Kind: captions
Language: en
[Music]
You're watching a Nova Science Now video
podcast. Here's producer Joe
McMaster. When we were researching ideas
for new segments, we came across
something that was really just kind of
irresistible to us. And that is that
NASA was sponsoring a competition to see
if someone could build a working
prototype of a space elevator, which is
sort of a machine that would crawl up an
enormously long and strong cable into
outer space.
Given that our host Neil deGrasse Tyson
is an astrophysicist and that it's just
such a interesting and appealing idea,
we just had to go for it. Most of the
teams in NASA's competition thought a
real space elevator wouldn't be built
for decades. But we also came across a
company near Seattle that actually
claimed they could build one in the near
future. So here's what Neil and I
discovered when we visited them. So what
is this contraption? This is a lifter
robot. It is a prototype of technology
to climb a space elevator ribbon to
where? To space.
How far has this climbed so far? This
has climbed 1500 ft up. That is not
space. That is not But it's the first
baby step to get there. So, how far away
are we from realizing this dream? We
think that there's going to be some
version of this system within the next
15 years. It's not going to be Wait, a
version to 22,000 m. Something within
the next 15 years. Really? Yeah. Yeah.
What are these batteries? Those are
batteries. So, suppose you're halfway
into space and the batteries die. Well,
that's a bad situation to be in. So,
what do you do? You won't have batteries
in the first place. You know, for
climbing 150 ft, battery is fine up the
side of a building, right? Climbing to
space, it's not economical to carry your
batteries with you, particularly just to
velcro to the side. That's right. So,
can you show me how it works? Yeah, I
think so. Let's do it. All right.
Power to the engine. Full speed ahead.
If someone is going to be on an elevator
and they have to travel 22,000 miles,
the prerequisite should be that they
don't get old and die before they get to
the platform. So, how long do you
foresee this trip taking? It'll be about
a week. A week. A week. Right. So,
you're going to be So, the trip itself
is a vacation. Oh, absolutely.
So, here it
comes. Looking healthy. Yeah. Can I get
the first ride? Absolutely.
Congratulations. Thanks a lot.
Just a few decades ago, putting men on
the moon sounded just as outrageous as
space elevators sound today.
When it comes to the space elevator, we
should probably never say never, but I'm
still a bit skeptical.
Learn more about these elevators to
space on the January 9th episode of Nova
Science Now, or join us online at
pbs.org/nova/science.