According to the Daily Yomiuri, Japanese construction company Obayashi has announced the intention to build a space elevator, which would allow trips to a space station located in a geostationary orbit, or 36,000 kilometers above Earth.
Obayashi Corp. hopes to have a space elevator operational by 2050, carrying passengers and cargo in a vehicle that travels along a ribbon made of carbon nanotubes extending a quarter of the way to the moon.
A counterweight at the end of the 96,000 kilometer (59,652 mile) cable would anchor the entire assembly, which is connected to a station on the ground. Passengers would travel from the surface of the Earth to a terminal station housing a research center and residential facilities located about 36,000 kilometers (22,369 miles) up the ribbon in a car traveling at 200 km/h (124 mph). At that speed the journey is anticipated to take about a week.
The concept of space elevators was originated since 1895 when Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was inspired by the newly built Eiffel Tower. The company hopes to transport 30 passengers at a time along the space cable, perhaps using magnetic linear motors.
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