there was clearthat it was going to be a very close approach and fascinating objects

good in late2004 with just a few observations to go onthe team came up with a
scary prediction very often this started one in a millionmaybe even wanna billion in
this case the maxall probability was about 137 one in 37 chance that in April the
year twentytwenty-nine a populace would slam into her on get this stride 13 never
seen anything like that beforethat was absolutely extraordinary extraordinaryIndy
but not necessarily right the nasa teamhas to continually revised its predictions it's
much like predicting a hurricanewhen its first spotted your moran's gonna head as
you get more and more information onits track you can predict where it's going to
go it turned out that Friday the 13th 2029 wouldn't be so unlucky after old aPappas
will not be inspected wage but the asteroid will come frighteninglyclose to work it's
going to come ten times closer to us than the moon is so it's actuallygonna pass
closer to us than the ring have satellites communication satellitesthat that are in
synchronous altitude around the earth such an near-miss meansthat Earth's gravity
would dramatically alter the asteroid's orbit problem is as it passed bans there's
onesmall region of space we do not wanna Parkhurst past showed his name did
keyhole if it should pass through that little cable then get word be on a collision
course at a laterencounter not fight
think about taking a vacation orbit sounds ridiculous right well whenthe Space
Needle here in seattle was built in 1962 back at the dawn of the space age
lotsapeople but they would soon be taking trips just like that a course hasn't
quiteworked out that way cost about a half a billion dollars justto take a special offer
spit comic specification is it 1 expected but what if there was anotherway to get to
space and work that way were as easy and it'scheap writing an hour well strange as
it sounds some peoplethink this kind of trip might just be possible one thanks to
some things space health 22 thousand mile long cable we could ridestraight to
outer space what we're talking about is is buildingthe biggest thing ever and what
enables this big idea is thediscovery of something so small you can even see it with
the naked eye anew material called carbon nanotubes fueled by the promiseat least
iTunes people already working to turn the spaceelevator into reality it's basically a
fairly straightforwardsystem-on-chip get down to nuts and bolts have it first launch
a satellite to geosynchronousorbit 22,000 miles above Earth then lower cable or
ribbon and attach it to aplatform it see clamps to the ribbon elevator cars ourclients
could carry people and payloads up in there lasers on the ground wouldbe energy
wirelessly to solar cells on the underside of theclimb powering electric motors for
the twenty-two thousand mile journey okay I don't look briefly 22 thousand-mile
elevator right people nuts but what would even hold it up the ideais not quite as
crazy success imagine I have you in my hand as you spin the yo-yo around the body
ofthe Oreo is thrust outward and the stringconnecting you to the yo-yo is help hard
was the same principle thatwould keep the space elevator operator sicklymaking
implant size yo yo space elevator could be safer and cheaper thanrockets giving
routine access to the solar system bringing this far-out idea down to hernasa
recently funded a competition in New Mexico to bill and breaks space elevator

prototypes it was held that the X PRIZE Cupcarnival cutting-edge space technology
in thetradition of competitions that strict farther back controlsmembers
transatlantic flight the a is to inspire new advances in technologyWow this year
teams have students andweekend inventors are vying for the hundred fifty
thousand dollars in prizes the space elevator contest I heard aboutthis competition I
thought wow you don't have to have a billion dollarsin aerospace company to do it
Burnett Linda cutting edge in your message tothe wrong today the racetrack is a
50-meter ribbonsuspended from a crane up teams had to design and buildclimbers
then race them to the top of the RIP inplace of the laser that might otherwise power
real space or they could use only energyfrom the Sun were being from the ground
the best timewith as long as you go faster than a meter per second one of the first
to try their luck tohigh school team from Germany with an elevator sporting
intimidating solarpanel and name total crawl turbo core alright that sounds me it
sounds so mycousin or aunt but his triple for hours about to takeoff wind picks up to
record it outer pane and the Germansare ground at least for the time being Julie bell
rings better team from theUniversity of Michigan our next to jump on the trip the
whole big idea behind doing this isto get engineers in school to start working on this
theintensive and there are kids here going to know more about space
elevatortechnology then nasa scientists are julie's climberspowered by doesn't
spotlights the each have totrack the solar panels all the way up the river the the
climber get off to a good start butthe high rate rises the harder it becomes to hit the
