One of my favourite Sci-Fi ideas is the space elevator. This idea and others were seriously looked at by NIAC. The concept relies on long enough strips of carbon nanotubes to be manufactured and joined together. As far as I know the current record length is 4cm. That means lots of nuts and bolts to join them all together. Oops, did someone mention steel connectors won't work - not strong enough? So what we need are nanotech thread seamstresses - new jobs for bored house wives or redundant clothing manufacturers with transferable skills. Then I discovered the space orbital tether sling concept. Some lovely ideas came out of this group. I hope they are re-established.
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