WEBVTT - What Is A Space Elevator? 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:10.200 Hey, Daniel, did you ever think about being an astronaut? 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:13.280 I always wanted to be an astronaut from some points 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:15.400 of view, like I wanted to be out in space. 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.479 I wanted to see the stars, I wanted to see 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.720 the Earth under me. But I was also sort of 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.560 terrified of getting up there. It's really extremely difficult. Like 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:26.000 I talked to an astronaut at last year and he 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.440 said it was like writing the tip of an explosion 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:30.760 to be on a rocket, and that scares me. I mean, 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:33.879 especially after the Challenger disaster. You know, that was very 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:35.920 vivid in my mind when I was a kid. It 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.280 seems terrifying and it seems dangerous, and it is. You know, 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.320 you're you're it's just basically you strapped to a rocket, 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:46.840 you know. Yeah, it's you're literally writing an explosion. You're 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.000 like surfing a fireball. But would you want to go 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.959 to space if it was easier? Yeah? I think so. 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.200 You know, if you could just like, um, you know, 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:57.320 get in your car and say, take me to space 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:03.320 or something like that series take me to Space, Google 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:05.840 Directions to Space. Please. Well, what if it was just 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.000 as easy as getting into an elevator and then pressing 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.160 the space button. I think I would sign up for that. Yeah, 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:31.280 que the elevator music. Hey guys, this is Jorge and 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.319 I'm Daniel, and welcome to our podcast, Daniel and Jorge 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.760 Explain the Universe, a production of I Heart Radio, in 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.760 which we take crazy stuff in the universe, including stuff 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.480 people want to make, and explain it to you. Break 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.000 it down, make sure you can understand the next time 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.559 you're at a party and wanting to impress your friends 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.800 with your cool science knowledge. That's right, all the crazy 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.120 ideas out there in the universe and the cosmos, and 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.880 all the crazy ideas in people's heads that may or 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.000 may not be possible. That's right. I'm a particle physic 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.040 this and I'm cartoonist. And together we wrote a book 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.160 called We Have No Idea, which explores all the mysteries 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:08.400 of the unknown and the things we don't know about 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:10.960 the universe. And together, twice a week we try to 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.400 take you up into space and out into the cosmos. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.519 And and today we're going to talk about a very 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.240 interesting idea that's been out there floating in science and 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.880 engineering circles and definitely on the internet, which is a 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:27.520 pretty interesting and different way to get to space, yeah, 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.840 which is really fascinating because it seems like we're sort 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.400 of trapped on Earth. You know, gravity keeps us here. 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.120 We've talked a lot about how gravity deforms space and 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.400 makes it difficult to get off of Earth. And it's 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.760 nice that gravity holds you down to Earth, but sometimes 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:42.359 you want to get up to space. You know, if 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:46.120 if humanity wants to explore the stars and build space 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.800 technology and space industry and space habitats, then eventually we've 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.680 got to get off of this planet. And so we've 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.920 got to somehow counteract that gravity and climb up into space. Yeah, 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:58.000 And the main way we've been doing that so far 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:02.280 is by trapping ourselves into a giant too full of 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:10.040 flammable gasoline or or hydracine or rocket feel and then 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.000 lighting that up and hoping that the explosion kind of 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.040 takes us up into space. It's basically the high tech 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.040 equivalent of taping a bunch of fireworks to your nie, 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:22.680 to your legs and setting them off, right, which we 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:26.880 advise our listeners not to do, or sure writing writing 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.440 the shock wave from a bomb on your surface or something, right, 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.840 it sounds like a bad idea. Yeah, it's carefully channeled explosions. 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.160 But there might be a different way to get to space. 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.320 And this is a pretty interesting idea because I feel 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.360 like it's the kind of idea a six year old 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.280 would come up with, Like, if you have six year old, Hey, 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.400 how do you get to space? This is what they 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.640 might come up with. Oh my god. I totally should 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:49.200 have done that. I should have gone to a kindergarten 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.800 classroom and said what's the best way to get the space. 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.920 I would have gotten some awesome ideas like the moon 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.520 and climb up the rope or something like that. Yeah, 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.000 probably you get a lot of just use the spaceship 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:07.560 the jump really hard. Now, today's topic on the podcast 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:16.440 is space elevators. Are they possible? How do they work? 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:18.919 How would they work? Should you ride in one? What 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:21.880 should you pack? What's the protocol for when you're standing 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.120 in a space elevator? Do you make eye contact? Do 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:29.920 you go to the furthest opposite corner of an elevator? 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.720 Do you say, oh wait, I'll take the next one? Yeah? 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.960 Do you not and do the what's up? Or have 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:39.840 a good time? When they leave these say have a 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:41.840 good day? What do you? What do you what's the protocol. 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:43.640 I don't know, but you know, if we do develop 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:45.960 space elevators would be a whole impact on culturing. That 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:48.760 people will meet and fall in love on space elevators right, 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.719 become um an element in fiction. You'll see them in 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.000 movies and comic books. Yeah, it's a pretty fascinating idea 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.120 and just the concept of elevators. Um, you have a 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.000 favorite elevator, right, Daniel, I do have a favorite elevator. 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.159 I love that in Europe when you get into an elevator, 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.680 the ground floor is listed as zero for some reason 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.680 that just like tickles the nerd in me. And at 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.960 the Large Hadron Collider, the experiments are deep, deep underground, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.600 rather like a hundred meters underground, so that the radiation 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.280 produced in the collisions doesn't effect anybody above ground. And 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.000 so they have this elevator you can take down into 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:26.240 the tunnel where the accelerator is and that the collisions happen. 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:28.560 And it just has two buttons. One of them says 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:30.640 zero for the ground level and the other one says 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.320 minus one, and so you press you go whooh down 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.600 a hundred meters, which is you know, really far deep 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.480 deep into the ground. Um. So that one's really fun. 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:44.040 There are two options zero and minus one. Yeah, exactly. Um, 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.760 there's a much there's a much more dramatic elevator and 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.080 some other physics experiments like in the snow Lab in Canada. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.080 They go, I think miles underground because they have their 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.960 their experiments underground in a mind like an old abandoned mine. 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:00.200 Did I ever tell you I have written the sir 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.320 and elevator down to the bottom? You have? Really? How 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:05.279 did you did you sneak in? Did you pass the 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.000 retin retinal scanner? Or did you go say I'm a 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.080 physics ninja. I remember you're not the physics ninja was 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:15.080 trying to take credit. Now, how did you get in? 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.360 Did you know I got I was getting a tour 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.040 and uh I went down there and it was super exciting, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.159 super fun. I didn't get to walk the tunnels, um, 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.280 but I was. I was kind of disappointed to see 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:28.240 that the one comic strip that was up on the 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.760 walls there was an x k CD comic strip. Did 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.960 you take it down and replace it with one of yours? No? 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.039 It was a well earned it was a really funny 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:42.599 comic muse. Well, so, yeah, so getting to space is 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.920 really expensive, right, and so the idea that you might 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.440 be able to take an elevator sounds pretty appealing. Yeah, 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.360 it's really interesting how why getting the space is so expensive? 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:52.880 You might think, like, what's the big deal? You just 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:54.800 build a rocket and you shoot it up there? Right, 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:57.919 how expensive could rocket fuel be? Ye? Right? But the 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:00.680 problem is that you need a huge amount of fuel 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.800 to get to space, and you can't refuel a rocket 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.800 along the way, right. You have to lift all the 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.720 fuel you're gonna need, um from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.440 I saw this presentation by an austronaut ones who said 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:17.000 that basically ninety five of your rocket, like by weight, 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:21.120 like the weight of your rocket is basically fuel. Yeah, exactly. 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.520 Imagine if you were going to drive across the country, 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:25.840 but there were no gas stations between here and there, 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.720 and so you need to like pack all the fuel. Right, 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.080 So you have a huge tanker and you fill it 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.920 with fuel. So now you need extra fuel to bring 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.520 that fuel, right, and so pretty soon you're carrying like 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.680 a train of tankers with you. And so you're right, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.119 most of the fuels they're just to lift the other fuel. Yeah, 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:45.200 so a lot of your your fuel just goes to 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.440 lifting the fuel that you need to lift the other 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.600 fuel to maybe a little bit use some of that 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.160 to lift you up. Yeah, exactly, it's diminishing returns. Every 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.040 pound of fuel you add, a very very small amount 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.440 of it actually lifts you up. And so that's why 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.840 rockets are pretty inefficient and super expensive. Yeah. So you 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.560 mean when you see a rocket, just imagine ninety of 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.520 that long tube is basically like an explosive, right, Yeah, 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.440 it's not basically an explosive. It is an explosive. I 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.000 mean you explode your way to space, right, like this 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.280 is this is the plan, right, it is riding explosion 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.800 to space. And so that's pretty expensive, right. I was 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.560 looking it up. It turns out that if you want 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:27.280 to send one kilogram that's like to something pounds of 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.800 stuff into space, it costs like twenty thousand dollars. It 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.400 doesn't matter what it is. Gold, mashed potatoes, hamsters, one 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.800 ram or whatever cost about twenty thousand dollars to send 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:42.920 a space So it's like ten thousand dollars a pound. Yeah, exactly. 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.679 That's some premo caveat you know, um, and say you 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.000 want to build something, right, you want to build um 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.439 factory in space that can make spaceships, or that can 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.480 make habitats or domes or space suits or whatever. Right, 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.120 you have to send every piece of that stuff from 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:01.040 Earth because we don't have any manufacturing space yet, right, 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:03.200 and so you have to lift it all. It would 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.360 cost so much money, um to make stuff on Earth 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.520 and then lift it up into space. Yeah. Yeah, it 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.440 would like all those space stations you see and science 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.360 ficing movies. You've got to wonder how did they get 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.480 all that metal and stuff up there? Yeah, which is 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:19.240 exactly why I think with the future is to build 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:23.040 a space based industry, right, build that stuff in space, right, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.880 building a factory in space to manufacture stuff so you 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:27.719 don't have to lift it from the Earth. But then 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.680 first you have to build that first factory, right, you 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:32.400 have to get it started somehow. Well, you have to 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.040 get up the raw materials too, right, Well, there's plenty 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.480 of raw materials and asteroids. Right, There's lots of good 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.160 metals and stuff in asteroids, so you can If you 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:43.680 can build an asteroid mining factory in space, then you're 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:45.920 you're set to go. But the first one you have 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.800 to build on Earth and lift it right, Well, so 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.840 rockets seem pretty a little bit inefficient and kind of dangerous, 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.200 and so there's this this other idea to get things 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:59.040 up into space called the space elevator. Yeah, exactly. And 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:01.480 so we're gonna dig into how a space elevator works 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.320 and what should you take one, and is it possible 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.200 and is it feasible? But before we do, we thought 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.800 we would ask folks around the U C Irvine campus 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:11.880 if they had heard of a space elevator, if they 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.840 thought it was reasonable, or if they thought it was 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:16.880 just some crazy idea of fuzzy hair physicist was asking 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.400 them about. So before you listen to these answers, think 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.400 about it for a second. How much do you know 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.840 about space elevators? Here's what people had to say. No, 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:28.160 what would be your best guest or what a space 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.720 elevator would be? Um? The one to Charlie and the 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:38.360 chocolate factory? Perfect? M. No, what is your best guess? 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.360 If you're a space elevator, can I get? What? Can 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:45.680 I get? A hint elevator to space elevator to space? 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.920 And no? Would? I don't think it's that all right, 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.040 thanks very much? Any any best guess what that might be? 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:57.320 An idea. Yes, do you think it's possible feasible? It 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:00.800 seems possible. I don't know about feasible. Um, when do 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.480 you think we might see one in action? I think 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.360 that as I understand it, the limitations have to do 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.120 with materials constraints right now and the strength of the materials. 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:12.920 So last I heard they were working on like carbon 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.280 fiber that could support its own weight up to the 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:17.920 low Earth orbit. But I don't know how that's going. 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:23.200 Is it like a thing used for like the spaceships 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.080 to like launch you that I guess putting a similar 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:31.000 to that an elevator in space, elevator in space or 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:35.319 elevator to space two space? Sure? Space? You'd like to 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.680 have a space elevator? No, I think I might die 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:42.520 in it on a space station or something like. It 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.760 takes you to the like from the bridge to engineering 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.720 or something something like that. All right, maybe something that 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.320 launches you into space. All right? So it sounds like 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.480 a lot of people ever heard what space elevator is. 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.120 Someone said that it was like the one Charlene the 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.760 chocolate factory. That was a great answer. I love that. Um. 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.800 I love seeing people think on their feet. They're like 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.280 I haven't heard that. What could it be? They're like, 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:11.240 I've heard these words before. Space and elevator. Is it 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:15.120 an elevator that uses space, takes you to space, or 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:16.960 an elevator in space? Right? That was one of my 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.640 favorite ideas. It's sort of like a star trek when 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:23.200 you go from like the bridge engineering that uses an elevator. Right, 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.360 So very few people thought from first principles that it 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.760 might be an elevator to space. One of the guys 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.120 we interviewed happens to be a professor of Earth system science, 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.400 and so he was very knowledgeable about the topic. As 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.000 you can hear. Oh, I see, he was a ringer. 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.400 He was definitely a ringer. Yeah, he really elevated the 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.960 topic here. That's right, that's right before we dive in, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:13:01.319 let's take a short break. Right, Le's jumped into a Daniel. 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.640 So what is a space elevator? The idea of a 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.920 space elevator is to avoid having to do the rocket lift, right, 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.960 and instead of having to push yourself up out of 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.520 Earth gravity. And every time you're pushing yourself out of 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.920 Earth gravity, you're doing two things. First, you're keeping yourself 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.680 up and second you're lifting yourself up. So, for example, 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.320 say you're like, you know, five feet above the earth 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:26.080 and you just want to hover. You don't want to 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.640 go anywhere any higher even that just that takes energy, right, 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:34.440 you have to continually push yourself up. Yeah, so imaginative. Instead, 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.040 you could just climb a ladder. Right, there's like a 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.079 ladder to space. Then when you wanted to take a break, 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.520 you could stop right and you could rest and the 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.840 ladder would support you. The ladder would provide that essentially 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:49.600 the counterbalancing force against gravity to keep you up while 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:51.959 you rested, and then did the rest of your climb. Right, 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.920 So you can literally just hang out exactly, hang out 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.280 in space. Yeah. So if you can build a ladder 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.079 to space, then that would save you a lot to 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:05.120 that energy. Right. The other idea is avoid carrying all 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.600 your energy with you, right the rocket. As we were 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.880 saying earlier, the big problem with the rocket is you 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:11.520 have to carry the fuel and then the fuel to 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.120 care the fuel, and the fuel to care the fuel 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.000 and all that stuff. Um. And so if you could somehow, 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.040 you know, get the energy from the ground as you 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.160 were climbing, you know, like people like throwing you, um, 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.360 you know, candy bars as you're climbing of the ladder. 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:26.920 Then you wouldn't have to carry all those candy bars 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.800 with So the idea of a space elevator is build 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:34.880 something you can climb and send the energy up to 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:39.000 the car that climbs. The climbs the elevator while it's 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:40.360 on the way, so it doesn't even have to carry 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:42.960 it all like the like a real elevator in a building, 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:46.440 like you get the power form it um. You don't 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.360 carry all the gasoline to power the elevator. It just 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:52.840 comes to you through the cables attached to the elevator, right, 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.120 that's right. This would be a slightly different structure because 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.240 an elevator and a building is usually like attached to 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.520 the cable and then there's an engine at the top 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.400 that pulled on the cable or something. So the basic 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.640 idea here is you have a huge cable, you attach 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.200 it to the ground on Earth, and then you lift 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.880 the other end all the way up into space and 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.560 attach it to something in space. So the idea I 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:15.840 said earlier a six year old like lassoing the moon. 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.800 That's basically the idea is like tie a string between 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:23.560 the Earth and something in space. Wow, Okay, So I 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.360 think the basic basic idea is to build something permanent, 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.800 you know, not a rockety used once and then throw 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.080 it away, but like build a structure, something like a 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.080 link between Earth and space, and then just climb that 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:38.360 every time you want to go into space exactly. Yeah, 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.760 And so then it's reusable and you don't have to 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.400 carry all the fuel with you. We'll talk in detail 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.960 about how you can accomplish that, um and and you 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.000 can take breaks, right, you don't have to provide the 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.680 hovering lift as well as the climbing lift. So there's 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.360 a lot of possible advantages if you can build that 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.840 kind of structure. You can just hang on, yeah, exactly, 0:15:57.880 --> 0:15:59.760 you can just hang on. You can like clamp on 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.000 of the rope or whatever, UM to prevent yourself from falling. 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.640 A rocket can't do that, right, has nothing to hang onto. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.840 It's just as the air around it to push against. Um. 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:10.640 And when I first heard about the concept of a 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:12.920 space elevator, I thought, like, how is the rope going 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.440 to stay up? Right? I mean, if you just if 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.720 you take a long rope and just like throw the 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.720 end into the sky, it falls down, right, There's no wait, 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.440 like stays up in the sky. How does that even work? Right? Well, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.360 you're assuming that it looks like a rope, right, Like 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.720 a like this elevator could take different forms, Like it 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.600 could be just one rope that goes off into infinity 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.680 like Jack and the bean stock, or it could be 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.960 what if you just build a really really tall tower, 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.920 like if you just you know, the berke Khalifa and 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:45.600 and um Dubai. What if you just keep building that 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.840 up up up into space. What would happen then, Well, 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:49.920 the bottom of the tower, wh we get crushed? Right? 