solarpanels with the spotlight to keep it going after about six minutesof stopping
and starting the climber reaches the top ok line wanna the goal is to make it
upmassive prize money is safe at least until the contest resumes thenext day now if
you think the whole idea of anelevator to space sounds like science fiction you're
right it was popularised in thelate nineteen seventies in a sci-fi novel called the
Fountains of paradise. by Arthur CClarke at last we can build a space elevator and
we'll have a stairway to heaven abridge to the stars but as long as people have
dreamed abuilding that bridge to the stars no material existed to make a cable
withstrong enough that is into we found that one ofnature's most common Adams
card was leading secret life I wouldn'tsay carbon is promiscuous I would just say it's
veryopen minded carbon atoms just low perform extremelystrong chemical bonds
with one another we knew they could be arranged in alattice to form time Warren
sheets 24 graphite but until recently we have no idea theycould also for tiny
spheres called buckyball tiny tubescall carbon nanotubes much stronger andlighter
than steel been able to conduct electricity theSooners a pure carbon have a call to
wonder material a newbuilding block that might be used everything from electronics
to airplanesbut as a space elevator cable carbon nanotubes have some big problem
the longest ones ever made are only afew centimeters and joining them together
into him one at atime is simply not practical so how would we ever usethese tiny
tubes to make a cable its 22,000 miles long deep in the heart of Texas scientistsare
taking a different approach to assembling carbon nanotubes its see dream the
future but it's an achievable dream to make abatch of carbon nanotubes Vegas or
complete coated with ironparticles at thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit in

aspecial then add a dash of acetylene aghast thatcontains carbon with acetylene
comes in contact with theeye it releases its carbon atoms which assemble as seen
here internet use when the plate comes out it's coatedwith a black suit the
contained trillions of carbon nanotubes allaligned vertically in what break Bachmann
called parchedthink out the bamboo forest but on like a realbamboo forest the
treason and nanotube forced tend tostick together thanks to a think force operating
at thenanoscale called the vendor roles force it's more likemagnetism so when you
pull one it's about to pourits neighbors and the inmate pour out their neighbors
pulling a wholeroad now to from the forest on the left the controlor out ribbon pure
carbon nanotubes held together by nothing but the van der Waals force this ribbon
is less than $1000 forfitness over human hair and stronger than steel but can now
toribbons ever be made strong enough for spaceelevator cable battles and I'm
resolved question: but inscience and technology at learned just never use the word
never back in mexico the mood is more optimistic as thesecond day of the space
elevator competition gets underway among those hoping to claim nasa'shundred
fifty thousand dollar prize is Brian Turner cap a truly home-grownteam Kansas City
space apart I jammed my step dad my mom I freedom comments on your tyson
may offer a rideyou wanna one family affair did you win that probably means more
toyou than just getting the money I think but hoping to make the elevator sale atthe
Rip the speech parts plant their secretweapon 15 beer each the size of a twin bed
11 percentsmear bring some light to your collecting yourright to the solar panels
track given the energy decor right of here go halfway up the ribbon the win kicks
inagain got it up there to look at the bouncing in the breeze the parabolic mirror can
stay focused onthe store sells come Pirates elevator grinds to a halt and if the wind
had been battling might havebeen better off but I can't believe it may go down
byfigured I could but my way up there next up and favorite to win is theUniversity
says catching one space design team for USS team for short go to rights go to hell
their secret weapon astationary to reflect the spotlight straight up theribbon to the
solar array that why could look like they'd make it to thetop in record time fast
enough to claim the hundred fifty thousand dollar prizeso they will we have to have
an old discussion about that for the prize money can be awarded tworemaining
teams get one last chance German to look for profiles all the wayto the top but it's
no prized and late in the day a team with highschool students from california post
an impressive to Metro pretty goodthat we got to go to what's gone on a resume
yeah but in theend the prize money with on clay because itturns out statue on Feb
just shorter the minimumspeed 1 meter per cent next most awesome coming back
again scolding no take about two notches scored but will week ever take a ride in a
real spaceelevator i think is crazy but I saw things possible and I thinkit's something
that we can do it we should do it well one thing's forsure we've got a long way to go
before that happens but who knows perhaps someday technologywill catch up with
