Space is always going to be the next step for man. As we realise more and more that this world is slowly dying and we won’t be able to live here forever, we are looking further than our own planet and there are many intelligent people right now looking to see if living on another planet is realistically possible.
A video has been uploaded to YouTube by Kurzgesagt that looks to explain how a Space Elevator could actually be a possibility, explaining all of the Science involved. So it’s no longer Science fiction, but an actual possibility.
The video goes on to explain how the real problem when it comes to transporting people into space is that it would cost absolutely loads to get into space. It would cost $1.3m to send each person into space on a one-man vehicle, $40m to send your car into space and it would cost billions to build an international space station.
However, the ability to build a space elevator would save this cost by a huge amount and make it possible for humans to actually be able to afford to travel to space. It would cost around $20 billion to build an affordable Space Elevator and then around $200 per kilogram that we send up there as opposed to around $20,000 per kilogram like it is at the moment. But how would a Space Elevator actually work? It would need a tether, an anchor, a counterweight and the climber itself.
These would then be arranged appropriately with the anchor underground on Earth, ensuring it stays in place. The tether obviously being the long pole that will reach into space. The counterweight will be in space to ensure stability. And then finally, the climber will be what the passengers actually travel in.
So that’s the gist of how a real-life Space elevator would work based on real-life known Science. This makes things really interesting and would certainly make some people feel unwell if it were designed with glass walls! But either way, it looks incredible and has us really excited for future projects. Watch the rest of the video to find out more about the technical, financial and political side of how a space elevator would work!
