International Space Elevator Consortium
November 2021 Newsletter

In this Issue:

Editor’s Note
President’s Corner
Galactic Harbour Associates Video
ISEC visits the GEIC
British Interplanetary Society Lectures
IAC in Dubai
History Corner
Upcoming Events
Contact Us/Support Us

Editor’s Note

Dear Fellow Space Elevator Enthusiast,

The website Interesting Engineering posted an article about the possibility of space elevators in our future. It’s a great read! Check it out at this link: https://interestingengineering.com/tech-that-can-make-space-elevators-a-reality.

After so many months of cancelled activities, it was good to have some, again, but we went from famine to feast with three in a row! Members of ISEC visited Manchester, England, the location of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) for a tour and speaking engagements followed by a trip to the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) for more talks. After that, the 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) took place in Dubai with an entire day of lectures for that conference. Most of this newsletter is dedicated to updating you on what happened so, read on..!

Sandee Schaeffer
Newsletter Editor

President's Corner

by Pete Swan

Why ISEC at International Astronautical Congress?

The IAC occurs once a year with sponsorship from both countries and companies. The topics discussed reach across human needs within the framework of space, Earth, the Moon and Mars. Can you imagine a more innovative environment? A friend of mine – astronaut Mae Jemison – believes “space is about the extraordinary!”

It is reported that over 6,500 participants attended this 72nd IAC under the theme of “Inspire, Innovate and Discover for the Benefit for Mankind.” On Wednesday, I had two students from Mumbai stop by while I was having coffee and grill me on tether dynamics of Space Elevators, the cryogenic temperatures “out there” and the needs for our mission. On Tuesday, Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra, and Redwire announced a huge commercial space station in Low Earth orbit as a natural growth from the ISS. Also on Tuesday, we ran the technical session on Space Elevators and had questions from an astronaut (how can we help humanity as a whole?) and from a “real” elevator designer (about stability of Space Elevators at GEO). Discussing Space Elevators in such an environment is motivational. Opportunities existed for talking with rocket scientists, satellite builders, lunar mining companies and teams of visionaries explaining how to supply giga-watts of electrical power around the globe and eliminating hundreds of coal burning plants.

The exciting circumstances lead to some great opportunities for the Space Elevator community. When we talked with everyone (from students to the director of JPL) we showed the jewel cases with 5- and 10-layer sheet graphene and made the statement that the Space Elevator has the material it requires for operations (yes, yes, we all know we have a tremendous challenge ahead of us). The environment of the IAC demands establishment of big visions and action plans expressed in engineering and scientific terms; also, in terms related to helping humanity accelerate into the middle of the 21st century.

The ISEC team reached across the conference and hopefully established a foothold on the future of mankind. I want to thank the authors and presenters for illustrating where we are and where we are going! (see the rest of the newsletter on these many activities). Just remember “we always have Paris” (a well-known movie quote). Next year’s IAC will be in Paris, so prepare your abstracts now.

Pete

Green Road to Space Video

by Vern Hall
ISEC Harbor Master
President, Galactic Harbour Associates, Inc.

Galactic Harbour Associates, Inc., an ISEC sponsor, is pleased to announce the recent completion of a 3-minute animated video depicting our vision for the future Space Elevator transportation infrastructure system from the Earth Port Access City to the GEO Enterprise Zone. The video was prepared by the digital marketing and creative studio firm: Lux Virtual, based in Culver City, CA. Many of the concepts shown in the video are based upon various ISEC study reports, harkening back to the “Design Considerations for a Space Elevator Earth Port”. The video emphasizes the safe, efficient, regular and “green” movement of cargo to space using intermodal GEO Climbers carrying their payloads in intermodal Space Elevator containers. It shows cargo handling to and from the proposed Floating Operations Platform in equatorial waters and an updated conceptual image for the Tether Terminus Platform.

This video has been prepared for broad dissemination and viewing by general audiences. It focuses on the Space Elevator as the “Green Road to Space” by the use of on-board batteries for the climb through the atmosphere above the Equator and a large solar panel array for the transit through space to the GEO region. This presentation is just one of the possible implementation approaches for our future. We hope that this will be the first in a series of videos that cover the major features and capabilities of the overall Galactic Harbour. We believe that this video can serve as an important part of briefing material for a variety of audiences to help them better visualize and understand the Space Elevator concept. It is not intended to be a detailed design depiction. It is available at https://galacticharbour.com/modernspaceelevator and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRs-9gg0bUs. 

