A lift to the moon? seems crazy but liftport group claim it could be built with todays technology.
The firm, set up by an ex Nasa engineer, launched an online campaign to fund the first part of its project to build a lunar space lift. It first plans to test the system on earth with a 2km high elevator. Then, it plans to launch the lunar system.
Initially it would use a space elevator to link the moon to a space station.
The firm has dozens of goals on its kickstarter page, ranging from a $1 to $10,000.
The most ambitious goal of raising $3 million — a target Laine doesn’t expect to hit in the first Kickstarter— would allow the LiftPort Group to carry out a one-year feasibility study for the moon space elevator project. A space elevator on the moon would face fewer complications than a space elevator on Earth because the moon has less gravity.
The firm hopes the technology could also be used for other applications on earth. Such balloon platforms don’t just help aim for the moon.
They could also act as cheap communications ‘towers’ on Earth to help provide wireless Internet, monitor crops, watch out for forest fires, or even carry cameras to provide an eye in the sky in the aftermath of natural disasters.
