[KevinDavis]

Excellent..

[KevinDavis]

[blackdog]

Yoyodine Industries........

"Give us more money and stay out"

"We're scientists, back off"

[Constantine XIII]

suh weet

[DBrow]

I hope they make it.

[Paradox]

This is one of those projects that staggers the mind. It would be an engineering feat that trivializes everything else. Chalk up another great idea to Arthur C. Clark. He was close, in his book, he wrote about using some kind of "linear diamond". Carbon nano-tubes are close!

[Wiz]

Sillicon Valley have lead to the spark of Information Technology. Years later, this might lead to the spark of nano technology, with a new center called the Carbon Valley.

[Brett66]

Wow! I thought these guys were just a think tank, looks like they have a plan. Build it and they will ascend. ;)

[ConservativeByChoice]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

[Army Air Corps]

I like what they have to say regarding their business model:

(Excerpt from FAQ page)

We will earn revenues by transporting goods (and eventually, after thorough testing, and inevitable future regulation, people) to various departure points. Because there are so many different uses for the destinations available - all earth orbits, all la Grange points, the Moon, Mars, Venus, and the asteroid belts - we feel that the best thing we can do is to let capitalism determine the uses and markets. Our job will be to transport mass cargo to those destinations.

[B-Chan]

< farnsworth > Good news, everyone! < /farnsworth >

1. They should rename it the "space railroad". People hate and/or are afraid of elevators. Railroads, on the other hand, bring to mind the Wild West, sleeper cars, and the golden age of travel.

2. Since these nanotubes are strong enough (in tension) to support their own weight plus a substantial load at distances beyond geosych, they should be more than strong enough to support their weight plus load over lesser distances... say, the width of an ocean. With this stuff, we could theoretically build suspension bridges between continents. Imagine the cost savings of being able to ship freight by rail between Yokohama and Los Angeles via Hawaii... or being able to drive from Key West to your winter home in the Yucatan. I propose that the first test bridge run from Florida to Cuba -- after Castro is gone, of course.

3. I can't wait for these guys to make their IPO.

[anymouse]

Even "Safe Harbor" statements won't cover the dubious claims made by these guys. They could make more money by selling the contact lists for their investors to class action lawyers, then their shareholders ever will see. :)

[bdunbar]

For more information about Liftport and Space Elevators see

FAQ
http://www.liftport.com/faq.php

Phase I NIAC Stud (PDF file)
http://www.liftportmedia.com/pressmedia/phase_1_niac.pdf

Phase II NIAC Study (PDF File)
http://www.liftportmedia.com/pressmedia/phase_2_niac.pdf


It seems the topic has dried up - wish I'd found this thread while it was still news. Correspondance welcome.