Space Elevator: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"In one moment, Earth; in the next, Heaven."''|'''Academician Prokhor Zakharov''', ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]''}}

 

These are sometimes known as "beanstalks", after ''[[Jack and the Beanstalk]]''.

 

Compare [[Star Scraper]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Dirty Pair]]''

** One shows up in the prologue to ''[[The Movie|Project EDEN]]''; it doesn't last long.

** A space elevator in future Tokyo is a key plot element in ''Negima'''s sequel series, ''[[UQ Holder!]]''

* In ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'', the planet Fezzan is depicted with one, although it is just simply used to connect to its spaceport sited in outer space.

 

== Literature ==

* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]

** This extends to his other works, including in ''Firstborn'' {{spoiler|which were destroyed (cut off) when the Spacers retaliated against Earth dropping a nuke on Mars, with surprisingly low (or even zero) casualty, since the cable fell and burned, while the station was floating around in orbit.}}

** The final sequel to ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (''3001: The Final Odyssey'') features not one, not two, but ''four'' space elevators (one each in Africa, South America, Indonesia, and the Pacific) connected by a ring. {{spoiler|Built of Jupiter's diamond core that got blown to bits when the planet became a tiny star in ''2010''.}}

* Charles Sheffield's novel ''The Web Between the Worlds'' was published almost simultaneously with Clarke's, and bears some close similarities, including a near miss with the name of the protagonist. However in a foreword to Sheffield's novel, Clarke discounts any suggestion of plagiarism, pointing out merely that the space elevator was an idea whose time had come.

* Mentioned in [[Robert Heinlein]]'s ''Friday'' (the title character complains about how riding one nauseates her).

* Kim Stanley Robinson's ''[[Red Mars Trilogy|Red Mars]]'' features a space elevator on Mars {{spoiler|and the effect of bringing one down}}. And by ''Green Mars'' there are several on Earth.

* ''[[Old Man's War]]'' by [[John Scalzi]] has a space elevator. Its center of mass is too low to be physically reasonable; this is used as an indication that the Colonial Union, who built it, is hiding technology up its sleeve.

* In ''[[Infinite Space]]'', orbital elevators are the usual method for space travelers to travel between orbital spaceports and planetary surfaces.

* The last part of ''[[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Warhammer 40000 Space Marine]]'' happens atop the base of one.

 

== Web Comics ==

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[The Pentagon War]]'', the bigger asteroids in the Human-Centauri star system have space elevators to ferry cargo and passengers from the space stations to the surface. They can get away with it because the surface gravity of these asteroids is only 0.5%-1% of Earth's, so the elevator cables won't snap under their own weight.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Centurions]]'' has one, but it's set up more as a train, rather sensibly, as the ride is looong.

* ''[[Generator Rex]]'' has one leading to an orbital research station.

 

== Real Life ==

* A probably better idea is the [[wikipedia:Launch loop|launch loop]]. It's still largely unknown to the masses (because a strip of rotating wire is a lot less glamorous than a wire shooting up into the sky), but seems to be a lot more practical, not to mention more feasible at our current technology level (you don't need carbon nanotubes to make it).

* Even better than those two is a [[wikipedia:Mass Driver#On Earth|Mass Driver]]. Which is basically a 100 plus kilometer long space gun.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]

[[Category:Tropes in Space]]

[[Category:Elevator Tropes]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]