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Sunday, September 28, 2014

CARBON NANOTUBES, SPACE ELEVATORS, AND A POSSIBLE HIDDEN SPACE STORY…

Here’s a story that I found this past week that I think is another indicator of “something” going on “out there,” that may not be quite the same story as we’re getting “down here,” and while we’ve blogged about this particular technology before, this story comes with an “update.” We might call it “carbon nanotubes” 2.0. But before we get to that possible hidden story and the day’s high octane speculation, first, the article itself:
Japanese company plans to build a functioning space elevator by 2050
There is is, boldly emblazoned in the headline: the Japanese plan to turn the science fiction idea of a “space elevator” into reality in a mere forty or so years:
“Space elevators have long been the realm of science fiction, but the Obayashi Corporation in Japan has now announced that they’re planning to have one up and running in the next 40 years. And, if they’re successful, it could revolutionise space travel – it’s estimated the elevator would be able to take people into space for one percent of the cost of a rocket.
“Although it might sound impossible, a 2012 international study already concluded that space elevators such as this one are scientifically feasible thanks to advances in super-strong carbon nanotubes. “The tensile strength is almost a hundred times stronger than steel cable so it’s possible,” Yoji Ishikawa, a research and development manager at Obayashi, told Matthew Carney from Australia’s ABC.” (Underlined emphases and links in the original; bold and italics emphasis added).
Now, you’ll recall that just last year the Japanese came out with another equally stunning “grand project” idea, namely, to line the equator with solar panels, and beam power back to the Earth in the form of microwaves. You’ll recall that at that time I pointed out that beaming that amount of power back to Earth would most likely “cook” the area around any collection antennae, making the area uninhabitable… to anything. In fact, I pointed out that similar ideas had been studied by the US Air Force in the 1960s. In short, the Japanese were planning, if one read between the lines a bit, to turn the Moon not into a power plant but into a “death star” of sorts. No sooner had I blogged about that story, than a few days later the Chinese called the bluff, and very blatantly proposed turning the Moon into a death star, using similar means. China had called Japan’s bluff.
Now, it’s in that context that I think one should view this current “grand announcement” from Japan. The article points out the current difficulty of carbon nanotubes, at least, as far as we’re being told publicly:
“But the big hurdle is trying to make carbon nanotubes long enough to reach into space, at the moment the Obayashi Corporation admits they can only create nanotubes that are 3 centimetres long. Researchers all over Japan are now working on dramatically extending this length – they even run competitions each year to collaborate on the problem, Carney reports for ABC.“. (Underlined emphasis and links in the original, bold and italics emphasis added)
Obviously, a mere 3 centimeters is a bit short of the 96,000 kilometers of the vision, but it’s a start.
But there would be other possible space uses of such materials, if they can get the bonding problem worked out, and are able to construct much larger objects from such nanotubes. Note that these nanotubes have 100 times the tensile strength of steel, in other words, nanotubes would be able to withstand the tremendous stresses and strains placed on such a “space elevator” that would simply snap steel like a twig….
or they would be the perfect material for a spaceship designed for long range exploration, their tremendous strength perhaps able to withstand impacts with micro-rocks that could rip through more conventional materials. Couple this technology with “self-repairing” nano-bots programmed to make small repairs automatically, and voila, one has a materials science that is approaching what would be required for long-range manned exploration of space. Add a 3-d printer for the more difficult parts replacements and… you get the idea. Now, once again, the real question is, just how far along in such technologies might “they” be in the black projects world? If you’re like me, you probably suspect they’re farther along than the public statements would allow, perhaps already able to construct much larger objects out of such carbon nanotubes, perhaps even to the point of Mark One versions of self-repairing materials.
There’s also an interesting pattern here, if one considers this story in the light of last years “Lunar Death Star/Microwave “Power Plant” stories, and that is, that it would seem to indicate that Japan is becoming the nation of choice for the western elites to make “announcements” of stories that could, if considered carefully, indicate technological capabilities beyond those in the public record.

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