Tether Materials

by Adrian Nixon

ISEC visits the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre

As you will know, dear reader, graphene was first isolated in 2004 by two professors at the University of Manchester in the UK. They went on to win the Nobel prize in 2010. Since then, a whole ecosystem of graphene activity has sprung up around the world and its epicentre is Manchester.

From the point of view of graphene there are two significant institutions in Manchester, the National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC.) The NGI focusses on early-stage research and the GEIC is more focussed on industrial applications of graphene technology and works closely with industrial partners to develop products of the future.

ISEC was invited to visit the GEIC and we designed a whole day of activities to make the best use of the limited time we had. We were also joined by Steve Foxley (CEO) and Ben Morgan (Director of research) of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) based in Sheffield, UK. We were also joined by Prof. Mike Maddock and Rob Whieldon of Nixene Ltd.

The day began with a discussion of graphene and two dimensional (2D) materials in space, followed by a tour of this world class facility. Then in the afternoon we had a series of in-depth discussions about the Green Road to Space, Space elevator technology and the state of the art of graphene manufacturing and future trends.

We were welcomed by James Baker, the CEO of Graphene@Manchester. James has an international reputation and is one of the top people in the world working on industrial applications of graphene and 2D materials.

We were joined by academic researchers from the University of Manchester and GEIC staff. The day began with a session on 2D materials applications in space. This was designed as a conversation between informed people rather than presentation / lecture. We explored what 2D materials can do and how they might be applied in space environment.

Then James gave us a tour of the facility starting with an overview of graphene applications. These included electronics, biomedical, water and gas separation and structural applications, many of which are already in production.

The next part of the visit was the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) laboratory.

The GEIC has an Aixtron BM Neutron graphene roll to roll production machine. This is one of only two in the world. The Neutron machine automates the process of creating a precise monolayer of polycrystalline graphene on metal foils.

In the background is another Aixtron batch production line (Novo MOCVD system). This is capable of making atomic layers of different 2D materials. This machine can create stacked 2D heterostructures on circular wafers for the electronics industrial applications.

The manufacturing process for making graphene still has many challenges to overcome before tether quality material can be made. This is the state of the art of graphene manufacturing at present. It is worth reminding ourselves how impressive these machines are. Just 17 years ago in 2004, graphene was thought impossible to isolate as a one atom thin 2D material. The machines you see in this picture are making graphene as a one atom thin 2D material at industrial scale. When you stop and think, this is astonishing progress.

There was so much more to see. James took us to visit the printed electronics laboratory. This is where graphene powders are used to make inks and 3D printed structures.

Then finally, to appreciate the industrial scale of activity capable at the GEIC we were given a tour of the High Bay. This is a flexible space where commercial partners create pilot manufacturing lines that bridge the gap between the laboratory and full-scale industrial manufacturing of graphene based products.

British Interplanetary Society Lectures

by Peter Robinson

Following their GEIC visit in Manchester, Pete Swan and Jerry Eddy travelled to London to give a talk at the HQ of the British Interplanetary Society on October 21st titled “Modern Space Elevator: Ready to Initiate Development”. This was the first in-person event held by the BIS in 2021, with a well-informed and attentive audience (including ISEC’s John Knapman) in the room and even more on-line : after the presentation there was a lengthy Q&A session prompting some interesting discussions ... we hope that many were convinced that the Space Elevator is coming soon!

We noticed that the on-line audience included Dr Helen Sharman, or at least someone using her name. She became the first British astronaut (cosmonaut) when she visited Mir in 1991.

ISEC Papers Written and Presented at the IAC in Dubai

by Jerry Eddy

Changing the Economic Paradigm for Building Space Elevators and Infrastructure Games
Presenters: Kevin Barry and Edwardo Pineda Alfaro

Visions of Many Demand Space Elevators Be Built Now
by Peter Swan, Michael Fitzgerald, Cathy Swan, and Vern Hall
Presenter: Pete Swan

Space Elevators entering Engineering Development Now
by Michal Fitzgerald and Pete Swan
Presenter: Pete Swan

Space Elevators: the Green Road to Space
by Jerry Eddy and Pete Swan
Presenter: Jerry Eddy

Secondary Tethers
by John M. Knapman, and Pete Swan
Presenter: Pete Swan

Climate Action and Growing Electricity Demand: Meeting Both Challenges in the 21st Century With Space Based Solar Power
by David Dotson, Jerry Eddy, and Pete Swan
Presenter: David Dotson

The Climber-Climber Interface of the Space Elevator
by Dennis H. Wright, Larry Bartoszek, David Dotson, Dan Gleeson, John Knapman, Martin Lades, Adrian Nixon, Phil Phister, and Peter Robinson
Presenter: David Dotson

History Corner

by David Raitt, PhD
ISEC Chief Historian

A Girl on a Space Elevator

It was interesting to note that the 2011 sci-fi novel by Joan Slonczewski entitled “The Last Frontier” featured a girl travelling up a space elevator constructed of self-healing cables composed of anthrax bacilli. The engineered bacteria can regrow the cables when severed by space debris. Now, self-healing materials (and paints) have been around for a score of years or so, with potential applications for repairing cracks in bridges, bullet holes in fighter jets, tanks pierced by armoured shells and the like. However, there is another, short, scifi story about a girl travelling in a space elevator with its cables that I’d like to share here. But first a bit of background!

