...may be a step closer. Researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing have developed carbon nanofibers that may actually be strong enough (and long enough) to weave into a tether.
We've known for a while that carbon nanotubes were the most promising material. These might finally do it.
Of course, we still have to solve the problems of where to put it, of the stress on the cable, lightning strikes, micrometeor strikes, radiation shielding to protect passengers who would be spending 2 to 3 days in the Van Allen Belt.
But it's a step.
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