Editor’s Note

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the January 2017 Newsletter! Here you will find current technical content from our engineers and new opportunities to get involved. Heading into 2017, we are excited to announce the official beginning of our internship program along with various other ways for young people to get involved in space research through the NSS and NASA. As always, thank you for reading!

If you missed the news last month, our pilot internship program last Summer was a success and we are now offering opportunities for Summer 2017. More specifically, we are offering two paid positions this summer for undergraduate students. This program is aimed at Freshman and Sophomores in Aerospace fields, but all are welcome to apply. The program is explained in detail below. We look forward to your applications!

The call for papers for the 2017 International Astronautical Congress is still open and ISEC leadership will be guiding the Space Elevator focused sessions of the conference in October.

This month Architecture Chair Micheal Fitzgerald, continues his series on SE Architecture with a thorough explanation of the GEO node and all that has to happen at the space end of a Space Elevator while Research Chair John Knapman discusses proper research approaches for the SE. Don't miss it!

As always, you will find notices of several open volunteer positions (a great way to help this project, even if you’re not a scientist or engineer) and a reminder that all ISEC reports are available FOR FREE in electronic (pdf) format at ISEC.org. There is plenty of work to be done!

If you want to help us make a space elevator happen, JOIN ISEC and get involved! A space elevator would truly revolutionize life on earth and open up the solar system and beyond to all of us.

Please don’t forget to LIKE US on Facebook, FOLLOW US on Twitter, and enjoy the photos and videos that we’ve posted on Flickr and YouTube, all under our Social Identity of ISECdotORG.

Thank you,

Sandy Curth
ISEC Publicity Director

President's Corner 

Spark a change

As one who had the privilege of working on major space systems from start to finish, I know that it is rewarding, frustrating, painful, pleasing, long-hours, missed weekends, and phenomenally exciting. A few of us have been there, such as: Fitzer had the rare opportunity of "creating" a major space system more than once and Vern had the vision that drove the modern day Los Angeles Harbor. Those experiences are priceless. We are lucky to have that experience because we are indeed at the beginning of a "grand challenge." This opportunity is offering all those characteristics, and more. The beauty is that it is our grand challenge and we get to see it through. I was just reading a web article called "50 Quotes to Spark a Culture of Change in 2017," by Gijs van Wulfen [2 Jan 2017]. I thought I would reprint a few that can help us in our grand challenge:

2. If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. [Albert Einstein]

9. Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. [Will Rogers]

17. He who sees things grow from the beginning will have the best view of them. [Aristotle]

18. The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. [George Bernard Shaw]

23. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. [Alan Kay]

28. A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind. [A. von Szent-Gyorgyi]

34. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. [Steve Jobs]

35. The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. [A. Clarke]

37. Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. [Thomas Edison]

39. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. [Dale Carnegie]

47. If you want to go fast - go alone. But if you want to go far - go together. [African proverb]

49. The person who says it cannot be done, should not interrupt the person doing it. [Chinese saying]

Keep Climbing my Friends

Pete Swan

NSS / NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest Open to All Students - Learn, Collaborate, Explore

Students from around the world have the opportunity to participate in a Space Settlement Contest co-sponsored by the NASA Ames Research Center, San Jose State University, and the National Space Society (NSS). This annual contest, begun in 1994, is for pre-college students up to 18 years of age. Contest co-founder Al Globus said in a recent email interview, "Have you ever thought about living in Space? Would you like the opportunity to do some serious research on the matter-and then tell NASA what you've learned? If so, the annual student NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest is for you."

Students develop Space settlement designs and related materials; hard copies are submitted to NASA Ames for judging by engineers and scientists. Submissions must be received by March 1, 2017. The grand prize, the $3000 NSS Bruce M. Clark, Jr. Memorial Space Settlement Award, is awarded to the best entry regardless of contestant age. Individuals, small teams of two to five, and large teams of six or more may participate. Entries are grouped by the grade of the oldest contestant for judging: 7th and under, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Recognition is given to submissions in each grade category. To learn more, visit https://space.nss.org/nss-space-settlement-contest/.