our imaginations and take the space elevator out of therealm of science fiction once
and for all think about taking a vacation orbitsounds ridiculous right well when the
Space Needle here inseattle was built in 1962 back at the dawn of the space age
lotsapeople but they would soon be taking trips just like that a course haven't

quiteworked out that way cost about a half a billion dollars justto take a special offer
spit kinda expensive vacation is it 1 expected but what if there was anotherway to
get to space and work that way were as easy and it'scheap writing you know well
strange as it sounds some people think this kind of tripmight just be possible one
thanks to some things speaks health 22 thousand mile long cable we could ride
straight to outer spacewhat we're talking about is is building the biggest thing ever
andwhat enables this big idea is the discovery of somethingso small you can even
see it with the naked eye anew material called carbon nanotubes fueled by the
promise at least iTunespeople already working to turn the space elevator into reality
it basically a fairlystraightforward system-on-chip get down to nuts andbolts have it
first launch a satellite togeosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above Earth then lower
cable or ribbon and attach it to a platform at seaclamped to the ribbon elevator cars
our clients could carrypeople and payloads up in there lasers on the ground wouldbe
energy wirelessly to solar cells on the underside of climbpowering electric motors
for the twenty-two thousand mile journey okay I don't look 33 22 thousand-mile
elevator right people nuts but what would even hold it up the ideais not quite as
crazy satellite imagine I have you in my hand as you spin the yo-yo around the body
ofthe Oreo is thrust outward and the stringconnecting you to the yo-yo is help hard
was same principle thatwould keep the space elevator operator sicklymaking
implant size yo yo space elevator could be safer and cheaper thanrockets giving
routine access to the sources bringing this far-out idea down to her nasa recently
funded a competition inmexico to build and breaks space elevator prototypes it was
held that the X PRIZE Cup carnival cutting-edge space technologyin the tradition of
competitions that strict farther back controlsmembers transatlantic flight the a is to
inspire new advances in technologyWow this year teams have students andweekend
inventors are vying for the hundred fifty thousand dollars in prizes the space
elevator contest I heard aboutthis competition I thought wow you don't have to
have a billion dollarsin aerospace company to do it Burnett Linda cutting edge in
yourmessage to the wrong today the racetrack is a 50-meter ribbon suspended from
acrane up teams had to design and buildclimbers then race them to the top of the
RIP inplace at the laser that might otherwise power real space or they could use
only energy from the Sunwere being from the ground the best time with as long as
you go faster than ameter per second were the first to try their luck to highschool
team from Germany with an elevator sporting intimidating solarpanel and name
October crawl to turbo core alright that sounds be it sounds so mycousin or aunt but
his triple for hours about to takeoff win picture to record it out ahead and the
Germans are ground at least forthe time being Julie bell rings better team from
theUniversity of Michigan our next to jump on the trip the whole big idea behind
doing this isto get engineers in school to start working on this theintensive and
there are kids here going to know more about space elevatortechnology then nasa
scientists are jewish climberspowered by dozen spotlights the each have to trackthe
solar panels all the way up the river the climber get off to a good start butthe higher
it rises the harder it becomes to hit the solarpanels with the spotlight to keep it
going after about six minutesor stopping and starting the climber reaches the top ok

by line wanted the guys to make it so happy massive prize money is safe at least
until the contest resumes thenext day now if you think the whole idea of anelevator
to space sounds like science fiction you're right it was popularised in thelate
nineteen seventies in a sci-fi novel called the Fountains of paradise. by Arthur
CClarke at last we can build a space elevatorand then we'll have a stairway to
heaven a bridgeto the stars but as long as people had removed abuilding that
bridge to the stars no material existed to make a cable withstrong enough that is
into we found that one ofnature's most common Adams card was leading secret life
I wouldn'tsay carbon is promiscuous I would just say it's veryopen minded carbon
atoms just low perform extremelystrong chemical bonds with one another we knew
they could be arranged in alattice to form time Warren sheets to formgraphite but
until recently we have no idea theycould also for tiny spheres called buckyball tiny
tubescall carbon nanotubes much stronger andlighter than steel been able to
conduct electricity theSooners are pure carbon have a call to wonder bitter a
newbuilding block that might be used the everything from electronics toairplanes
but as a space elevator cable carbon nanotubes have some big problem the longest
