Elevator To Space

I can almost hear it now:
Elevator door opens...
"What floor sir?"
"Space Station Please."
"Yes sir."
Sound ridiculous? Well, yeah, it is actually. But, the idea of an elevator to space may be a reality sooner than you might think. The 2009 Space Elevator games are under way, and there have already been some interesting developments. For those of you not familiar the the competition, NASA has put up a $2 million prize for anyone who can construct a prototype elevator capable of taking a heavy payload up one kilometer in the air.

In order to qualify for a part of the prize money, a team must ascend a 900 meter course with an average speed of 5 meters per second. This benchmark was reached by Team LaserMotive this week, and there are two other teams that will try and reach that milestone this week as well.

Of course this all is a far cry from building an actual space elevator. But it is a necessary first step. The ultimate goal is to create an efficient way for NASA and others to transport heavy payloads (like satellites and space craft) to low Earth orbit. Right now, that is the most difficult and costly aspect of NASA's operations. The common wisdom is that such an elevator would pay for itself in just a few years of operation.

Unfortunately though, my vision of taking an elevator to space and visiting the international space station, or some other space hotel will have to remain a dream... at least for now.