How long would it take to take an elevator to the moon?
It will never happen. A space elevator itself is problematic; a space elevator to the moon has even more problems. For starters, it would have to be about 240,000 miles long just to span the distance. So, even if you could go 1000mph along the elevator, it would take you 240 hours, or 10 days, just to make the trip.
Could we build an elevator to the moon?
New study suggests that a lunar space elevator could be built for about $1 billion using existing technology. Since the dawn of the space era more than six decades ago, there’s been just one way to get to the moon and back: rockets.
How would an elevator to the moon work?
A lunar space elevator or lunar spacelift is a proposed transportation system for moving a mechanical climbing vehicle up and down a ribbon-shaped tethered cable that is set between the surface of the Moon “at the bottom” and a docking port suspended tens of thousands of kilometers above in space at the top.
Will there ever be a space elevator?
A space elevator is possible with today’s technology, researchers say (we just need to dangle it off the moon) Space elevators would dramatically reduce the cost of reaching space but have never been technologically feasible.
How would we build a space elevator?
There are two approaches to constructing a space elevator. Either the cable is manufactured in space or it is launched into space and gradually reinforced by additional cables, transported by climbers into space. Manufacturing the cable in space could be done in principle by using an asteroid or Near-Earth object.
Could a space elevator work on the Moon?
To suspend a kilogram of cable or payload just above the surface of the Moon would require 1,000 kg of counterweight, 26,000 km beyond L1. A space elevator could be anchored near a lunar pole, though not directly at it.