace. There is even a $4m competition in the US, funded by NASA, called Elevator2010. Look it up.

Haile, Cleveland, USA

Do we remember what happened last time we did this?
I.e. The Tower of Babel :-)

Peter , Tullahoma ,

It's awesome to see such concrete initiative on a space elevator so soon. I wasn't expecting progress on one until the Base Race/private space boom had gotten more momentum, e.g. ~2015.

I blog on Moon Colonization (luna-ci.blogspot.com), so this is really exciting.

Walker-Yep.
Steve-90 min?

Nick, Portland, OR, U.S.A.

One way to get carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. How much of the man caused CO2 in the atmosphere could they use to make the nanotubes. Would we then have problems with having too much oxygen in the atmosphere.

The USA environmental impact statement would cost more than Japan plans to spend

Ed Patterson, Mesa, AZ, USA

If this is drawing such a think-tank "the biggest Japanese companies and universities have turned their collective attention" why can't they turn their attention to something a little more practical? Perhaps cars which run on water, or solar panels which harness enough power to fuel an entire house?

Ryan, Perth, Australia

5 billion dollars isn't enough for the price tag. But the space elevator can be done, if you get enough foreign governments and corporations interested in backing it. I know that the U.S. won't have much of a budget to throw their weight behind it any more, not like they used to.

rradiko, Columbus, OH, USA

Worth a try.

JohnnyQ, Mubby, wubby

It will not work. We have already tried it.

Tim, Dallas, USA

I agree with Diane and Jon. This can and eventually will work. It just requires a little ingenuity/innovation (USA) skill in machining and production (Japan) and some help in specialized areas of science and research (Europe, USA, and Japan). Hats off to the Japanese, I say we join and help them.

Charles Miller, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

Arthur C. Clarke popularised the idea in Fountains of paradise in 1978. In 1960 a soviet scientist 'Yuri Artsutanov' published the idea in an article in Pravda called "To the Cosmos by Electric Train." No doubt the idea was around before then too.

Stephan Gyory, Sydney, Australia

The theory seems solid but overcoming the obstacles may take a few hundred years for all of you already packing your bags. Nanotube technology may provide an extremely light "ribbon" but at 22,000 miles long the weight of it collectively will be hundreds of tons. Hard to get the "ribbon" up there.

Scott, Alexandria, USA

Lets not forget our own Space Elevator contest that we have been having for the last few years. Our start in this work will surely help our friends, and I see Nasa as a major player. If congress does not ruin us first, or kill Nasa first.

John, San Antonio, USA

??? Engineering issue, thermodynamic issues of expansion and contraction of a cable that long, keeping an object in geosynchronis orbit seems like a huge issue. If it is in geosychronis orbit, unless it was built near the poles, would be in constant flux due to moving in an out of sunlight.

David McGlocklin, Corona, USA

Speaking of achronyms, perhaps

O rbital
T ransportation
I mprovement
S ystem

would work?

Wascal, Myrtle Beach, SC, US

The nature of mankind has not changed a bit since the tower of babel days. Always over reaching his bounds in ever more desperate attempts to escape himself.

Rather than surmount the daunting task of forsaking the comfortable confines of willful ignorance and humble himself before his Creator.

Mitch, Stumpville,

Even though I support the space program -- I think Japan would be much better off spending that money on their own military and national defense to defend themselves from the Russians and the Chinese when WW3 breaks out.

It's coming sooner than you think.

Tobias, New York, USA

First, the counterweight would have to be beyond the geosynchronous orbit point for it to counter the gravitational pull on the cable, the climbing elevators and the wind currents.

Second, you would need more cables than necessary to compensate for micrometeors eating away at it.

Tim Temple, Jacksonville, FL,

It will be a wonderful Lightning Arrestor

johnrud, Chicago,

This is a totally feasible technology. Nothing is impossible. The naysayers club only needs to be reminded of their constantly being wrong about the moon landing, the internet, and just about everything else that has revolutionized the world. More power to the Japanese for giving this a go.

Jon, Shingle Springs, USA

Please, read something about it before displaying your ignorance. The only obstacle to the development of a successful space elevator is having a material of sufficient strength for the cable. That's what they're trying to develop. Can they do it? Who knows? The mechanics of the elevator are sound.

