Know your material
 

AccessNano climbs into space with nanotubes

A space elevator is a mechanism for transporting objects and materials into space. It’s basically a long cable that’s tethered to the ground and attached to a satellite in a geostationary orbit (ie, orbits at the same speed of the Earth so it’s always above the same position on Earth). Payloads are simply sent up to the satellite by sending them up in ‘elevators’ that climb up the cable.

The lure of space is engaging young Australians in nanotechnology

Sounds pretty far-fetched, hey? The idea was originally conceived by Jerome Pearson, a US aerospace engineer in 1969, and popularised by Arthur C Clarke in the science fiction novel ