Calling the Space Elevator

CornfedPig writes "SPACE.com has an article that suggests building an elevator to a 100,000 km-high penthouse could be possible within the next few years at a cost of about $5B US. Widespread availability of low-cost carbon nanotubes appears to be the gating factor. Existence of such an elevator could drop the cost of lifting things (satellites, people, CowboyNeal) into orbit to a couple of hundred dollars a pound. Anyone remember Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise?" Space elevator stories come along every few months; we never seem to be getting any closer to actually doing it. I imagine it will happen at some point in my lifetime, but...

I wonder if this would look like....

[trixillion]

Whenever I look at the Towers of light and the enourmous hight which it rises into the atmosphere.. I wonder if this is what a space elevator will look like. One of the striking things about it is how far the light penetrates into the upper atmosphere. From my rooof, 2.5 miles away, I was able to get a fix on the angle to the top and place the highest point I could see at about 15 miles up!

For those of you who do not live out here, all I can say is that tv and photos simply do not do memorial any justice. It provides a humbling sense of scale when looking up into the infinity to which it rises.

Stabiliy ?

[4of12]

Are there any astro uber geeks that can comment on the stability of this system from the standpoint of

1. small changes of mass from the upper end of the elevator (like from space objects hitting and sticking, etc.)
2. small oscillation modes (rubber band like) in the connecting fiber

Otherwise, I'd be Real Nervous® about having the base station of the elevator anywhere near MyBackYard.

Financial Aspects

[DiSKiLLeR]

What i want to know is, would this be a good thing to invest it? They say it will cost $5bn, so they need money from SOMEWHERE, right?

So say if i had a significant amount of money.. like $1million (hell, $500,000 or $100,000) and invested in the construction of this thing (or invested in a company that is constructing it by buying shares), would this be a wise investment, with good return?

Would direct investment by supplying monies for construction and then demanding a % share of profits operating the elevator forever into the future be better then just buying shares in a company that is producing the elevator?

Any thoughts?

I'm always wondering what would be a very good sure bet for investment with VERY good returns, and something like these seems to be an ultimate one. The benefits of a space elevator are simply amazing, and the elevator will be in use for decades if not centuries, until replaced by something better, or a better elevator..

Martin.