In November 2002, when I worked for ESA’s Technology Transfer and Promotion Office, I launched the Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction Competition as a way to involve young people in thinking about space and becoming more interested in science and technology in general and in space activities in particular. The competition, which was endorsed by two of the most well-known and best-selling SF authors - Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury, was aimed at young people who were asked to write a short story which utilized technology in some way. The main goals of the 1st Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction Essay Competition, which took place in early 2003, were to promote innovative ideas for future space technologies; recognize and pursue viable space technologies found in science fiction; provide a link between young writers and the space community; encourage young people to read and write science fiction; and share the ingenuity and creativity of young minds with the general public. There were some great stories on a wide variety of themes and these were put together in a book published by ESA.

Based on the success of this first competition, I decided to organize a second one - this time with a specific theme, open to all ages, and encouraging images to be submitted as well as stories. The theme chosen was that of the Space Elevator which had been one of the concepts discussed in ESA’s Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications (ITSF) study which I conducted in 2001 and which had seized the imagination of worldwide scientists and science fiction writers alike.

The 2nd Clarke-Bradbury Science Fiction Competition, announced in late 2004 and with a closing date of February 2005, had two categories - science fiction story and artwork – both of which had to relate to a Space Elevator and incorporate technologies and applications in some way. Submissions would be assessed in accordance with criteria relating to technology, imagination, structure, skills and visualization. I brought Brad Edwards on board for this competition as a judge and co-organizer and it was he who provided the prize money for the winners in each category, as well as for editing and publishing a book of the best stories (Edwards and Raitt, 2005). Altogether a total of 109 stories and images were submitted from 29 different countries – a little under half being sent in from the USA. All the entries were evaluated by an international jury (which included our own Dr Peter Swan) who eventually selected a Winner and Runner-up in each of the two categories.

With so much to choose from, the jury looked for stories and images which created a sense of drama or difference and based on the jury input, the Winner of the 2nd Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction Competition for 2005 in the Story category was ultimately chosen by the organizers to be the story “Clever” by Christian Doan, a writer and artist living and working in Melbourne, Australia. The tale is about nanites – tiny alchemists able to construct anything from raw material. Injected into the body, protected by the saline, they could be carried anywhere – including up a Space Elevator – but when they escaped in a bead of sweat and the saline solution evaporated then they were free to do their work! This story was chosen because of the quality of writing, the technology idea behind the story and the thriller feel to the text. It was a convincing future technology and a fluently written suspense story with a subtle, unstated twist at the end. The use of viewpoint was interesting and the way the scenario established itself rather than being just described was refreshing. The story was also short and stood on its own with no need for further explanation. And here it is!

"Clever"

by Christian Doan

They were such clever things. Susan admired the almost brutal intelligence of the nanites. Their ability to construct literally anything, atom by atom from virtually any raw material, fascinated her. They were tiny alchemists.

Susan slipped into the elevator and waited quietly for the doors to shut. She held herself still in a tightly composed and calm manner. She breathed purposefully and slowly, watching the elevator doors. A tick passed. Her hand shot out and stabbed the door-close button hard. Her finger left a large sweaty smudge on the button.

Only in the freedom of space could the robotic machines be constructed with the stunning precision needed to evolve these microscopic metal lifeforms. The royalties from the machines were sure to fund the European Space Agency for decades to come.

The deep hum of the moving elevator began. The almost heartbeat like thrum soothed Susan. The descent to Earth would take six minutes. Susan breathed out. She cleared her throat and quickly passed her hand over her moist temple. The tiniest drop of sweat flew from her hand and landed on the elevator wall.

No one besides ESA had the nanites, but everyone desired them. They could turn rubbish into a Rolls-Royce. Fecal matter into food. Manure into money.

Susan clasped her hands calmly in front of her and listened to the meditative elevator sounds. Five minutes to go. She could see the Earth through the viewport and felt the increasing tug of gravity. Her thoughts focused on how the nanites would turn years of low-paid research into gold for her. White gold. A millilitre of nanites exchanged for fifty bars of platinum in a numbered Swiss bank vault.

