Inflatable tower could climb to the edge of space

Well how about that? We might just get our very own Tower of Babel after all...and in puffy, inflatable form, no less!

Inflatable tower could climb to the edge of space


A GIANT inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable-based space elevator, its proponents claim.

Inflatable pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower, say Brendan Quine, Raj Seth and George Zhu at York University in Toronto, Canada, writing in Acta Astronautica (DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.02.018). If built from a suitable mountain top it could reach an altitude of around 20 kilometres, where it could be used for atmospheric research, tourism, telecoms or launching spacecraft.

The team envisages assembling the structure from a series of modules constructed from Kevlar-polyethylene composite tubes made rigid by inflating them with a lightweight gas such as helium. To test the idea, they built a 7-metre scale model made up of six modules (see image). Each module was built out of three laminated polyethylene tubes 8 centimetres in diameter, mounted around circular spacers and inflated with air.Text

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[edit on 9/6/2009 by Mirthful Me]

It'll last until the first major storm in the area blows it away.



Poor idea IMHO.

reply to post by silent thunder


Thats great in finding new ways to reach space. But the thing is, this height is not enough. To be considered as a astronaut or reached space, a person must reach 80 miles. And moreover, in order to make the satellites stay in orbit once it is released, mechanisms must be made to propel it to required speed to prevent earths gravity from pulling it down.