ones ever made are only afew centimeters and joining them together into him one
at a time is simply notpractical so how would we ever use these tinytubes to make a
cable its 22,000 miles long deep in the heart of Texas scientistsare taking a different
approach to assembling carbon nanotubes it see dream the future but it's an
achievable dream to make abatch of carbon nanotubes Vegas or complete coated
with ironparticles in thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit in aspecial then add a
dash of acetylene aghast thatcontains carbon with acetylene comes in contact with
the eye it releases its carbon atoms whichassemble as seen here internet use when
the platecomes out it's coated with a black suit thecontained trillions of carbon
nanotubes all aligned vertically in what rayBachmann call so far Ste think about
taking a vacation orbitsounds ridiculous right well when the Space Needle here
inseattle was built in 1962 back at the dawn of the space age lotsapeople but they
would soon be taking trips just like that a course haven't quiteworked out that way
cost about a half a billion dollars justto take a special offer spit kinda expensive
vacation is one expected but what if there was another way to getto space and work
that way were as easy and it'scheap writing you know well strange as it sounds
some peoplethink this kinda trip might just be possible one thanks to some things
speaks health 22 thousand-mile on cable we could ridestraight to outer space what
we're talking about is is buildingthe biggest thing ever and what enables this big
idea is thediscovery of something so small you can even see it with the naked eye
anew material called carbon nanotubes fueled by the promise of these tinytunes
people already working to turn the space elevator into reality it's basically a
fairlystraightforward system-on-chip get down to nuts andbolts have it first launch a
satellite togeosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above Earth then lower cable or
ribbon and attach it to aplatform it see clamped to the ribbon elevator cars
ourclients could carry people and payloads up into lasers on the ground would
beenergy wirelessly to solar cells on the underside of crimepowering electric motors
for the twenty-two thousand mile journey okay I don't look briefly 22 thousand-mile

elevator right people wentnuts but what would even hold it up the ideais not quite
as crazy satellite imagine I have you in my hand as you spin the yo-yo around the
body ofthe Oreo is thrust outward and drink taking youto the yo-yo is help hard was
the same principle thatwould keep the space elevator operator sicklyare making a
plan size yo yo myspace elevator could be safer and cheaper thanrockets giving
routine access to the sources bringing this far-out idea down to her nasa recently
funded a competition inmexico to build and breaks space elevator prototypes itwas
held that the X PRIZE Cup carnival cutting-edge space technologyin the tradition of
competitions that strict farther back controlsmembers transatlantic flight the a is to
inspire new advances in technologyWow this year teams have students andweekend
inventors are vying for the hundred fifty thousand dollars in prizes the space
elevator contest I heard aboutthis competition I thought wow you don't have to
have a billion dollarsin aerospace company to do it Burnett Linda cutting edge in
your message tothe wrong today the racetrack is a 50-meter ribbonsuspended from
a crane up teams had to design and buildclimbers then race them to the top it a rip
inplace of the laser that might otherwise power real space or they could use only
energy from the Sunwere being from the ground the best time with as long as you
go faster than ameter per second called were the first to try their luckto high school
team from Germany with an elevator sporting intimidatingsolar panel and name
total crop of turbo core alright that sounds me it sounds so whatis going on in I but
his triple for hours about to takeoff wind picks up to record it out ahead and the
Germans are ground at least forthe time being Julie bell rings better team from
theUniversity of Michigan our next to jump on the river the whole big idea behind
doing this is to getengineers in school to start working on this the intensive and
there are kids here toknow more about space elevator technology then nasa
scientists are jewish climberspowered by dozen spotlights the each have to trackthe
solar panels all the way up the river the the climber get off to a good start butthe
high rate rises the harder it becomes to hit the solarpanels with the spotlight to
keep it going after about six minutesor stopping and starting the climber reaches
the top ok wanna the goal is to make it up to happy massive prize money is safe at
leastuntil the contest resumes the next day now if you think the whole idea of
anelevator to space sounds like science fiction you're right it was popularised in the
late nineteenseventies in a sci-fi novel called the Fountains of paradise. by Arthur
CClarke at last we can build a space elevator and we'll have a stairway to heaven
abridge to the stars but as long as people