Going Up!

Have you guys ever heard of a space elevator? It's one of those ideas that has been around for a while and seems to come from science fiction. NASA sponsors a contest in this area, and it looks like the idea is on its way to becoming reality. Here's how it works, from the company's web site:

the space elevator will consist of a carbon nanotube composite ribbon stretching some 62,000 miles (100,000 km) from earth to space. The elevator will be anchored to a specially designed ocean going vessel named, "The LiftPort" near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and to a small man-made counterweight in space. Lifters (robotic elevator cars) will move up and down the ribbon, carrying such items as satellites, solar power systems, exploration probes, factories, and eventually people into space.

Now that would be cool.