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Can the space elevator be realized? Experts say so...

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At any rate, human beings are really starting to want to turn the space elevator, a technology that originally only appeared in science fiction movies, into reality. Including our familiar Google, its X lab has listed space elevators as research and development programs. The reason why people dare to rely on is a powerful and unconstrained style, in the development of carbon nanotube technology.

Carbon nanotubes are known by some as "wonder materials", which consist of carbon atoms hexagonal, resulting in a tubular structure. Carbon nanotubes possess electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties that are strange but exciting to scientists. The tensile strength of carbon nanotubes is 100 times that of steel, and weighs only 1/6 of the latter.

Because of this, it is believed that carbon nanotube technology, if it continues to develop, will be able to stretch into space and become essential materials for space elevators. The difficulty we have now is that carbon nanotubes are only about one percent as strong as they should be, and researchers at the Hong Kong Polytech University have found the answer through simulations.

Scientists have created a carbon nanotube model, but there is an atom that is not in it, so that one of the hexagons turns into a pentagon. This little mistake has become a great weakness, making it very easy to break. Once this happens, the tension acting on the rest of the structure will completely destroy the model.

Scientists have created a carbon nanotube model, but there is an atom that is not in it, so that one of the hexagons turns into a pentagon. This little mistake has become a great weakness, making it very easy to break. Once this happens, the tension acting on the rest of the structure will completely destroy the model.

Just such a small mistake, the theoretical maximum tensile strength of the nanotube is reduced from 100 to 40 Gio Pascal. If there are more defects like this, it will cause more terrible performance degradation. According to calculations, to support a practical space elevator, tensile strength requires at least 50 Pascal.

Scientists concluded: "only high-quality carbon nanotubes can achieve their desired intensity.". Most of today's mass produced carbon nanotubes have a lot of defects, and high-quality carbon nanotubes are difficult to mass production."

Unless a breakthrough is made in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes, it would be a very dangerous thing to use this material to build space elevators. One might think that waiting for a breakthrough is not a problem, but considering the carbon nanotube manufacturing space elevator means more than not 35000 meters long material has even dislocation of an atom, and the effects of radiation and the solar wind that can lift even built, it is almost impossible to maintain. As a result, carbon nanotubes will probably not be the most feasible way for us to achieve space elevators.

Without space elevators, how can we achieve free access to space? SpaceX's recyclable rocket seems to be a good idea. As technology advances, the possibilities are always there.

 

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