You know this scene in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where Charlie is the last one standing (spoiler) and he, Grandpa Joe and Mr Wonka travel over the town in a glass elevator for a reason I can’t remember? Well, that might actually become a reality. Sort of.
Thoth Technology, a Canadian space company, has been granted patents by the US and UK for a ‘space elevator’ which they think will make an astronaut’s journey into space much easier. According to the inventor of the tower, Dr Brendan Quine, space travel is ‘extremely inefficient’ and the space elevator would use much less energy, saving more than 30% of the fuel of a conventional rocket.
The ThothX Tower, which will be an inflatable freestanding structure with an electrical elevator in it (hello, space bouncy castle), will take away the need for the vertical flight and drop-off stages of a rocket being launched. Explaining the phenomenon on their website, Dr Quine said that ‘Astronauts would ascend to 20 km (12.5 miles) by electrical elevator. From the top of the tower, space planes will launch in a single stage to orbit, returning to the top of the tower for refueling and reflight.’
Which is great because space travel is really important, yada yada. But what does it mean for US? Can we go into space soon, please? Pretty please? Well, according to the Guardian, Quine said that the tower would be open to tourists, as a way for them to experience space-like conditions without the loss of gravity. Watch this space.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.