11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A project to change our future, July 22, 2006
This review is from: Liftport - The Space Elevator: Opening Space to Everyone (Paperback)
This collection of fact and fiction centers on the proposal by a startup company, Liftport, to create a new way to get into space: an elevator. The idea is not new, and the specific means they propose to do it has been discussed in technical papers; nevertheless this is likely the first popularly accessible book that describes the new near-term practicalities of construction, operation, and business for such a system. Liftport plans to get their first elevator up and running before 2020, and this book describes how they may just be able to do that.
The format of the book is a collection of independent essays (the factual portions) and stories, some of which are reprinted from separate novels (by Arthur C. Clarke, David Brin, and Charles Sheffield) and the rest seem to have been specifically written for this collection. The quality of the fiction is rather variable; unfortunately some of the authors would perhaps have benefited from reading the technical sections, as some details are rather jarringly wrong. For example, the "Hermit of the Skies" would not plummet and burn up from the top station, but would be thrown out away from the planet - that's sort of the whole point. In "High Space", you can't be in orbit 300 miles above Earth's surface and stay over one spot - you have to be going a lot slower than orbital speeds. And the troposphere is the lowermost portion of Earth's atmosphere, not what you would hit first on the way down! But of course the technical details aren't the central point of the stories, so maybe it's silly to be picky about it.
The longest fiction section, "The Rings of Earth", by William H. Keith, is among the best of the contributed stories. The vision it paints, of a future Earth-bound society knowing of "gods" above, and the stunning reality of the ending, is almost worth the price of the whole book.
The technical essays describe the project in good detail, though somewhat redundantly and at different levels. It would have helped if the editors had given the authors a better picture of what the other parts of the book would cover. I wrote (and donated) one of those essays, so I'm somewhat familiar with the way it worked - I have met a number of the authors in person as well.
The elevator physically consists of an anchor station on Earth's surface, a counterweight beyond geosynchronous orbit in space, and a strong ribbon connecting the two. A "lifter" climbs the ribbon; technical essays cover each of those components. Additionally, power to the lifter must be supplied without physical contact which would add precious mass - a power beaming system is described that could do the job. Construction steps and safety issues are also discussed.
The remaining essays discuss business, law, and political issues more than technology. How the elevator will make money, what it will do to the space launch business, is covered in several chapters. Who will have legal jurisdiction is one central question - from these essays it seems clear the United States will at the least have a strong claim, but inclusion of many international partners would probably be safest.
One of the applications that may be enabled by the cheaper space launch services the elevator will provide are solar power satellites. An essay here by Ralph Nansen discusses the enormous potential and environmental benefits from this alternative energy solution.
Finally, the Liftport staff call on all of us to "get involved" - including sponsoring a contest to win options on 1000 Liftport company shares. This book demonstrates the company has a potentially feasible plan to radically change the relationship between Earth and space - if they succeed it will change our future. Are you ready to join?
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, even for a casual reader, June 27, 2006
This review is from: Liftport - The Space Elevator: Opening Space to Everyone (Paperback)
I have no science degree and spend little time pondering space elevators, but the subject is interesting and this book is well organized. Different authors took specific topics and created one or two chapters each. Famous sames such as Kim Stanley Robinson contributed. I received this as a present prior to a week at the beach and enjoyed the book more than expected, flipping to chapters that interested me and skipping others.
By coincidence, I visited the Wright Brothers' museum near Kitty Hawk while on vacation. It is striking how rapidly air travel developed from the "cranks and weirdos" stage around 1900 to a substantive business. I do not know if the analogy translates, but you never know.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love it!, June 24, 2007
This review is from: Liftport - The Space Elevator: Opening Space to Everyone (Paperback)
I love this book. I'm interested in space projects and science fiction. This was a great combination of fact and fiction. Both informative and entertaining. It's great for the laymen. You don't need to know much about space technology to understand and enjoy this book.
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