It might be the stuff
of science fiction dreams, but a Japanese construction company has
announced that it will build a working space elevator by 2050. According to
the Daily Yomiuri, construction company Obayashi Corp has announced it will build
a space elevator capable of shuttling passengers 36,000
kilometers above the Earth by 2050. The company plans to use carbon
nanontubes, which are 20 times stronger than steel, to produce the cables
required for the elevator. Those cables will be stretched to a counterweight
96,000 kilometers above our planet, about one-fourth of the distance between
the Earth and the moon. The terminal station, 36,000 kilometers above Earth,
will be reached by cars that can carry 30 people and travel at 200 kilometers
per hour.
|
VOCABULARY
1.
Stuff
(n) - exactly the kind of that dream
2.
Fiction
(n) - something that people want you to believe is true but which is not true
3.
Shuttling
(v) - to move people from one place to another place
4.
Cable
(n) – rope or wire for support
5.
Counterweight
(n) - a weight that is as heavy as
something else, so that the two objects can balance
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
What can you say about the article?
2.
What do you think is the purpose of this space
elevator?
3.
Would you ride on this elevator? Why? Why not?
4.
Talk about science fictions.
5.
Were you ever interested in studying about
space?