Injecting the nanites into her forearm had been delightfully easy. No one would ever guess they were carried in her body. The nanites were always held on the research station in secure containers of saline. The salt solution cleverly short-circuited the nanites until they were washed off and dried. Then, the immobilised nanites would begin to twitch into action, fresh and eager. The salt of her blood would keep them dormant, she was sure. A brief stint connected to a blood dialysis machine would filter out the nanites, and the reward was hers.

The air was definitely too hot in the elevator car Susan decided. They would never know what she had done, she was certain. She told herself that. She plucked at the front of her top and fanned herself. The fabric of her top waved about. And another tiny drop of sweat landed on the wall.

The nanites twitched. Slowly, the nanites noticed the saline solution evaporating. They could feel this in their electronic sensors (no longer being short-circuited). They came to life. Their sensors swept about them and they knew this was not the lab. The dozen or so nanites that had landed together in the fleck of sweat chittered electronic noise at each other. They were in agreement. It was time to hunt for their designated raw material. The nanites swept away from each other rapidly, scurrying on their tiny feet to prospect. For carbon.

No one would ever know, Susan told herself. No one would count the nanites until far too late. By then she hoped to have disappeared. Reborn in some European city as the wealthy widower of a fast-food chain magnate, she would tell nosy people. She had planned meticulously.

The microscopic nanites were able to wriggle through the tiniest of crevices and discover wonderful new surfaces to explore. Suddenly, one nanite chittered excited electronic noise to the others. It had found a truly awesome vein of carbon. Richer and purer than anything the others had sensed. The nanites discussed the marvelously clever things they could build with this carbon. The nanites rapidly swarmed.

The elevator suddenly shook. Susan felt a hot flush of panic and snatched a handhold. The view of Earth swanned about in the small viewport. A surge of guilt told her she must have been found out. No, she told herself. She forced herself to be calm. She had been fastidious in thinking her plan through. The elevator was still descending. No one was trying to stop her. A small hiccup in the elevator. They happened, she told herself. She wiped her sweaty palms off on the walls of the elevator. Only four minutes to go.

The nanites licked the carbon with their tendril-like antennae as they ate. The nanites noticed the carbon was laid out in long tubes that seemed to stretch on forever. Their processors told them these carbon nanotubes would be immensely strong. They would serve as excellent cabling, they knew, if that was what they were going to build. But that was not their directive. With this much carbon the nanites knew they could make many things. But on their list of directives human greed had taken priority. They were to build diamonds from this carbon. For that, they had to disassemble these carbon tubes. They ate.

The elevator car shuddered violently and the alarm sounded. Susan let out a scream and grabbed tightly to the walls. Red light and honking sounds filled the elevator car. She fought the shaking of the car and hurried to the viewport. Earth had flicked out of view. She looked up and couldn’t see the research station. She panicked. She bashed the emergency stop and screamed when the car jerked to a bone knocking halt. She froze and breathed deeply. Sweat dripped from her brow and landed on the floor.

The nanites ate. With the tinniest of snips, the jaws of the nanites snipped through the last of the carbon nanotubes, the last of the cabling.

The elevator car plummeted, dragged by the full force of gravity. The nanites' sensors were not tuned to detect sound and did not hear the wretched screams coming from inside the elevator car.

The severed ends of the elevator cabling flicked about wildly. There was a flash of something glittery on the ends of the cables. The nanites continued to eat. They were pleased to be fulfilling their directives. They felt like such clever things.

2005 © Christian Doan

Upcoming Events

Space Elevator Conference

Sponsored by the International Space Elevator Consortium
Topics: Tether/Climber interface & Environmental Benefits of Space Elevators
Coming in Spring of 2022
Location: TBD

International Space Development Conference (ISDC)

Sponsored by the National Space Society (NSS)
http://isdc2022.nss.org/
Friday, May 27th through Sunday, May 29th, 2022
Location: Hyatt Regency Crystal City
Arlington, VA

The ISDC is the annual conference of the National Space Society bringing together NSS leaders and members with leading managers, engineers, scientists, educators, and businessmen from civilian, military, commercial, entrepreneurial, and grassroots advocacy space sectors. Information about sponsorships, exhibiting, and volunteering is available at each year’s ISDC website. For the last several years, ISEC has contributed a focus day on Space Elevators.

73rd International Astronautical Congress

Sponsored by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF)
https://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2022/
Sunday, September 18th through Thursday, September 22nd, 2022
Paris, France

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