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Take a chance to write the future

4 November 2002

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Artist impression of a climber being beamed up the carbon nanotube ribbon of the Space Elevator. The track and roller climber system presses onto the ribbon and provides traction for movement up and down the tether. The circular base consists of photovoltaic cells and receives power from a laser beaming station on the surface below.

Credits: Brad Edwards and HighLift Systems

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As the environmental conditions on other planets may be harmful to astronauts, artificial habitats or biospheres will be required in the early stations of colonization.

Credits: Jeam Tag

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Solar sails, a future energy source for space craft

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Spacecraft of the future may use solar sails to obtain energy from the sun, a tethered mechanism to reach geostationary orbit and a launch base on the moon. A model of a possible solar sail is here seen on display at K2001, world's biggest trade fair for plastics and rubber.

Credits: ESA

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Artist impression of an ocean-going refurbished oil platform, based on the current Sea Launch programme, which would be used for the Earth anchor station for the Space Elevator and located in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Credits: Brad Edwards and HighLift Systems

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Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction Competition

Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications
(BR176 - 5.2MB pdf)