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Here at UT, we’ve had several stories that describe the concept of a space elevator. They are designed to make it easier to get objects off Earth and into space. That, so far, has proven technically or economically infeasible, as no material is strong enough to support the structure passively, and it’s too energy-intensive to support it actively.<\/p>\n
However, it could be more viable on other worlds, such as the moon. But what about worlds farther afield? A student team from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs looked at the use case of a space elevator on Ceres and found that it could be done with existing technology. The findings are published in the journal 2024 Regional Student Conferences<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Before we discuss why anyone would want to put a space elevator on Ceres, let’s first examine the technologies that would make it possible. Every space elevator design has three different components: an anchor, a tether, and a counterweight. Each would require its own technologies.<\/p>\n
The anchor is simple enough; it’s how the system interfaces with Ceres. The surface of Ceres is primarily made of clay, which is relatively good for anchoring technologies. Luckily, the force the anchor needs to withstand is only around 300N, which is much lower than the force on Earth, given Ceres’ small mass.<\/p>\n
There have already been asteroid anchoring technologies for other missions that can provide up to 500N of force resistance, so an anchor on Ceres should prove no real challenge.<\/p>\n \n
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