The Liftport Group,aimed at realising Arthur C Clarke's 1979 vision of an earth-to-moon elevator,has been set up by ex-Nasa engineer Michael Laine.
The company is using the money-raising site Kickstarter to access capital.The first expense will be$8000 to create a floating balloon platform to get a robot climbing over a mile into the sky.
Laine,who worked on Nasa's 2001-3 research project on the space elevator,says that recent developments have made it feasible.He reckons realisation is eight years away.
In Japan,last February,it was announced that engineers were working on a$6bn space elevator project to take people 22,000 miles into orbit.However the Japanese reckon it will take 40 years to build.
Source:
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2012/08/28/54422/moon-elevator-company-formed.htm