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.440 The problem with building something up from the ground and 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.240 not having it be pulled from outer space. So that's 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:58.000 the key about the space elevators, that you build it 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.960 so so long and so high lions and the rope 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.320 goes so far that it's basically getting pulled from space. 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:06.680 We'll talk about that in a moment. But the problem 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.440 with building a tower, it's basically like a compression structure. 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.000 Every layer sits on top of the previous layer, and 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:14.320 then the next layer sits on top of that, and 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:16.760 by the time you get to you know, really really tall, 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.720 the bottom layer is supporting the entire structure. Right, And um, 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:24.359 that has to be super strong or super wide or 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.760 made out of crazy materials to go anywhere close to 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.199 the distance of space. So you have to have this 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.120 thing be really light so we can get height without 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.560 having a lot of weight. But technically it's possible, is it. 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.000 Is it possible to just build a giant pyramid that's 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.879 really really tall? Is it possible? I mean, the Mount 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.439 Everest is a giant pyramid that's pretty pretty tall, But 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.159 I don't know if we could build it, you know, 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.040 like it's, uh, these things have to go get pretty 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:53.080 wide in order to support all that weight. Um. Eventually, yeah, 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.119 maybe you could build the tower and babble into space. 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.840 But I think it's as as difficult as space elevators are. 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.800 A space tower be even more difficult. I see, all right, Yeah, 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:06.159 the space elevator has the advantage that the top of it, 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.800 the rope, is so far out into space that it um, 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.520 it pulls on the rope. Okay, yeah, I just think 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.640 maybe we're jumping ahead, right because maybe some people think 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.000 it's an elevator, so it just it means that there's 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:19.919 an elevator shaft that takes you all the way up. 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:22.840 You're saying that the primary way that this might work 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.760 is using a cable. Yes, yeah, exactly. It has to 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:27.800 be a cable. You can't just build a building that 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:29.560 goes all the way up into space. That has to 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.840 have something at the top of it that's so far 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:35.439 into space that it's basically escaped the Earth's gravity and 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.120 it's pulling, pulling whatever it is up and so that's 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.880 that's is that the prevailing idea that this this way 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:45.160 it could work. Maybe, like the idea is that it 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:48.080 it's it's not an elevator shaft or a tower. It's 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.480 a it's like a string. Basically, you attach a string 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.280 to Earth and you swing around something really heavy out 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.640 into space that keeps the that rope that's string intention 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.120 yeah exactly, and then maybe you can use that thing. 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.639 Maybe you can climb tim that rope in tension that 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.520 rope up into space. Yeah exactly. You attach a string 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.199 from the ground to something up in space, and that 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.040 thing up in space is pulling on the string, right, 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:13.879 it's keeping it up um and then yeah, and then 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:17.000 you just climb up that rope. And so it's more 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.959 like a space ladder than a space elevator. If if 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.119 you want to think about it that way, Yeah, like 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:28.680 a space space cable, like a space fire pole. Right. Yeah, 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:30.920 but then you would ride an elevator like you would 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:33.360 be you would wait, you wouldn't climb it by hand. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.280 You would be inside of an elevator like structure that 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.880 then climbs up the rope or the pole. Yeah, you'd 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.920 have to be crazy strong to climb in by hand. Yeah. 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.200 The basic components are you have stationed on the ground, 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:48.280 the cable that goes up, some counterweight up in space 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.119 to keep it up, and then you have something that 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.480 climbs it, some like car or some device that basically 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.800 crawls up the rope, the thing that climbs the ladder 0:19:57.840 --> 0:19:59.960 for you, and that slips its way up the rope. 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:06.600 So those are the basic components. Yeah, it's hard to 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:09.000 imagine how that rope stays up, Like what keeps that 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:11.879 rope vertical? Yeah, exactly. That's the thing that puzzled me 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:13.240 for a long time when I was thinking about the 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.080 space elevator, because it's just counter to your intuition, right, 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:18.120 you think the things that go up in the sky 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.320 come down, right, But the truth is, if you throw 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:24.560 things high enough up into the sky, they don't come down, right, 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:27.679 they go into orbit, and so at some point the 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:31.680 force of gravity weakens enough and the centrifugal force is 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.480 strong enough that they stay up there. You know, imagine, 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.679 for example, you are you have a bucket with a 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:42.240 rope and you're swinging it around yourself. Right. Then you know, water, 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:44.639 for example, can stay in the bucket even if the 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.679