Diane, Irvine, CA, USA

Most people have read/know that there are some insane requirements needed to build the elevator.

Considering the japanese have a good rep at solving problems, I think that they will pull this off, given enough time (1000 monkeys and a typewriter).

I wish you good luck.

Rölli, Helsinki, Finland

@ Eileen, Dallas, Texas, USA
The earth end of the elevator would have to be at the equator.

@Michael, New Orleans, USA
Geosynchronous orbit is 36000 km, three quarters of the mass of the atmosphere is lower than 20km at the equator. I think wind is the least of their problems.

I reckon go for it.

Nick, Dundee, Scotland

Maybe the space station / counterweight could be built to resemble a big cherry pie. It could literally be the pie in the sky!

Tim, Roseville, USA

Sigh. I blame public schools. The rotation of the Earth provides the force necessary to hold the ribbon up against gravity the same way a rock stays out on the end of a string as you swing it in a circle. Once the ribbon and counterweight are in place, no fuel is necessary to hold up the ribbon.

Ron, Aloha, USA

The beauty of the space elevator is that the spinning of the Earth flings the end of it away from the planet. Finding that wonderful balance between gravity pulling it down and velocity throwing it towards the stars will be the REAL trick.

Jeff, Los Angeles, US

Atta guys! JAPAN leads, re-enlightens and encourages its citizenry via a 'national-goal' , their scientists, engineers and industry with a superb target goal with possible future commerical value offshoots. ALERT firm UTC that owns Otis Elevator [original inventor's firm] to get on board!

George Edison, Chicago, USA

You can pursue dreams like this, when you don't spend all your money on weapons.

ray, HAMPTON, usa

The Japanese will do it. They will build an escalator to the stars. Anything is possible if the Japanese want it bad enough. Go tiny Japanese people, go!

Joe Wright, Memphis, USA

The counterweight is a counterweight to the weight of the cables. The weight of the load going up or down is negligible. And unfortunately this cannot work on the moon. The counterweight depends on the Earth's rotation for the force it provides and the moon takes a whole month to spin once.

Tim Docken, Lansing, USA

I understand that since the terminus of the space elevator is a satellite in geo-sychronous orbit, the elevator cables need to be 22,000 miles long. That's cool. But why ride it all the way to the top? What if you wanted to get off early in low-earth orbit, say at 200 miles high?

Greg Meenahan, Crestwood, Il.,

This will work. But what to do about Solar radiation?

Florence, Lafayette, USA

See the space elevator Wikipedia article.

*IF* nanotube cable can be made strong enough not to need taper (or step taper with pulley sets that distribute the load to a larger number of moving cables) then it only takes 14.75 kWh/kg to lift from the surface of the earth to GEO.

Keith Henson, Prescott az, USA

Why do you want to break free from gravity. Bored here? Not an awful lot to amuse yourself with in zero gravity. Hopefully the satellite hub will have a revolving restaurant. Whilst up there eating sushi you could pretend to yourself that you've met God. There are always ways to fill an idle moment.

Richard Warwick, Croydon,

Clever people those Japanese! They might disprove the old what goes up must come down axiom after all.

Dryden01, Redmond/WA, USA

Seems like you'd need every country in the world to sign off on it - since it could land anywhere if (or when) it falls.

Interesting engineering problem, though.

Will S, So Calif, USA

Oh I am sure this will work and become a reality in the near future.

Except since it will be made in japan it will be to small for human use.

And all us dreamers will be sadly dissappointed as we watch the news that a foot long robot went to space.

Jack, College Park, Ga, USA

Walker: It would in fact be easier to build one on the moon than on Earth (assuming you could get the materials to the moon required to make the thing). The main limitation is the gravitational pull of the object that the elevator is coming off of... less gravity means less cable length/strength

carl, ewing, NJ, USA

The problem with this project is that the most important material needed for it's success is in the early development stage. This will doom the project to failure. Period. Carbon nanotubes need to be perfected for more mundane uses before it's feasible to build a space elevator.

