›Commercial Mining with a Lunar Elevator

Oregon L5 Society and PNW AIAA Joint Event

Commercial Mining with a Lunar Elevator

By Charles F. Radley

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 | 6:00 pm to 7.45 pm (Pacific USA)

Midland Library | 805 SE 122nd Ave, Portland, Oregon 97233 USA

The Earth's Moon is a treasure trove of mineral resources, such as precious metals, rare earth elements, Helium-3 and oxygen for propellants. However, the cost of landing on the Moon is currently very high. Using modern fibers we can build a lunar elevator which reduces the cost of lunar landing sixfold. Furthermore, it makes the cost of collecting material from the Moon and sending it to Earth essentially free. The lunar elevator will pay for itself after nineteen payload cycles. The lunar elevator represents a game changing technology which will open up the Moon to commercial mining.

Charles Radley is President of the Oregon L5 Society, and an Associate Fellow of the AIAA. He has worked extensively in the space industry since 1981 as a product assurance and systems engineer. He is an adviser to Liftport Group.

** This event will be streamed online as a Google hangout: