President’s Corner

by Dennis Wright

This is my first newsletter article as acting President of ISEC. I am succeeding Pete Swan, who held that post for eleven years. In that time, Pete was the driving force in the International Space Elevator Consortium. Thanks, Pete, for your energy and leadership. We wish you well in your new Space Elevator Development Company.  

Perhaps a few words about me are in order, and then, on to business.  I’ve been an ISEC member since 2013 and served for several years as its Vice President. My background is in high energy and nuclear physics, having developed and participated in experiments at Los Alamos, the TRIUMF accelerator in Vancouver, Canada, the Stanford Linear Accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and in the SuperCDMS dark matter search in Soudan, Minnesota. I retired from Stanford in 2020 and began to spend time studying the more challenging aspects of developing the space elevator. This has convinced me that space elevators are physically sound, feasible and should be developed as soon as possible. I hope that you, as newsletter readers who may have read some of the ISEC studies, are convinced of that, too.

This brings me to my main topic. ISEC runs on volunteers. These are the people who are bringing the space elevator closer to reality by engaging in studies, developing space elevator materials in the lab and disseminating space elevator knowledge. They range from high school students to active and retired professionals. They have helped ISEC become the world’s leading space elevator organization. I’m asking each of you to consider becoming a part of this work. No matter what your skill level or area, there is valuable work for you to do. Are you an engineer, scientist, software developer, educator, graphic artist or writer? There’s a place for you and we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me at dennis.wright@isec.org.  

A great way to dip your toe in and see what we’re all about is to attend our annual ISEC conference in Chicago, September 7th and 8th. We’ll have workshops and presentations on various space elevator topics. Do you a have an idea or concept you have worked on and would like to present? We still have a few slots available, so please submit your abstract to the above e-mail address for consideration by July 10th. Any science fiction fans out there? We’ll also have a special session chaired by science fiction author Douglas Phillips on how scientists and engineers can work with science fiction authors.

The 2024 SPACE ELEVATOR CONFERENCE is only Two Months Away!

The International Space Elevator Consortium will hold its annual, in-person conference in Chicago on Saturday, September 7th, and Sunday, September 8th.

Among other topics, we will be discussing the use of graphene for the space elevator tether, space elevator missions and functionality, and simulation and visualization of the space elevator.

Join us to listen to the top voices in the Space Elevator community and to offer your input in our breakout sessions.

Location: Aon building in downtown Chicago 

Please check our events page for more information.

Regular Conference price: $275 US per person (student and speaker discounts available)

Included in the fee:

+ Continental breakfast both days

+ Lunch both days

+ Engaging presentations about Space Elevators

+ Opportunity to engage in small break-out workshops

Accommodations:

+We are very excited to offer a hotel rate of $249 per night at the Fairmont Chicago. Don’t delay; make your reservations by Friday, August 16 to reserve this rate!

+The hotel link is included on the payment confirmation page and in the payment confirmation email.

Be a part of history and join us as we contemplate reaching space!

REGISTER NOW!

If you have any questions, please contact Karyn.Gleeson@ISEC.org, Conference Co Chair.

Solar System Space Elevators

by Peter Robinson

Part 2b: ASTEROIDS - CONCLUSION

This continues a series of articles loosely based on a presentation given at a British Interplanetary Society Space Elevator Symposium in November 2017 titled “Solar System Space Elevators”.

There are many hundreds of thousands of Asteroids in the solar system (image below): in the last newsletter I presented analysis of the four largest Asteroids, plus two others, showing that those at least all had a Synchronous Altitude well below 1000 km.

Image 1: Asteroids of the Inner Solar System and Jupiter. Source: Wikipedia, Public Domain

The low synchronous altitude means an asteroid Space Elevator could in principle be built using a tether of 1000 km or less in length, at least two orders of magnitude shorter than that proposed for the Earth …but… what might be the purposes, applications and economic justifications for such a system? What about Habitation or Mining?

Also, asteroid tethers have been proposed that are significantly longer than 1000 km, what would be the benefits and drawbacks of this? What is an Orbital Siphon...and could one be used? And what might make the proposition impractical?

1. HABITATION

A tether attached to a rotating asteroid could potentially be used to provide a habitat with some appreciable artificial ‘gravity’ resulting from the centrifugal acceleration at or near the Apex Anchor.

Further analysis for the example of Eros (5.27 hr rotation period) shows that an acceleration only equal to that of lunar gravity (0.165 g) is reached at an altitude of 15650 km. At this altitude a habitat of 200 tonne mass would require a tether tensile force of 344 kN for support: for a tether of 12 mm^2 area the stress would be 19.4 GPa, rising to 50 GPa for a constant area tether with total mass of 626 tonnes: if the tether were to be tapered the stress could be held at 19.4 GPa but with a total tether mass in excess of 1500 tonnes. The high centrifugal force would also need to be countered by a high base tension, potentially leading to retention issues (see discussion below).

These stress levels dictate a material approaching the strength of Graphene Super Laminate (GSL), and additionally the logistics of transporting any such high tether masses to an asteroid would be challenging. The altitude of 15650km might be close enough to the asteroid to support surface activities (robotics control or tele-presence), but the physical journey time to the asteroid surface would be many days if a wheeled climber was used.

To support human habitation, it would be far simpler to achieve the same rotational artificial gravity using a rotating structure, perhaps located close to the asteroid. This ‘space station’ could be simply in orbit around the asteroid or attached to (or near) the tether at the Synchronous altitude, or perhaps at some higher altitude acting as an Apex Anchor as depicted in Image 2 below.

Image 2: Space Station Habitat at Ceres Stationary Orbit Altitude [credit: Wikipedia Commons]

In conclusion, an asteroid Space Elevator would not be the most efficient means of providing an artificial gravity environment to support human habitation.

2. MINING

According to Wikipedia [1], “the Easily Recoverable Object (ERO) subclass of Near-Earth asteroids are considered likely candidates for early mining activity. Their low Δv makes them suitable for use in extracting construction materials for near-Earth space-based facilities, greatly reducing the economic cost of transporting supplies into Earth orbit.”

A tether attached to an asteroid has often been cited as a viable part of an asteroid mining operation. In many cases a Space Elevator system could be constructed using a large spacecraft (such as the SpaceX ‘Starship’) as the Apex Anchor with a tether a few hundred km long massing a few tens of tonnes, perhaps delivered by the same spacecraft. The tether material would not need an especially high specific strength, perhaps not even that of Kevlar.

Arriving spacecraft could berth on the tether without fully decelerating to the orbital velocity of the asteroid, though they would have to approach along the asteroid equatorial plane. Departing spacecraft, perhaps carrying mined material cargo, could similarly be released from the tether Apex with a small initial velocity. This velocity would be insufficient alone to yield a rapid transit to Earth or other planets, so spacecraft would need to be fueled. For example, in the case of Ceres the release velocity would be 1366 km/hr (380 m/sec) at 1500 km altitude, meaning a transfer time of many decades without some additional acceleration.

The saving in delta-V on both approach and departure would be of some value, but the fuel and time savings would be a small fraction of the totals for a journey to/from Earth or other planets. The mining operation would need to be substantial and require a significant number of spacecraft regularly arriving and departing the asteroid to offset the costs of shipping and building a space elevator system.

Earlier in 2024 a Space Elevator proponent suggested in social media that asteroid mining products could be released from a tether 50,000 km long. This would certainly yield a very rapid relative release velocity (45,500 km/hr in the case of Ceres), but the mass of the tether would need to be substantial to support its own weight and the outward ‘weight’ of an Apex Anchor at that altitude. The tether would probably need to have a specific strength of GSL and a mass measured in the thousands of tonnes, with base retention force of many hundreds of tonnes.

3. ORBITAL SIPHONS

Whatever length chosen for an asteroid tether the very low synchronous altitude would allow the use of an ‘orbital siphon’, as described in IAC papers in 2005 [2] and 2018 [3].

An orbital siphon is a continuous ‘conveyor belt’ looped around pulleys at the base station and some point well above the synchronous altitude. Masses (spacecraft or payload) would be attached to the conveyor: when sufficient masses are above the synchronous altitude their outward centrifugal ‘weight’ would exceed the downward weight of lower masses, resulting in the belt moving without the need for further power. Such a system is clearly more complex than a simple tether system and would require a continuous flow of material to operate.

The early 2005 paper describes an orbital siphon system on an Earth elevator, but in this location the tether material strength requirements become a major issue: a conveyor belt system cannot be tapered, meaning a specific strength well in excess of that predicted for GSL would be required. The later 2018 paper moves the concept to an asteroid, removing the need for a high strength tether material. This concept is certainly worthy of consideration in support of mining or asteroid deconstruction, though only as a long-term option after mining operations mature to yield a high continuous production rate.

Image from IAC Paper “IAC-18-D4.3-18 Disassembly of Near Earth Asteroids by Leveraging Rotational Self-Energy”: credit A. Vialea, C. McInnes & M. Ceriotti

4. SURFACE RETENTION (BASE ANCHORING)

Any Space Elevator system on a rotating body must of course be securely attached to that body, and when the local gravity is low (as on asteroids) the surface conditions become important. The required tether attachment force depends on the climber mass and acceleration for which the tether is designed, but may be as low as one tonne-force (10 kN) with low ascent accelerations.

There is limited information on asteroid surface conditions as few have been visited by spacecraft [4], with soft surface landings achieved on only four occasions. Three of these four do not appear promising, according to Wikipedia [5]:

- 25143_Itokawa (visited in 2010): “...the density of the asteroid is too low for it to be made from solid rock. This would mean that Itokawa is not a monolith but rather a rubble pile formed from fragments that have cohered over time …”

- 162173_Ryugu (visited 2019): “...JAXA scientists concluded that Ryugu is actually a rubble pile with about 50% of its volume being empty space...”

- 101955_Bennu (visited 2020): “Analysis showed that the particles making up Bennu's exterior are loosely packed and lightly bound to each other; The spacecraft would have sunk into Bennu had it not fired its thrusters to back away immediately after it grabbed dust and rock from the asteroid's surface.”

For 433_EROS (visited 2001) the situation is less clear, it is described as a ‘stony’ asteroid covered with craters that are filled with dust. The retention of a space elevator tether would depend on whether it consists of a few large ‘stones’ or many smaller ones, and the mechanism by which those stones are held together. If they are held together purely by gravity even a single tonne-force of tether tension would pull the asteroid apart.

(Of interest might also be that “Data from the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft collected on Eros in December 1998 suggests that it could contain 20 billion tonnes of aluminum and similar amounts of metals that are rare on Earth, such as gold and platinum”, making Eros a candidate for early mining operations.)

One means of assisting tether retention might be to attach a tether to some form of strap or netting around the entire asteroid. This would only be feasible for very small asteroids and may not be effective if the negligible gravity means the asteroid material is only loosely bound together.

Other meaning of raising material from asteroid surfaces without rockets include catapults, slingshots or railguns, but these would all also require secure attachment to the asteroid surface.

5. ELEVATOR SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Another purpose for an asteroid space elevator might be as a technology demonstrator or development tool.

Many project management requirements (such as the ‘Technology Readiness Level’ TRL scale) require the engineering of a complex system to be first demonstrated on smaller and simpler systems or sub-systems: in the case of an Earth Space Elevator a full 100,000km tether is unlikely to be deployed unless the deployment systems, control systems, material, etc, have been demonstrated in space first at a smaller scale. Deployment of a ‘Pathfinder’ free-flying tether in high Earth orbit has been proposed, but this would not demonstrate aspects of the system associated with the attachment to a large rotating body.

This means that deployment of an Asteroid Space Elevator could well be used as part of the Earth Space Elevator ‘mega-project’ plan. Construction logistics would of be simpler if the asteroid was near the Earth, so Eros (discussed above) might be a candidate. Final asteroid selection would of course depend on examination to prove that surface conditions are suitable for tether attachment, plus of course a decision on the optimum asteroid size, location and other factors.

6. SUMMARY: RATIONALE

In conclusion, asteroid space elevators may be relatively simple in theory due to the low synchronous altitudes and the potential to use some existing low-strength tether material, but the instances where they might be practical propositions are limited. The very low surface gravity and lack of any atmosphere means that asteroid surface access is straightforward using existing rocket technology.

Two potential use cases might be as a Space Elevator Technology Demonstrator or in support of large scale mining operations, but in both cases the potential difficulty of attaching a tether to the surface would need to be carefully addressed.

REFERENCES

[1] Wikipedia “Asteroid Mining” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining  

[2] IAC paper “IAC-05-D4.2.07 Novel Payload Dynamics on Space Elevators Systems” by C. McInnes & C. Davis

[3] IAC paper “IAC-18-D4.3-18 Disassembly of Near Earth Asteroids by Leveraging Rotational Self-Energy” by A.Vialea, C.McInnes & M.Ceriotti

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_planets_and_comets_visited_by_spacecraft 

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101955_Bennu 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/162173_Ryugu 2019

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25143_Itokawa 2010

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/433_Eros 2001

History Corner

by David Raitt
ISEC Chief Historian

 Origin of the Green Road to Space

On 31 July 1960, Yuri Artsutanov outlined his thoughts about other paths into space besides rockets in a short article in a Russian tabloid with the title translated into English as ‘To the Cosmos by Electric Train’. (Artsutanov, Y. (1960), “V kosmos na elektrovoze”, Komsomolskaya Pravda, 31 July, (English translation “Into the cosmos by electric rocket” by Joan Barth Urban and Roger G. Gilbertson, 2004, available at: http://images.spaceref.com/docs/spaceelevator/Artsutanov_Pravda_SE.pdf). He wished to propose one more design for a station directly connected to Earth. He wrote "The realization of this design may make the trip into cosmic space only a bit more complicated than a trip today from Moscow to the suburb of Mozhaika on an electric train." He continued, "Already today one may imagine several details of the construction of our 'cosmic cable way'. Above all, it will consist not of one thread but of a whole ribbon of them running parallel and joined to each other by cross-cut straps." He noted that probably, there would also be threads along which may move cosmic electric trains with passengers seated in hermetically sealed wagons. It struck me, for the first time, that a train runs along two parallel tracks or lines, with railway sleepers supporting them, and this is analogous to how many envisage a space elevator today comprising (at least) two lines (or cable/ribbon) -- one taking climbers up and another bringing climbers down.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, held an event in Washington, D.C. on 9 May 2019 entitled, 'Going to Space to Benefit Earth' which outlined his vision for Blue Origin technologies to service the Moon. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ98hGUe6FM). In his speech he said, "The kids here, and your children, and their grandchildren, you’re going to build the O’Neill colonies. This generation’s job, my generation’s job is to build the infrastructure so that you’ll be able to. We’re going to build a road to space and then amazing things will happen." At the end of his presentation, Bezos repeated his comment, “We have to use the resources of space. We must have a future for our grandchildren and their grandchildren of dynamism. We can’t let them fall prey to stasis and rationing. If this generation builds the road to space, build that infrastructure, we will get to see thousands of future entrepreneurs building a real space industry.”

Now, for some 30 years green has been the flavour (or should that be the colour!) of the month. There are green political parties in many diverse countries around the world which aspire to follow an ideology that includes not only environmentalism, climate change and fostering an ecologically sustainable society, but often also other concerns such as social justice, consensus decision-making, democracy, and nonviolence. We talk about green energy, which is clean and sustainable, green economics to improve efficiencies and offer solutions for the challenges we face, green marketing referring to the practice of developing and advertising products based on their real or perceived environmental sustainability, green manufacturing using fewer environmental pollutants and natural resources and producing less waste and carbon emissions, and so on.

Combining Artsutanov's electric train, and Bezos's road to space, and the green movement, we believe that the space elevator will become the ‘Green Road to Space!’ This term was coined by Michael Schaeffer in his presentation in the Shotgun Science Session on 18 August 2019 at the 2019 ISEC Space Elevator Conference in Seattle. The session was open to all attendees to present a Space Elevator-related idea or concept in five minutes or less. During his brief talk which asked for investment for the future of humanity and investment into the Green Road to Space, and using data from Falcon Heavy, designed to carry payloads into space, he noted that "Even if rockets can make it to a price point of $500/lb cargo, elevators will still be closer to $100/lb and 17.7 million pounds of CO2 saved per load! This is the Green road to space. The comparison is a bit like using a train to move large loads rather than trucking them."

This insightful term inspired a new 18-month ISEC study which was published in 2021 as 'Space Elevators: The Green Road to Space.' (https://www.isec.org/green-road-to-space-committee). Edited by Jerry Eddy, the study embraced a new vision - 'Space Elevators are the Green Road to Space - they enable humanity's most important missions by moving massive tonnage to GEO and beyond. They accomplish this safely, routinely, inexpensively, daily and they are environmentally neutral.' The report showed how the Space Elevator can enable missions that cannot reasonably be accomplished with rockets because they require the movement of massive tonnage to GEO and beyond. Such missions include enabling space solar power, Earth sun shades, Moon and Mars settlements, and permanent disposal of nuclear waste. The Space Elevator can accomplish these missions, as the vision above states, by climbing with electricity and not discarding anything along the way. This new, green and permanent space transportation system with its parallel path to space without causing pollution by not burning rocket fuel in the atmosphere and leaving debris will thus help improve the lot of humanity on Earth.

Research Note

by John Knapman

Recent newsletters have dealt with building extensions to the GEO station in the east-west and north-south direction. The third dimension is along the tether, which we will call above and below. However, someone inside an extension above the GEO station will feel a gentle pull away from the earth, and the direction towards the earth will feel like “up.” This sensation will increase with increasing distance from GEO.

Figure 1. Stations above and below the GEO station

Figure 1 shows the tension pulling the extensions back towards the GEO station. This could be handled by making the tether a little thicker or, as shown here, by having three or more auxiliary tethers, which would allow greater flexibility of movement for climbers and for the extensions themselves.

For a 1000-tonne extension 1000km above the mid-point, the tension required to hold it in place will be 10.8kN, equivalent to 1.1 tonnes weight. The balancing extension 1000km below should have a mass of 935 tonnes, although these parameters can be varied as long as the balance is maintained. Ring-shaped extensions would be suitable and would make it easy for climbers on the tether to pass through above and below without being impeded.

The auxiliary tethers need a combined mass of 400kg above GEO and the same below.

Mathematics

The acceleration g due to gravity at a distance h above GEO (i.e., in the direction away from the earth) is reduced by a factor D2⁄(D+h)2 , where D=42170km is the distance from the center of the earth. Then the acceleration reduction is g[1-D2⁄(D+h)2 ], where g=0.224m/s2 is the acceleration due to gravity at GEO. If h=1000km above the mid-point, this comes to 0.224×4.58×10-2=1.026×10-2 m/s2. There is an increase in the acceleration c due to the centrifugal force of rotation about the earth. It increases linearly with distance, so the increase is c h⁄D. Since c=g by the nature of GEO, the change is 5.3×10-4m/s2. Hence the net acceleration is the sum of these two, which amounts to 1.079×10-2m/s2. The force on a 1000-tonne extension is therefore 10.8kN.

Nearer to the earth the acceleration due to gravity increases by g[D2/((D-h')2-1)], where h' is the distance below GEO. This comes to 0.224×4.92×10-2=1.101×10-2 m/s2 if h^'=1000km. The centrifugal force of rotation about the earth decreases by c h'⁄D, which is 5.3×10-4m/s2 as before. The sum is 1.154×10-4 m/s2. To get an extension that balances the one above, the mass of the lower extension should be 1000×1.079/1.154, which is 935 tonnes. Alternatively, we can change the masses above and below while keeping the same ratio, or we can alter the distances to make the masses equal.

The auxiliary tethers have to support a force F=1.08×104 and so their area of cross section is A=F⁄σ, where σ is the tensile strength. The mass of the tethers is Ahρ=Fhρ⁄σ. For graphene we take the density ρ to be 2298kg/m3 and the strength σ to be 88/1.4 GPa, where 1.4 is the safety factor. We assume h=h' as above to be 106 meters, resulting in a mass of 1.08×104×106×2298×1.4⁄(8.8×1010)=394.8 which is approximately 400kg. If there are three tethers, they will each have a mass of 132kg below GEO and the same above.

Tether materials

by Adrian Nixon, Board member ISEC

Up Close and Personal With the Space Elevator Tether

What would a space elevator tether look like? This is a question I have been asked recently when helping a science writer visualise this world-changing technology. Regular readers will recall that we have visited this topic several times over the years [1,2,3]. The field of materials science has been steadily advancing and we could do with an update.

This time let’s get personal and join a scientist examining a tether made from graphene super laminate (GSL).

Scientist examining a tether made from graphene super laminate (GSL). Image made by an AI with additional content by A. Nixon.

We travel to a high-tech platform at sea, on the equator. This is the Earth port. Our scientist points out a shiny, thin metallic ribbon stretching up from the platform and vanishing into the clouds. The tether continues beyond the atmosphere to geostationary orbit 35,786 kilometres from where we are standing. We know it doesn’t stop there. The tether extends far beyond to the Apex Anchor, 100,000 kilometres away.

Klaxons sound, lights flash. We follow our scientist and join the staff in the observation lounge.

A sudden vibration in the floor, something big separates from the deck of the Earth port and starts to ascend the tether. A sleek climber has begun its journey into space. We watch as it gradually picks up speed climbing faster until it becomes a mere speck at the edge of vision and finally vanishes.

We are cleared by security. Now we can get up close to inspect the tether before the next climber clamps on.

The tether is one metre wide and mirror-like. Look at it edge on, and it is hard to see. It is just 7 microns thin, although it is slightly thicker higher up. This is ten times thinner than a human hair. This material can easily support a 20-tonne climber.

Our scientist tells us this shiny mirror is not metal, this is carbon. More specifically a form of carbon called graphene super laminate (GSL). GSL is made of individual layers of graphene in a sandwich of itself. Each layer is just one atom thin, 1m wide and 100,000 km long. If that wasn’t enough, each layer is a single molecule of connected carbon atoms all the way from the surface of the earth right out into space. There are 20,000 graphene layers in this tether.

Look at the edge, it is fascinating, this material is so thin it is barely there. The urge to reach out to touch the edge is irresistible. The scientist grabs our wrist. “Don’t!” she says, “This edge is shaper than any razor, the tether is perfectly safe to touch, apart from those edges”. Chastened, we withdraw our hand.

She holds out a thin silver stick, it looks like a luxury pen. “This is a diamond tipped stylus. Diamond will cut anything, try it on the tether” We hold the stylus pointing the diamond at the shiny perfectly smooth mirrored surface, and hesitate. “Go on, try and scratch it” A mischievous thought occurs, we could autograph the tether! Writing on the tether with a diamond is a new experience -- and one that has absolutely no effect. The diamond glides soundlessly and effortlessly over the surface. We press harder and still no effect. She smiles at our confusion. “GSL is harder than diamond, and the diamond-graphene interface has an extremely low coefficient of friction, you can try as hard as you like, you won’t even scratch the surface” [4].

We ask if we can touch the smooth surface of the tether “Of course, just mind the edges” she says. The tether feels hard, smooth and cold, like metal would. Our scientist explains GSL is a superb conductor of heat, that’s why it feels so cold to the touch.

“Cool” we say, and she laughs.

This tether material is truly astonishing, it can support seven 20-tonne climbers spaced at intervals even though it is thinner than a hair. There are other Earth ports nearby with thicker tethers that can support much heavier loads. We chose this one to visit because it was the original design.

Another klaxon sounds. “Time to go, another climber is about to be attached.”

It is going to be a busy day for this space elevator.

References:

1. Nixon, A. (2020). December International Space Elevator Consortium Newsletter: What would a tether made from 2D materials look like? [online] International Space Elevator Consortium. Available at: https://www.isec.org/space-elevator-newsletter-2020-december/#geic [Accessed 26 May 2024].

2. Nixon, A. (2021). February International Space Elevator Consortium Newsletter: What Would the Tether Look Like? Part 2: A Tale of Two Tethers. [online] International Space Elevator Consortium. Available at: https://www.isec.org/space-elevator-newsletter-2021-february/#tether [Accessed 26 May 2024].

3. Nixon, A. (2021a). 2021 June International Space Elevator Consortium Newsletter: What would the tether look like? Part 3: More evidence from a graphene heat spreader. [online] International Space Elevator Consortium. Available at: https://www.isec.org/space-elevator-newsletter-2021-june/#tether [Accessed 26 May 2024].

4. Sahoo, S., Khan, Z., Mannan, S., Tiwari, U., Ye, Z., Krishnan, A. and Nitya Nand Gosvami (2023). Superlubricity and Stress-Shielding of Graphene Enables Ultra Scratch-Resistant Glasses. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15(44), pp.51905–51914. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.3c09653

Media Updates

from the ISEC Media Mogul

Our social media presence on LinkedIn continues to expand, our 'Company Page' now has over 1900 followers and is growing each week.

If you're not already a follower, here's a link: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3262801/. As a follower you can't post there yourself, but if you have a 'Space Elevator' item you can either post on your own page (tagging ISEC of course!) or on the 'Space Elevator Architects' group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/111756/ .

Our other social media presences are all listed here: https://www.isec.org/social-media. On Facebook we have over 2200 followers, but we feel that we are unable to properly engage with them. Are you a Facebook expert, and can you help? If so, please contact us via FB message.

We're also unsure about continuing our accounts on X, Threads and Mastodon: do you follow us there, and NOT on LinkedIn? If so, please let us know by 'liking' and commenting on our most recent post on the media of your choice.

We have no plans to discontinue our Instagram, YouTube and Flickr accounts.

Whatever social media outlet you use, please engage with our posts: 'likes' and 'comments' are really valuable in spreading the word about what we do.

Around the Web

Our very own Larry Bartoszek was interviewed by Everyday Spacer for an hour of Q&A from their listeners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj8_8ztOGIc 

“Periodic Graphics: The Science of Space Elevators” by Andy Brunning has an illustration from Chemical & Engineering News that summarizes what might constitute a Space Elevator:

https://cen.acs.org/materials/Periodic-Graphics-science-space-elevators/102/i20

Mark A. Garlick is a graphic designer that has created an animation of what he believes the Space Elevator might look like in the future:

https://www.markgarlick.com/view.php?folder=Hardware&hash=aadf655acb9d94eca7bae6278176d063&mediatype=v&type=full. 

Someone has been reading our material and made a quiz about Space Elevators. Question #4 gives a formula of 1 m/s per second which is redundant. It should either say 1 m/s or 1m per second.

https://cen.acs.org/materials/Quiz-science-space-elevators/102/web/2024/07 

Upcoming Events

8th Annual Nanotechnology Conference
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Sunday, August 25th, through Wednesday, August 28th, 2024
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Space Elevator Conference
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75th International Astronautical Congress
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Theme: “Responsible Space for Sustainability”
Monday, October 14th, through Friday, October 18th, 2024
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Xploration Conference and Expo
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https://isdc.nss.org/
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Space Elevator Session TBD
Rosen Center, Orlando, FL, United States

76th International Astronautical Congress
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Monday, September 29th, through Friday, October 3rd, 2025
International Convention Centre, Sydney, Australia

77th International Astronautical Congress
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https://iac2026antalya.com/
Theme: “The World Needs More Space”
Proposed Dates: October 5th through October 9th, 2026
Antalya, Turkey

Contact Us:

Our website is www.isec.org.

You can find us on Facebook, X, Flickr, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Mastodon and Threads.

Support us:

Sign up to be a member at: https://www.isec.org/membership

You can also give directly using the “Donate” link at the bottom of our website page.

Does your place of employment do matching funds for donations or volunteer time through Benevity? If so, you can make ISEC your recipient. Our 501(c)(3) number is 80-0302896.