Meekk Shelef, a computer whiz, is worried: "We have to overcome the giggle factor," she sighs. Ben Shelef, a mechanical engineer, is worried, too, afraid that skeptics just don't understand the vision behind their endeavor: They see the day when vehicles carrying cargo and humans will climb 62, 000 miles high into space on a ribbon of carbon thinner than paper, powered by beams of pure light aimed ever upward from Earth. Fantastic? NASA has $400,000 in prize money riding on a competition to stimulate the innovative concept -- no matter how weird it may seem -- for sending people, spacecraft and robots directly out to Mars and the other planets of the solar system. The space agency is serious, and the modest money is helping to allay the concerns of the Israeli-born Shelefs, whose nonprofit Spaceward Foundation in Mountain View has been named to manage NASA's first-ever competition open to professional and amateur space fanatics alike. With budgetary support from Congress, the agency has committed the prize money for the first two contests -- scheduled for this fall -- in a program it calls "Centennial Challenges."

Aside from stimulating research for such far-out ideas as a "space elevator," NASA says it is more realistically seeking new materials combining "light weight and incredible strength" for spacecraft frames, instruments and cables, and new wireless technologies for transmitting power without any cables at all. The Israel-born Shelefs, who were married to each other but are now divorced, work at a Mountain View aerospace design firm headed by Ben's engineer father, Gad Shelef -- but their heart is in the foundation they have created to popularize new ideas and ventures in space exploration. "Those new ideas just aren't happening in a big way today," 35-year-old Meekk Shelef, says regretfully, "and we need to stimulate new thinking."

View: Full Article | Source: sfgate.com

That would be neat if they actually did come up with an elevator into space. I have a hard time in believing it can be done.

Well I am not riding in it. A jet stream with a wind speed of 200 MPH-Plus. All ways shifting. And a light weight carbon line is supposed to stay up in that?

I don't think so!

Well the carbon nanotubes or fibres will be around 60 - 100 x stronger than steel and 1/6th the weight... It would be just fine

Greetings!! My Fellow Earthlings!!
wow that will be the greatest mankind structures.
Just to anecdote, remember the Bible story "The Tower of Babel"
and maybe instead of vertical structures, maybe they should try other variance of powerful structural strenght. i.e. how about slanted type of structure, or helix type of vertical structure.

Do they mean they want to create like a,
ladder into space???

no an elevator

If it will be done, the anchor station will be placed in the ocean near the equator. Hurricanes don't cross the equator and there are no jet streams near the equator. There have been considerations of places off of Ecuador, Acapulco, and San Diego. There's also been a consideration of a tower instead of an ocean anchor. I believe the ocean anchor can give more leeway than a land-based tower though. The biggest problem is dropping the tether from space down to the anchor spot. I think it can be done and should have been done a decade ago.

Ok,

How far is it from the ground to space anyway?
And would the material used to make the elevator be like destroyed once it enteres the atmosphere?

They need the elevator to go 62,000 miles up and no it wont be destroyed. Its a very special material and it has very unique properties because of its molecular structure, none like you have ever seen before

imagine if the bottom of the thing snaped... it wil have a bad impact when ithits the ground good idea but stupid one of that

That or be lost in space. Just floating...........

You think its quite easy to snap something 100 x stronger than steel ? lol