# Space Elevator Using Nanotube! Really! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669 "2002-08-20T00:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/1 "2002-08-20T00:18:51Z")
Hope the following link works! The article is about a SPACE ELEVATOR using NANOTUBES. I had never even heard of a nanotube until recently reading a thread on the board. Now, a practical use? It seems pretty logical - and though a 7.5 day elevator ride up to space sounds kind of strange, it would make for a hellofa view on the way up! > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/2 "2002-08-20T01:00:14Z")
Kim Stanley Robinson has a cool series of books (RED, BLUE, GREEN MARS) that uses this concept and includes the aftermath of a terrorist attack on the elevator. It ain’t pretty. But its such a cool idea & promises so much … I hope it works out. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/3 "2002-08-20T01:20:23Z")
We might have te materials to have a space elevator but maybe not the materials to construct it. Defense and weather would be major concerns. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/4 "2002-08-20T01:24:35Z")
They’re _serious_. Cool. 🆒 Thanks, **DMark**. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/5 "2002-08-20T01:27:21Z")
What would happen if the cable snapped at the top? middle? bottom? At the bottom I would think hte space station would start to pull the thing up. At the top I would think the space station would slingshot away while the cable fell down and made a really big wave - perhaps it would burn up on reentry. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/6 "2002-08-20T07:54:31Z")
_Popular Mechanics_ did a piece on it a few months back, let me see if I can find it. Ah, yes, [here](http://popularmechanics.com/science/space/2002/7/going_up/index.phtml) it is. Nice to see that someone’s tackling this! ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/7 "2002-08-20T08:17:01Z")
I don’t see a General Question here, so I’ll move this thread to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/8 "2002-08-20T22:14:00Z")
There was a long discussion about nanotubes and elevators about 6 weeks ago, including input from a Doper who used to work for one of the nanotube companies. Not wishing to slow the site down with a search through two months, I’ll recapitulate: There’s no indication nanotubes can any time in the near future get longer than an inch. Not nearly long enough to build an elevator. There are also other potentially insurmountable problems with: collisions with aircraft, terrorism, the Coriolis effect, etc. Net opinion: the article was a crock. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/9 "2002-08-20T23:13:29Z")
(And I thought the toll on the Lincoln Tunnel was high.) Too bad it remains so infeasible. I guess it’ll remain for the Russians to take Lance Bass off the planet for a while, if he ever pays up. Maybe we should pass around a collection plate? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/10 "2002-08-20T23:21:53Z")
How powerful would the engines on the space station at the top of the elevator have to be? If that thing can’t maintain geosynchronous orbit we’re going to have a really large piece of thread trying to wrap itself around the Earth. Also, if the thing can’t maintain a level orbit above Earth, the weight of the entire thing will eventually pull the entire elevator down to Earth. How powerful do the engines need to be to keep it floating in space? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-elevator-using-nanotube-really/124669/11 "2002-08-21T01:50:11Z")
It doesn’t need engines. Centripetal acceleration is all you need. Once it’s up there, it will be held taught forever, or until it breaks.