Materials research needed to make space elevator a reality

13.08.2010
While much of the first day of the Space Elevator Conference was dedicated to the problem of space trash, the concept also faces another significant challenge.

"We have one big problem -- everything else pales in comparison -- and that is materials," said Bryan Laubscher, president of Odysseus Technologies and a speaker at the annual conference in Redmond, Washington.

Scientists studying the possibility of building an elevator into space envision a ribbon made of carbon nanotubes stretching from the surface of the Earth up into geosynchronous orbit. Crafts, like elevator cars, could carry people and goods up the ribbon into space.

The problem is, it's not yet clear if strong enough nanotube ribbons can be made.

"Materials research of carbon nanotubes is dominated by people who are looking at electrical properties," Laubscher said. "That's the low-hanging fruit."

While that's important for the use of nanotubes in electronics, it has come at the expense of research into stronger carbon nanotubes, he said. Scientists who set out to build super-strong carbon nanotubes have given up in part due to lack of funding, he said.