Elevators Through Time - Book 1

Part 33: Reception and Closure

Part 33: Reception and Closure

Year: 2038

Time: 3:22pm

Location: Reception Area, Pacific Sky-Lift Base Station, Pacific Ocean

Level: Level 3, Air Reception Level

Kate and I sat at a nearby window and enjoyed the scenery of the vast interior of the Station as well as the calm sea as far as the protective kinetic momentum barriers were.

Jeffrey had also told me about the free internet that was available here and told me how to connect to it.

I used my wrist-mounted console and looked up information about this place.

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The base of the "Skyhook" Space Elevator was initially meant to be nearby Cape Canaveral or some other Space Research-oriented locations, and politically unoffensive locations. But with the need for an un-stationary platform they needed the base to be floating on water while the anchors would be sunk deep in bedrock, hundreds of miles beneath the ocean floor.

The project was cancelled a few times, but in 2012 it was started and funds poured in from all the procrastinating investors who saw the potential for business and tourism but were frightened to put a stake in a huge investment that would potentially be a flop.

The location needed to be somewhere easily defendable as well as not under threat... well not through history, at present, or possibly have the potential to be a battleground.

It was a few miles out in the ocean along the line of the equator.

The area just off The Phoenix Islands was a perfect choice.

In late 2012, The Obayashi Corporation announced that they would build a Space Elevator in 38 years. It used a combination of Carbon Nanotubes for the major superstructure, produced by the LiftPort Group plant in Melleville, New Jersey, and Mercury-based anti-grav tensioners.

The tensioners were the most controversial, as most thought that the earth would wobble if given an uneven pull on the equator. The technicians factored this in and build huge counterweights on the other side of the globe, which were also controversial. Being solid material, it was a huge waste of space... well it was in the middle of nowhere so no one would complain anyway. So 'a waste of space' in an unused place.

Amazingly completed in less than the estimated time, the Space Elevator, complete with the counterweight high in geosynchronous orbit, as well as 2 climbers using a combination of MagLev and Mercury-based electro-magnetic propulsion, was completed in early 2038.

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"That's some super rope they use," Kate marvelled.

"They use a new type of material that is much more stronger than rope and steel, but is flexible enough to bend because of the earth turning. Also, this 'rope' is made up of multiple smaller ropes that  can be replaced individually during maintenance times."

"That is amazing!" Kate said while still staring up into the sky. "What is it?"

It was difficult to explain, but I started with the fact that all life on earth is made up of Carbon and when made into a cylindrical form it holds very well against various angles of force.

I then led into more detail on how a megastructure like this should work between earth and space and what problems happen because the earth is spinning.

"The Coriolis Effect is like... if you spin a yoyo around, the yoyo string is so long that the pull of the yoyo may not be enough to stop the string from sagging even if it is pulled tight. In the atmosphere that means the air and ozone is dragging the rope while the weight in space is moving at the right speed to match the earth. So the elevator shaft will tend to bend slightly."