Qualifying contestants are invited to participate in poster presentations that highlight their designs at the NSS International Space Development Conference® which will be hosted by the St. Louis Space Frontier in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, during May 25 to 29, 2017. "Everyone interested in Space Exploration is invited to the International Space Development Conference® in St. Louis," stated Christine Nobbe, Conference Chair. "The Space Settlement Contest is a magnificent inspiration for students to pursue STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) and to develop problem solving, creativity, communication skills, and collaboration. The contest has inspired thousands of students and helped hundreds of teachers bring the excitement of Space settlement to the youth of the world."

ISDC, the annual conference of the National Space Society, connects NSS members with Space pioneers, industry leaders, engineers, innovators, scientists, educators, students, and Space enthusiasts. To learn more, visit ISDC.nss.org/2017.

Christine Nobbe,
ISDC 2017 Conference Chair

ISEC History Committee

The ISEC History Committee started the year off well! We enlisted a new enthusiastic and very capable volunteer! Welcome Matthew! Also the History book that has long been in the works is now nearing completion thanks to David Raitt's diligence over the holidays! Thanks David!

As always feel free to help us out. For now enjoy this summary from one of our interviews and have a great 2017!

Summary of Interview with Sakurako Takahashi
conducted in 2015 by Mark Dodrill of the International Space Elevator Consortium

Sakurako works with JAMSS, Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation. Her current job is around the flight controllers of the International Space Station, especially in the Kibo Module, Japanese Module. She first heard about the Space Elevator when she was in high school through reading and was excited and finds the geo node the most interesting as that is her current job. She got involved through her role in the IAA study group because the chair of the study group, Akira Tsuchida, asked her to participate.

She states there should be many benefits of the space elevator, like collecting space debris or going to the moon or mars which would be made much easier than from the surface of the earth. Or if we can build a SPS, Solar Power System, maybe we can use the space elevator to construct this SPS or maybe we can receive the rays from the SPS at the marine node. Another benefit would be to perform science experiments in the space elevator, especially at the geo module to get good data to help people with diseases.

Sakurako states on the ISS program, space debris is one of the biggest issues, so states collecting the space debris would be the biggest advantage. Currently on the ISS they do not have a lot of work to help avoid space debris, but if the debris is very small, it is very difficult to track those objects. And then if they don't have enough time to notice that the object is coming towards the ISS, they may sometimes have to ask the crew to escape to the Soyuz module so that they are ready to leave the ISS and they do not want to do that.

Sakurako states the biggest obstacles to building the space elevator are the material of the tether and where to build.

She says it would be very difficult for public government to build a space elevator, but private companies don't have that much money, so thinks, if many people from all over the world can collaborate to build a space elevator that would be wonderful, but recognizes there are other problems with an international idea.

She said explaining the concept to people is very difficult. They cannot understand the engineering related stuff, so likes telling them, if we build a space elevator anybody can go up to space or focusing on the tourism using a space elevator.

When asked if it were possible for humans to go up in the space elevator, would you want to go, her answer was "Yes, of course!"

People are wondering 'why do we have to go to space?'. Her response is:

"In my opinion I don't think we need a specific reason to go to space. We just want to go. And we want to satisfy our curiosity."

Paula Smith
ISEC History Committee Chair

ISEC Website Update

Hello to all you Space Elevator enthusiasts!  Did you know that ISEC has a number of publications that you can immediately download for FREE?  Yep, that's right.

Please click on the link(s) below to access these free resources.

https://www.isec.org/studies

Mark Dodrill,
ISEC Webmaster

Space Elevator Research - Research Approaches

Some research projects are mainly theoretical. Understanding the laws of physics, helped by mathematics, leads someone to a deeper insight into what's possible and the way things work. Such projects can often be done by one or two people on a very small budget. Most of the research undertaken on the space elevator so far falls into this category. Outline designs and simulations have been produced on the elevator tether and its dynamics, on the structure of tether climbers, on methods of getting power to a climber, on limiting the power requirements, on the radiation environment, on methods of dealing with Earth's turbulent atmosphere, on dealing with space debris, and on reducing the minimum viable strength for the tether's material.

