The stuff of science fiction…

According to The Daily Yomiuri Online, the Obayashi Corporation, a Japanese construction company, indicated that by 2050 they will construct an elevator to a space terminal thirty-six thousand kilometers above the earth (image found here).

The company will use carbon nanotubes (twenty-times stronger than steel) to reach a quarter of the way to the moon (ninety-six thousand kilometers), where a counterweight will be installed to stabilize and support the structure.

The elevator car will be powered by magnetic motors, travel at two-hundred kph, and have a capacity of thirty people. The journey from earth to the terminal will take seven and a half days.

Solar panels will be installed to power the ground staion.