- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I wasn't trying to be mean. I was simply trying to not make this a flame war. Nip it in the butt so to speak. It's circular because of it's design.
The space elevator they are planning to make (in real life) is going to be a cable car essentially attatched to a very strong carbon fiber cable that extends up into space with a counterweight (possibly a space station). A giant laser is used to power the lift and it can carry up to 200 tons up into space in 6 days.
This is significant because that's 200 tons of actual parts. Currently, the space shuttle's load consists of 95% fuel, 5% payload for the mission including astronauts.
The space elevator would cut the cost of putting anything into space by 95%. Plus you save on fuel because you have no idea how much fuel is wasted to launch shuttles into space.
the rings in the background are from a more evolved form of a space elevator. The size indicates how advanced it is because we are JUST NOW getting to the point where we'll connect a carbon fiber tether into space. THEY actually created a lift structure that's rather complex. Who knows how much it could carry.