We are also designing a comprehensive simulation package of dynamics, electrodynamics and the radiation environment.

The amount of progress made on very small budgets is truly remarkable. People continue to show great ingenuity in taking us closer and closer to the goal of being able to build an operational space elevator.

Other projects can only be accomplished by a team doing experiments, building prototypes, making measurements and testing the outcomes. Such projects are usually expensive, needing a laboratory, workshops, materials and a supply of components. In this category we can include creating strong lightweight materials, building a prototype tether climber, and constructing prototypes of High Stage One, which is a platform for dealing with Earth's atmosphere. A development of High Stage One is a method of reducing the tether's strength requirement, known as the multi-stage elevator.

John Knapman
Director of Research

Architecture Note #5

The emergence of the Galactic Harbour Vision 

Personal Prologue 

This is an Architecture Note. It is the opinion of ISEC's Chief Architect. It represents an effort to document ISEC's ongoing science and engineering discussions, and is one of many to be published over time. Most importantly, it is a sincere effort to be the diary, or the chronicle, of the multitude of our technical considerations as we progress; along the pathway developing the Space Elevator.

Michael A. Fitzgerald  

This write up is meant to be a systems engineer's description of a vision. I was certain about what I said… Not necessarily right or wrong; just certain of my vision.

Most of it was initially composed in April 2016 when several of us were trying to gather the system design considerations for the Space Elevator's GEO Node, Apex Anchor, and the Space Elevator Communications. THAT was a conversation that reached back into 2015.

Summer 2015 - We Pondered:

Some people thought we absolutely needed a GEO Node segment. Some people didn't. Some people say we needed a GEO Node; but not until after IOC. (That will all be resolved when we build the 2 baselines --- as discussed last month in Architecture Note #4). Some people say the stuff that goes on in the GEO Node region will be services ... services that go beyond the essential purpose of the Space Elevator as a transportation system providing access to space. Good system engineering discussion.

In my opinion, The Space Elevator Enterprise will have a GEO Node (we now call it the GEO Node Region) as a discreet segment. It will show up soon after Initial Operations Capability (IOC). Most all the products and payloads that are moving along the Space Elevator's Tether inside the Space Elevator's Climber will pass through the place; coming and going.

It was probably best we had that extended system engineering thought into whether we needed a GEO Node and what it should be. The Space Elevator will go to or through the GEO region ... if we want to go anywhere. We would like to think that payloads and products will go to or through often and safely. Some of the payloads will be sent along to earth orbits. Some of the payloads will move higher; headed to other destinations. After a time; products will go through from space to earth.

We already see that the Earth Port is an important part of the total enterprise. It is the entrance. It is the departure lounge. It is the safety checkpoint. It will be many things. It will be a center of activity. It sends cargo up the Tethers to the GEO Node and beyond. It will be a famous place.

Spring 2016 - Pondered some more:

It was this notion of "place" that got me thinking. I have been around. I have seen a lot of "places". Some places are just places - by accident. Most of the places are places for good reasons. West Point was a strategic location on an important river; a good place for Benedict Arnold to hang out. Colorado Springs had water and a great view of nearby mountains and God's Garden. It was also just south of a place the local Native Americans thought was haunted by wind gods; but could be sold to the unsuspecting Air Force. New York and Boston each have a harbor; a good reason to be a place.   I am sure there are similar good reasons for Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Dayton, and lots of other important places.

Then there are those other places. They are places for no apparent reason. Have you ever been to Lincoln, Nebraska? Now, it is a great place to pass through; but why is it there? (Salt as a product and a university) How about Gallup, New Mexico? (Railroad) or Lubbock, Texas; as places. Lubbock is interesting. Texas Tech is there. Texas Tech students make Lubbock a place. Las Vegas is a place; and you know the reasons. All those workers building that big dam made it a place. Bugsy helped; in a way. These are examples of some good places that started essentially as places to hang out or just pass through. They are in the middle of nowhere.   They became places to hang out after they became places for no reason.

