Can we help make it happen?

Hi Everybody,

It is interesting reading all the various ideas and explanations re
space settlements, but there are never going to be any until we
and/or others make it happen. The first step towards this must be to
bring down the cost of access to space.

Recently the Space Elevator fans have been holding a conference and
as a result, the subject came up at a discussion after a meeting of
the Mars Society UK (Scotland). It was suggested that a Martian
elevator ought to be combined with solar power satellites, then the
idea moved to doing this with terrestrial elevators. You could pipe
power down the elevator cable thereby making solar power sats more
environmentally acceptable, while at the same time making elevators
even more economical as in addition to giving cheaper access to LEO
their owners would be able to sell power.

Tourism to LEO is probably going to be the thing that really rings
down the cost of getting up there, but the elevator is certainly one
means of bring that within reach. What is the next stage though? How
do we get from the LEO Hilton to the first real O'Neill type
habitat? Any ideas?

Sorry I've not been very active lately, but I've been busy updating
my book-on-a-cd, "Universal Detectives a rough intro to cosmology".
It's a reference work now updated to 30th June 2004. If any of you
are intereted a free sample all about the 'X-Wind' is available at
http://ud.vstarnet.co.uk or in the members area of www.astra.org.uk .

Best wishes, Andy Nimmo.