IN space travel, the first step is always the most expensive, but why blast-off in a rocket if you can catch a ride on a space elevator?
Canadian space firm Thoth Technology has received a US patent for an elevator to take spacecraft and astronauts at least part way into space.
If it’s ever built, the 20km high Thothx inflatable space tower holds the promise of reducing launch costs by 30 per cent in terms of fuel, and may even replace some classes of satellites.
The more modest design of the Thothx tower aims to get around certain limitations. According to the patent granted on July 21, the Thothx tower would be only 20km high and about 230m in diameter.
Topped with a deck or decks, it could launch satellite payloads from the deck or pods attached to the tower. The tower itself would be made of reinforced inflatable sections with an interior elevator tower made of multiple, extruded, pneumatically-reinforced segments.
So wouldn’t a giant inflatable tower flop in the wind unless it was tied down?
The Thothx tower would be much too high for guy wires, so the company has proposed using a series of flywheels to provide dynamic stability, and to act as compressors to pressurise the tower.
By adjusting pressure and spin, the flywheels can compensate for any bending of the tower and keep it fixed over its footprint.
