Japan plans to connect Earth and Mars with a space elevator - what is the plan: "travel from planet to planet will happen in record time"

Back in 2012, the Japanese corporation Obayashi announced the construction of a space elevator that would take you to other planets. For example on Mars, and much sooner and much cheaper. It would be a means of traveling to other worlds in record time.

According to scientists, instead of 6-8 months, which is the time needed to reach Mars, the space elevator will be able to do all this in 3-4 months or at least 40 days. A similar idea has been voiced before, but Japanese manufacturers decided to bring it to fruition. The Obayashi company became known precisely because it built the world's tallest skyscraper, Tokyo Skytree. It seems that he plans to improve his own record. The construction, which will cost 100 billion dollars, will begin in 2025, and its completion date is 2050. According to Yodzi Isikawa, the author of the project, who works in the company's future technologies department, he is currently working on the black material of the project, and its completion may begin as late as 2025.

A cheap way to space

Sending people and objects into space is quite an expensive pleasure. For example, "NASA" calculated that four missions to the moon of Artemis cost 4.1 billion dollars. The reason is the large amount of fuel that a rocket needs to get into space. And in the case of a space elevator, no rocket or fuel would be needed. According to the project, they will deliver the cargo to orbit by means of electromagnetic vehicles, which are called "alpinists" and which will be charged with solar energy and microwaves, and therefore the need for fuel will not arise. According to Isikiava, as a result, sending things into space will be reduced to $57 per 1 foot (450 grams). In total, the price of the space elevator will be 227 dollars per pound. As a result, SpaceX's Falcon 9, which costs $1,227 per pound to operate, is about five times more expensive than a space elevator.

At the moment, one of the biggest difficulties of the project is what to make the so-called The tube in which the space elevator will be placed, because it must withstand the greatest voltage. But the scientists did the math, and even if they made it out of steel, the project would require more of it than exists on Earth. There is also a carbon nanotube version. For reference, nanotubes are the reverse layer of graphite used in pencils. The problem in this case, however, is that the largest object ever made of nanotubes is only a few meters across. According to Ishikawa, in order for everything to work properly, at least 35,200 kilometers of cable is needed. Therefore, there is a version that a completely new material will be created especially for the project.

A space elevator mount would be under incredible stress, making it prone to breaking. Thunderstorms may wipe it out altogether. Nothing is said about such natural phenomena as tornadoes, monsoons and hurricanes. In addition, we are talking about quite a large material resource, because the construction will be quite expensive. Ishikawa believes that other industries should also show interest in the project, because by 2050 they can surprise the world together.