Roderick Reilly, Alexandria, USA

This sounds like Willy Wonka

Brian, Denver, USA

They could use the vacuum of space itself to suck people up and gravity for the way down. Set up people in tubes like they put money in at drive through atm's.

joe, Petaluma, CA, USA

how do they expect to get this cable up there...around what ever "well wheel" they have up there...and expect to not use fuel keeping that thing in orbit and not pulled in by earths gravity...quite a bit of this cable is being pulled down by earth...i don't know much about the physics behind this...

Rich, South Bend, IN, USA

For the counter anchor in space you can use one of the small black holes that will be manufactured in France next year.

George Admanski, Grovers Mill, New Jersey

Thrust in space in the traditional sense is not very strong and it usually doesn't need to be because of the lack of "weight" in space. However, in this case, the thrust is to counter the force being applied to it by weight at earths surface. So having enough thrust is impossible to fuel. Dream'n!

Franklin, Kemah, USA

Does anyone know how long it would take to get there?

Steve, Sycamore, IL.,

Could they build a space elevator on Mars and the Moon?

Walker, Leesburg, U.S.A.

The U.S. has traded innovation and big thinking for Social Security and Medicare. Wars and corporate bailouts are nothing compared to our failed social programs.

Roy Jones, Simi Valley, USA

My son came up with this idea when he was 6 - along with inter galactic time travel.

jeff, newport, UK

Why use cables...make a tube and use the vacuum of space suck you up. Give it a little push on the way down and let gravity take over (using either the vacuum for braking, or mono-rail technology).

Now we need a tube that can withstand the forces of the atmosphere...hmmm.

Nate, Dallas,

The cable will not be the biggest problem, nor will the energy source. The biggest problem will be the mass required for the counterweight. Some proposals suggest capturing a small asteroid. This mass will balance the mass of the cable slung below geostationary orbit.

Robert, Slough,

Look, this is an old topic. The only news is that it's being seriously pursued by the Japanese while Bush's administration ignores it. If you're really curious about the space elevator, look in Wikipedia.

Todd Grigsby, Manteca, CA, USA

AC Clarke was not the first to propose the space elevator - or Orbital tower. That honour goes to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky a russian scientist.

Roger, Thanet, UK,

What a mind bogling waste of brain power. There is no possible anchor in space to oppose the latteral forces of wind at the surface and other smaller latteral forces that would accumulate over the length of the elevator. Why not study alternative forms of superconductor based propulsion instead?

Michael, New Orleans, USA

While I agree wholeheartely with John in New York, location is everything. I'm not sure Japan - land of tsunamis and earthquakes - is much of a good location for this endeavor. Maybe a flattened desert wasteland in Russia.

Eileen, Dallas, Texas, USA

'carbon nanotubes - ... whose mass production is now a focus of Japan's big textile companies'. Presumably with more than space elevators in mind? So what are our textile companies doing, given that the research seems to be at cambridge?

clifford, reading,

Japan is the #1 nation in the world for mega-engineering boondoggles. The Japanese economy is dominated by their construction industry, which benefits enormously from huge projects like this whether they end up working or not.

Alistair, New York,

This is the kind of dedication to scientific innovation that the United States has completely lost. Especially under an administration that alters scientific research for its political agenda. Instead we reserve our trillions for debt payments, wars and corporate bailouts.

John, New York, NY, USA

Doing what government types do! They make jobs for themselves! I hope they don't all fall in a black hole and end up in a parallel universe!

Bob, Dover, FL

Who wants to listen to elevator music for that long?

Scott, Atlanta, GA, USA

I must admit I'm quiet ignorant in these matters but is there a possiblity that instead of cable a laser could be used as a cable. It would seem magnetics would come into play. What would a cable be attached to in orbit? Wouldn't there still be re-entry issues?

Charles Runyon, Rochester Hills, USA

Actually if the cable was a complete loop...the elevator could be 'powered' by the rotation of the wheel satellite..the 'counterweight' would be elevators returning to earth like the old European elevators. People and cargo could be simply attached and detached to the constantly moving cables.

Brad Kepller, Fremont, ohio, USA

Studying the "impossible, impractical, unreasonable" often lead to all sorts of breakthrough's. Human flight was seriously considered impossible even up until it was revealed by the Wright brothers. They may not end up creating the elevator, but odds are some cool things will come from this.

