Why go to space? Well, that’s a question we’ll leave aside for now, but it may be that getting there will be a lot easier in our lifetimes. There is a contest coming online shortly much like the X Prize, which saw private inventors vying to be the first to get to space. The new contest is for a working prototype of a space elevator. A space elevator is a stationary orbital platform or satellite with a long cable dangling from it at least part way back to Earth. Doing this seemed impossible because of the likelihood of the cable breaking under its own weight, or the weight of objects that tried to climb it.

Scientists now believe that a material known as carbon nanotubes could be bound together to make a ribbon, rather than a cable, three-feet across but just half the width of a pencil.

Nanotubes, which are microscopic cylinders of carbon, are currently being developed by a number of companies, including GE and IBM. In one experiment, a sheet of nanotubes one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair could support 50,000 times its own mass.

“Elevator 2010”, which is to be launched on October 21 in California, will offer an annual first prize of $50,000 for the best design for both a tether - or ribbon - and a lightweight climber. It is being run by the Spaceward Foundation, which promotes space exploration, and has the backing of Nasa, which has given $400,000 in prize money. At least 10 teams will take part in the first contest. [The Telegraph]

Why do this? Well, as I’ve mentioned before, planes are problematic because of the pollution they leave in the atmosphere. Bad pollution. Rockets are just as bad, if not worse. Even though there are fewer of them, they leave an enormous amount of pollution in their wake. It is not environmentally sustainable to expect self-propelled vehicles to travel to space and back.

I’m one of those people who believes the exploration of space is a good thing, especially if we can do it in an economical way, and with meaningful results. Much more complex and powerful space ships could be built in orbit in zero-g if it was easy and economical to get the parts up there.

Using space for travel is also a good idea. The atmosphere is very shallow. In space you can travel very fast because there is no friction with the air. Twenty hour plane flights can be completed in just a few hours if you go to space first. Imagine a transportation network anchored by pollution-free space elevators.

The moon might be a good place to put radioactive waste from nuclear plants. If future energy demands of our race requires nuclear fission power, putting the waste on the moon is much safer than storing it on Earth. It would be better if we didn’t use nuclear fission at all, but we also won’t collectively freeze to death if the situation arises and nuclear power is the only option. It is good to be prepared.