Stairway to heaven

[emad]

Stairway to heaven
By James Langton
(Filed: 25/09/2005)

Space may still be the final frontier, but getting there could soon be almost as simple as stepping into the office lift at the start of the day.

The race is on to build the first "space elevator' - long dismissed as science fiction - to carry people and materials into orbit along a cable thousands of miles long.

In a significant step, American aviation regulators have just given permission for the opening trials of a prototype, while a competition to be launched next month follows in the wake of the $10 million (£5.6 million) "X Prize'', which led to the first privately developed craft leaving the Earth's atmosphere, briefly, last year.

Supporters of the elevator concept promise a future in space that is both cheap and accessible, and contrast it to Nasa's announcement last week that it will be relying on 40-year-old technology from the Apollo programme for its $105 billion plan to return to the Moon by 2018. The companies behind the space elevator say they will be able to lift material into orbit for as little as $400 a pound, compared with $20,000 a pound using existing rockets.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/25/wspace25.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/09/25/ixworld.html

[RC]

1. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x12963

[benburch]

2. Is it just me?

Or would "Duplicate topic" be more respectful sounding than "Dupe"?

Just saying...

[greyl]

3. Even more respectful would be "Oh please excuse me, but I'm afraid

you've inadvertently posted what's known as a Duplicate Topic, or "dupe" for short. Please do read the forum at least as much as you post new threads in it. Thank you for allowing me to waste my time. :) :hug: :grouphug: :yourock:

right?