I Pondered to a conclusion

That brings us to the GEO Node Region as a place. Is it a place with a reason like New York? ... or is it a place in the middle of nowhere; to just pass through or hang out? I happen to think wherever we have Space Elevator activity THAT wherever will become a place. For example, New York became a place because it had a natural harbor. After it became a place, other things started happening at that place. Like a Port of Entry, Wall Street, Fulton's Fish Market, the Bronx Zoo, Broadway, or the museums; all because it was lucky enough to have a harbor. Eventually, cruise ships stopped there.

Now in my mind, the Space Elevator at the GEO Node Region is not a place to just pass through. As a place ... it is more like New York and its harbor. It is different than Lincoln, Nebraska; Lubbock, Texas; or Gallup, New Mexico. The GEO Node Region seems like part of a larger thing. It is a port of entry and return; part of the Galactic Harbour.

It also seems that the GEO Node Region will be a place where businesses start hanging out shingles. The shingles will say Space Elevator refueling, GEO Region satellite repair, Space Elevator power station, Space Elevator Zoo, the GEO Region Fish Market, or Space Elevator transfer tugs, and so on. It will be one hell of an important place. Eventually, cruise spaceships will stop there.  

Galactic Harbour Vision

In our vision... we see a great Space Elevator Transportation system that opens Space; in the same way the railroad opened up the US west.  It is a marvel of Kepler's physics and a marvel of humankind. We see the Galactic Harbour importing needed commodities (Power and unique minerals) and exporting the noxious (Nuclear waste and Space debris).   

As part of that Harbour, we see a place above; that is enabling improvement in life's quality ... and its enjoyment.  We call that place the GEO Node Region.  In and near that region we see unique small, spacecraft that refuel ... that repair ... that inspect ... that do whatever they are asked to do. We see all that occurring in the GEO Node Region in the 2040's; all part of the Galactic Harbour.

Michael A. Fitzgerald 

Summer Internship Program

International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC)
Announces a Summer Internship Program
Apply by 15 April 2017

ISEC will have an internship program this summer to stimulate research inside the space community with the purpose of improving the Body of Knowledge on space elevators. The expectation is that the intern would work from home, putting in approximately 10 hours a week researching various components of the space elevator while working with an ISEC mentor.  The selection will be competitive with the top six gaining internships. The details are as follows:

  • Process: Apply, be connected with the appropriate ISEC mentor, select topic of interest, conduct individual research, confer with mentor every two weeks, summarize research, present to mentor/and-or at the ISEC Conference.

  • Who: This program is open to all undergraduate students. The program is best suited to Freshman and Sophomores working in a scientific or engineering field, however students from all areas of study are encouraged to apply as ISEC works on all aspects of the Space Elevator challenge from technical engineering problems to questions of Space law and economics. We will be accepting up to 6 interns for Summer 2017.

  • Where: Research will be conducted remotely by the intern with meetings by Skype or equivalent. The internships final meeting will either be over Skype or at the ISEC Conference.

  • What: Interns will be researching or assisting with ongoing research of one area of Space Elevator development. Areas of research include Space Elevator History, Carbon Nanotube Applications for Space Elevator tethers, Earth Port infrastructure, and more. Interns will report progress regularly to their mentor and produce a summary of their research, as per agreement between intern and mentor. They will present this research in person or through a video at the 2017 ISEC Conference.

  • Benefit: In addition to the unique opportunity to work with leading Space Elevator researchers each intern will be awarded a $500 grant, an ISEC certificate of completion, and a letter of recommendation.

  • Key Dates:

    • Application due: April 15th.

    • Internship period: June 15th - August 15th.

    • ISEC Conference: August 25th.

To Apply:   

Please submit your application and any questions to inbox@isec.org by April 15, 2017.

Your application should include your name, school, year, major [and interests], and a short summary of your interest in ISEC and why you would like to have a career in the space arena (no more than 200 words).   

Why Keep Charging?

Why do we keep charging ahead prior to the development of material for our space elevator? Four answers immediately pop to mind:

1 - Because:   The opportunity is NOW. When I look at the internet, the movie listing [4 out of 18 movies at my local theater relate to space], global space plans, and the excitement inside the space community - I recognize that our global culture has transitioned to one expecting off-planet options for the human race. The excitement is building for other than Low Earth Orbit and directing efforts towards Lunar colonies, Mars Habitats, asteroid mining and in-situ utilization of resources for in-space growth. The Space Elevator will ENABLE this whole movement off-planet with its strengths of routine, daily, massive payloads and low cost. The opportunity is NOW for us to expand our efforts.

