[ExI] Inflatable tower could climb to the edge of space

[Dave Sill]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227117.000-inflatable-tower-could-climb-to-the-edge-of-space.html

"A GIANT inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space
without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than
a cable-based space elevator, its proponents claim.

Inflatable pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be
assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower, say Brendan Quine, Raj Seth
and George Zhu at York University in Toronto, Canada, writing in Acta
Astronautica (DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.02.018). If built from a
suitable mountain top it could reach an altitude of around 20
kilometres, where it could be used for atmospheric research, tourism,
telecoms or launching spacecraft."

-Dave