SPACE ELEVATOR

GUIDED BY :
MR. ASHISH PARASHAR

SUBMITTED BY:
PRIYANSHI GUPTA
ELEC & COMM.(III SEM)
 CONTENTS
1. What is a space 8. Extraterrestrial
elevator? Elevators
2. Early concept 9. Construction
3. Structure 10. Failure & safety
4. Base station & its issue
type 11. Economics
5. Cable 12. Political issue
6. Carbon Nanotube 13. Conclusion
7. Climber
 WHAT IS A SPACE
ELEVATOR?

A space elevator is a
proposed
structure designed to
transport material
from a celestial body
's surface 
into space.
 EARLY CONCEPT.

The concept of the space

elevator first appeared in 
1895 when a
 Russian scientist 
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky 
was inspired by the 
Eiffel Towerin Paris 
to consider a tower that
reached all the way into space.
 STRUCTURE…

The centrifugal force of earth's

rotation is the main principle behind
the elevator.
As the earth rotates the centrifugal
force tends to align the nanotube in
a stretched manner.
There are a variety of tether
designs.
Almost every design includes a
base station, a cable, climbers, and a
counterweight.
 1. BASE STATION

(a). MOBILE
(b). STATIONARY
(a). MOBILE BASE STATION.

 Mobile stations
are typically
large
oceangoing
vessels,
though airborne
stations have
been proposed
as well.
(b). STATIONARY BASE STATION.
Stationary
platforms
would generally be
located in
high-altitude
locations,
such as on top of
mountains,
or even potentially
on high towers.
 2. CABLE

The cable must be made

of a material with a
large tensile
strength/mass ratio.
Carbon nanotubes have
exceeded all other
materials and appear to
have a theoretical tensile
strength and density that
is well within the desired
range for space elevator
structures.
WHAT IS CARBON NANOTUBE?

Can be thought of as a
sheet of graphite
(a hexagonal lattice of
carbon) rolled into a
cylinder.
 3. CLIMBERS.

Climbers must be paced at optimal

timings so as to minimize cable stress
and oscillations and to maximize
throughput.
Lighter climbers can be sent up more
often, with several going up at the
same time.
This increases throughput somewhat,
but lowers the mass of each individual
payload.
4. COUNTERWEIGHT.
Several solutions have been
proposed to act as a
counterweight:
a heavy, captured asteroid;
a space dock, space station or 
spaceport positioned past
geostationary orbit; or
an extension of the cable itself
far beyond geostationary orbit.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL ELEVATORS

A space elevator could also be

constructed on some of the other
planets, asteroids and moons.
 CONSTRUCTION…

NASA has identified "Five Key Technologies for

Future Space Elevator Development":
Material for cable (e.g. carbon nanotube and 
nanotechnology) and tower
Tether deployment and control
Tall tower construction
Electromagnetic propulsion (e.g. magnetic
levitation)
Space infrastructure and the development of
space industry and economy
FAILURE MODES AND SAFETY ISSUES.

Satellites: If nothing were done, essentially all satellites

with perigees  below the top of the elevator will eventually
collide.

Meteoroids and micrometeorites

Corrosion is a major risk to any thinly built tether

Weather: In the atmosphere, the risk factors of wind and

lightning come into play.

A final risk of structural failure comes from the possibility

of vibrational harmonics within the cable.

Cut near the anchor point

 ECONOMICS…

Space elevators have high capital cost

but low operating expenses,
so they make the most economic sense
in a situation where
it would be used over a long period
of time to handle very
large amounts of payload.
 POLITICAL ISSUES

One potential problem with a

space elevator would be the
issue of ownership and
control.
Such an elevator would
require significant
investment
and it could take at least a
decade to recoup such
expenses.
 CONCLUSION…

The Space Elevator is a radical new way to access space

less expensively than possible with
chemical rocket technology.
The technology offers solutions to many of the
problems facing communities today including
but not limited to the need for clean, renewable energy.