2 - Because:   We must to be ready for the material. Even today I saw an article discussing graphene, in three-dimensions, that would provide a longitudinal specific strength of 15.5 MYuri. This would, of course, require quite a high taper ration, but we are approaching the possible... oops still improbable, but wholly Toledo - we are getting there. As most of the research in this area is growing at an exponential rate, as so many research projects are in the 21st century, we have hope for a material in the mid 2020's - For sure!   We need to be ready!

3 - Because:   We must present global space leaders with a viable alternative to rockets with all their inherent challenges and our remarkable characteristics. Global leaders will fund [commercially or public funding] only what they believe in. To develop this, we need to have a solid story with a method of presenting it to global leaders. There are two sets of tasks - Establishing the story [I believe we are going forth and doing this] and Developing a relationship with global leaders. There are many approaches to this challenge of making ourselves indispensable to future growth of space arena and being recognized as such. We need help in this area.

4 - Because:   The Lunar Elevator might be the "smart" move for Lunar Exploration. It turns out that there are many reasons for the movements towards the Moon.   The Europeans have funding approval and Space Agency plans for human habitats in the lunar region and on the surface. These are long term and not fully funded, of course, but they are on paper and supported. The Chinese are planning on establishing a human presence on the Moon. The commercial space resources world plans on mining the moon. Many of our ISEC friends are working on a Lunar Elevator concept and we should support them. The first steps are common presentations in St. Louis in May. What will the next steps be? Where will we go from here?

Dr. Peter Swan
President - ISEC

We invite anyone to contribute to the newsletter by answering this question.
Please send your inputs to: pete.swan@isec.org.
[note: your submission is permission to print.]

Help Wanted

ISEC is very happy to announce positions for volunteers within its organization.  The following roles are available today.  Please coordinate with pete.swan@isec.org. 

Graphic Artists

ISEC is constantly working to develop new and increasingly accurate portrayals of the space elevator system. If you are interested in helping us produce new graphics we are happy to showcase your work through social media, our website, and in conference materials. If you need specific ideas or technical details to work from please contact sandy.curth@isec.org.

ISEC Presentation Team Coordinator

The ISEC Lead for the presentation team will have the responsibility to coordinate with potential speakers / presenters about the space elevator concept.  The lead will ensure that an appropriate presentation will be available for the speaker as needed.  

ISEC History Committee Member

The ISEC History Committee is very active and has published articles.  Its principle activity is to record the history of space elevators and present that information in many ways; our website, ISEC newsletter, presentations, and a book in progress.

Space Elevator Blog

After nine years of continuous coverage of the space elevator arena, the blog was paused. Ted Semon accomplished much, ensured that communications continued across the world with his continuous and energetic efforts, and was instrumental in ISEC's success.  The community needs this constant recording of its events and recognition of the players in the space elevator development.  The blog would be transferred to a new "blogger" with encouragement and support.

ISEC Affiliations

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization.  Founded as the National Space Institute (1974) and L5 Society (1975), which merged to form NSS in 1987, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space.  NSS has over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world.  The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space.

  • NSS Vision: "People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity."

  • NSS Mission: "to promote social, economic, technological, and political change in order to expand civilization beyond Earth, to settle space and to use the resulting resources to build a hopeful and prosperous future for humanity."

All the study reports conducted by ISEC are now listed on the NSS space library page for space elevators.  The NSS and the ISEC work together on many efforts and now share the same reports.  The ISEC Board of Directors voted to make all of our studies available for all to download in .pdf format for free.  They can now be acquired at both the ISEC website [www.isec.org -> study reports] and the National Space Society's Space Library webpage for Space Elevators.

David Brandt-Erichsen, member NSS BoD, wanted to make sure that I passed along the sincere appreciation from NSS for allowing them to include “this terrific information,” adding “the NSS Space Elevator Library has now been updated and expanded.”