Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, November 10, 2003 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Bradley Edwards

"Space Elevators"

ABSTRACT -- The space elevator was first proposed in its modern incarnation 40 years ago. Since that time it has been primarily in science fiction due to the lack of a strong enough material. Early designs were for large systems using a handful of futuristic technologies. Our program has started with an entirely new approach and using existing or near term technologies only. The space elevator design that has resulted is viable from a technology as well as an economic standpoint. The design utilizes an initial ribbon deployed down from space then built up using mechanical climbers. Laser power beaming, active avoidance of satellites, a mobile ocean-going platform, and carbon nanotube composites are used in this design. Once in place, the first elevator will be able to lift 13 ton payloads to space at an operational cost of $250/kg. The first space elevator could be operational in 15 years for under US$10B. We will present the current design, the status of the development effort, possible construction scenarios, and how this development will change our use of space.

SPEAKER -- Dr. Edwards is the world expert on the space elevator, having conducted the first and only comprehensive study on the concept and published a complete design of the system in the book, The Space Elevator, 2003. This effort has been a three-year program led by Dr. Edwards under a NASA grant. Prior to this work, Dr. Edwards was a technical staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he constructed the world's first solid-state optical cryocooler, led the design of a Europa orbiter mission and a lunar orbiter mission, served as co-investigator on a soft x-ray astrophysics mission, and led research and development programs on microcalorimeters and superconducting tunnel junction detectors. Dr. Edwards has four patents, a letter on commendation from the Department of Energy, and over 40 publications. Dr. Edwards is currently Director of Research at the Institute for Scientific Research in West Virginia.