Jason, Dublin, CA, USA

I'm not a physicist, but here are my predictions:

1. Major cost overrun of their budget.
2. Eventual failure, but some neat technologies will come of it, especially useful in TVs and toys.
3. The space shuttle will be redesigned to take off like a plane and boost off from a high altitude.

kirk, plano, tx, usa

Another problem: The cable will have to be strong enough to provide the side force to accelerate the rising load to orbital velocity.

Roger Buck, Rockford, United States

What floor is sporting goods?

Jason, Norfolk, USA

im sure one of you engineering masters in this comments section has the answer.

mike, New Jersey, usa

First envisaged by Robert Heinlein in the 1950's. He called his the Kenya BeanStalk.... as it was based in Kenya....

David B, Margate, UK

Lots of great works of fiction depict this concept. Kim Stanley Robinson imagines the cause and results of a snapping cable in his brilliant book Red Mars.

Rusty, Houston, USA

If you want to see what would happen to the Earth if a 'space elevator collapsed, read 'Mercury', by Ben Bova

If on Mars, read 'Red Mars' by Kim Stanley Robinson

Steve, Manhattan, US

As a member of an XPrize Space-Elevator team, I recommend that all of the armchair critics google for their questions before making proclamations.

Pian Zhao, Costa Mesa, USA

I wonder how they propose to keep orbiting objects from colliding with it?

Jimbo, Puyallup, USSA

Space tethers have been seriously investigated since the 1950s and are nothing more than a poetic notion.

Flight to orbit and other options are nearly here and far less expensive and more flexible and robust.

Even given the "unobtainium" tether, fuel/energy needs exceed that of an aircraft.

Charles, London, UK

A Space Elevator (or rather a series placed at various points along the equator) is a central part of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, if anyone fancies reading a real epic of a sci fi novel...

Matt, London,

You didn't say that in many of those sci-fi stories, it ends with the cable snapping or being sabotaged and causing a truly huge on-the-ground disaster thousands of miles long with massive loss of life... I'd start with an extended test around a moon somewhere that tolerates mistakes/failures.

Kent Pitman, Boston, USA

Sci-Fi authors have already explored the effect of such issues as warfare, insurrection, and terrorism on such a structure. It will be appallingly vulnerable to attack anywhere along its length. We will be able to build it, but we will have to solve more intractable problems on the ground first.

John Bull, Netherwell, UK

I had no idea so many shade tree physicists and material scientists frequented the Times Online!
You naysayers need to provide some credentials if you are going to pop on here and tell us all why something won't work that's being worked on by teams of people with more experience than you can fathom.

John M, Oirase, Japan

Peter - the counterweight would be driven down at the same rate as the load is lifted up. That equalizes the mass and leaves the satellite undisturbed in orbit. My problem is how you get the counterweight back up to the top so it can serve the next load?

Dave, Mundelein, People's Republic of America

can you imagine the lift getting stuck thousands of miles up, and the only way up or down to get up is a step ladder...good luck

james, norwich, UK

I can't even keep a 20 ft electrical extension cord or garden hose from becoming a terrible twisted tangled mess. If this 22,000 mile cable ever falls back to earth, it better not land in my back yard.

Jason, NObama, USA

If the counterweight is at the LaGrange, wouldn't you then need to corrrect the orbit for every payload? What happens if this does go out of control, do we cut loose this dedication of resources, or do we let the strongest cable ever constructed rake the earth like a yo-yo around a finger?

Joe C, PA,

How are they going to overcome storms, high winds, ect.? I like the idea but their are allot of variables that make me question wether this elevator can withstand our climatic conditions...

John Kiehn, Anchorage,, United States

Nice lightning rod affect....good call. How do they plan on fueling the thrusters which will obviously be overtasked? Pretty expensive and short lived joy ride.

Rick, Haditha Dam, IRAQ

If anyone has seen the Japanese TV Show Gundam 00 they deal with this exact idea. 3 pillars which extend into earth orbit are linked to an array of solar panels which provide the whole planet with sustainable electricity. A great idea but surely very difficult to make a reality!

Martin, York, U.K.

you might want to consider capitalizing NASA since it's an acronym.

