space elevator n.
any of various proposed structures extending from the earth upwards for many miles as a means of transporting materials into space, esp. one consisting of a tether linked to a geosynchronous satellite orbiting the earth; cf. orbital tower n.
SF Encyclopedia
Science
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1975
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Arthur C. Clarke
Imagine my surprise when I saw that the Russians had come up with the same idea quite independently—the Space Elevator.
in Future Space Programs 1975 (Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Space Science & Applications, Committee on Science & Technology, U.S. House of Representatives) 198 -
1979
Arthur C. Clarke
He would not presume to criticize the engineering aspects of the space elevator.
Fountains of Paradise 146
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1979
Arthur C. Clarke
At last we can build the Space Elevator—or the Orbital Tower, as I prefer to call it. For in a sense it is a tower, rising clear through the atmosphere, and far, far beyond.
Fountains of Paradise 51
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1986
Arthur C. Clarke
The first space elevator? That was indeed ancient history; it marked the very beginning of planetary colonization by giving mankind virtually free access to the Solar System.
Songs of Distant Earth 204
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1988
Ian McDonald
Just what the hell are they doing out there, building an extra space elevator or something?
Desolation Road (2001) xxxix. 206
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1992
Frederik Pohl
The man who devised the first ‘space elevator’ was an engineer from Leningrad named Yuri Artsutanov, and he had done it way back in 1960.
Mining Oort (1993) 6
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1993
Kim Stanley Robinson
bibliography
This apparently made the south rim of Pavonis the perfect tethering point for a space elevator, as it was both directly on the equator, and twenty-seven kilometres above the datum.
Red Mars (1993) 267
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1993
Kim Stanley Robinson
Given the acute population and environmental problems on Earth, and the space elevator currently being constructed there to match the one already on Mars, the gravity wells could be surmounted and mass emigration would certainly follow…
Green Mars (new ed.) 334
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1993
Kim Stanley Robinson
Most of the other towns had been left in ruins, but Sheffield’s location remained the ideal place for tethering a space elevator.
Green Mars (new ed.) 99
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1993
Kim Stanley Robinson
bibliography
We'll hold onto it until it’s worth more. Or until they build that space elevator.
Red Mars (1993) 242
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1999 Interzone Apr. 27/2
He sat in the bar until his flight was called, chatting with a couple structural engineers whose company also had a share in the construction of the space elevator.
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2002 Science Fiction Chronicle May 34/1
The island is the perfect spot for a space elevator.
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2020
Myke Cole
bibliography
The space elevator carrying her to the Aries had finally breached Earth’s atmosphere and she reached orbit.
Sixteenth Watch 25
Research requirements
antedating 1975
Earliest cite
A. C. Clarke 'Future Space Programs'
Research History
Michael Quinion submitted a 1975 cite from Arthur C. Clarke's "Future Space Programs".
Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
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