Image: Thoth Technologies, via
It's ironic that with all these non-deploying parachutes, space travel is still a real drag. Now, one Pembroke, Ontario-based company has vowed to change that with a new patent on a freestanding space elevator tower, which was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office last month. The Canadian Thoth Technology first filed for the patent in 2008, explaining their technology as "A space elevator tower for location on a planetary surface," combining "a pneumatically pressurized structure formed from flexible sheet material," with a main pod, stabilization devices, a payload launch system, and elevators each containing "at least one of an electromagnetic drive, a cable support, and a drive." 12.4 miles into the stratosphere, according to CNet, "unlike blasting off from near sea level, as most space launches do now, getting into orbit or beyond from the top of a space elevator more than 20 times taller than the highest structures on Earth would be more like an aircraft takeoff.""Astronauts would ascend to 20 km by electrical elevator," explains inventor Brendan Quine. "From the top of the tower, space planes will launch in a single stage to orbit, returning to the top of the tower for refueling and reflight."While production of the elevator seems decidedly faster than Obayashi Corp's plan for a 60,000 mile “space elevator” slated for completion in 2050, mechanisms to raise and lower elevator cars still need to be invented. Thankfully, the International Space Elevator Consortium is set for late August.Click here to learn more about Thoth Technology.Related:An Elevator To Space Is In The Works In JapanWould You Take An Underwater Bullet Train To China?Enter the Cosmic Spiderweb Sculptures of Tomás Saraceno
Advertisement