Also, hurry up and finish. I'd love to ride an elevator into space. Awesome!

Andrew, Alpharetta, GA,

How do you maintain a satellite docking station in stable geosynchronous orbit above Earth with the drag from miles of cable subject to the tremendous force of unpredictable atmospheric weather effects?

Mike, NYC, USA

While the US takes a giant step backward with Apollo-era moon rockets, Japan leaps ahead. Kudos to the Japanese. Too bad neither Obama, nor McCain, despite their talk of scientific leadership, have the foresight to build a space elevator or the hypervelocity Slingatron.

Randel Higgins, Lexington, USA

Shorting out the ionisphere might be problematic, then again it could power the whole thing. If 1 cable is grounded and the other insulated from ground (with better dialectric than we have dreamed of) this could be jacob's ladder to the stars!

Ben, Waterbury, CT

Vote for OBAMA

Mark Fredrickson, New York, USA

What would happen if one of the cables snaps? Would the earth be spliced in half from the resulting whip-lash?

Richard, Prague,

Umm...why aren't they building a launch loop instead? Far more practical, and cheap. It attains all the goals of a space elevator, but seems on all counts, more realizable and reliable.

Bill, Los Angeles, USA

The materials that the elevator would have to be made of, stringed carbon nanotubes. They are incredibly strong and do not stretch. Also, I think the main problem with this idea is the fact that humans are evil, how would the japanese stop other organizations from destroying it?

Benjamin, Tarentum, PA, USA

well, if it conducts, and is immersed in a global magnectic field, under the right conditions you should be able to "induce" an electrical charge since the earth and its field are always in motion. Almost like free electricity. Even more so during solar storms.

Jimmy, easthampton,

But if the cable snapped we would have the perfect plot the first episode of Space 2019!

Geronimo, Brussels,

Reasons to make the cable longer. 1. In geosynchronous orbit the platform would be subject to gravity and it would be expensive to keep the platform in proper orbit and keep the ribbon taught. So put a counterweight at a LaGrange point.

dave, Jacksonville, FL

Reason 2 for counterweight. The velocity of the counterweight with respect to earth would be very high. This would make it muh easier to launch interplanetary spaceships from the counterweight. An added bonus.

Dave, Jacksonville, FL

It is not clear exactly how it would function. But the key is that it would be 22,000 miles out in space - beyond the effects of Earth's gravity field. So it would require a platform vehicle stationed in space with maneuvering thrusters to keep the tether-cable taught.

Will, Florida, USA

Clark did not invent (nor did he claim to have invented) the Space Tether. The idea was first published by a Russian.

Clark's novel was one of two to feature it in 1979.

Proposing a space tether now is akin to the 1950's proposal to build a supersonic passenger aircraft. But more useful.

Brian Eave, Pembroke,

There is no reason why this shouldn't work. Provided you have the right materials. The biggest problem would be the cable mass, it will need to be supported somehow, especially where it could be affected by weather, unless they have a suspended platform above the weather, held up by the platform...

Pierre Delport, Perth, Australia

There's already quite a bit of information available on the LiftPort web site, an American company that's been working on this idea for several years now.

Nathan Ponsi, Seattle, Washington, USA

because it conducts, wouldnt it act like a giant lightning rod?

I would also imagine the force from earths spin would keep the cable very taught, if it was at the right altitude..so no need for a counter-weight?

Nigel, Incline Village, NV, USA

Surely if gravity is acting on the counterweight, it is also acting on the satellite. Why would the carriages go up rather than the satellite coming down.

Peter Openshaw, Paris, France

It'll never be practical. It is more likely that mankind will have a new energy source such as fusion - thereby resolving the fuel issue, before such materials could ever be created. It would be easier to build the DeathStar than to build this thing - and I read Fountain!

Michael Man, Hong Kong, China

it also has to be able to stand up to immense voltage and current surges as it will be short circuiting the atmosphere.
should be fun to watch...
from a thousand miles away as it lights up like a light bulb filiment,
just before it desintigrates and falls causing massive damage on the ground.

simon, norwich,

The cable doesn't need to be twice as long - just slightly longer and with sufficient mass on the other end to act as a counterbalance.

Andrew Gallagher, Galway,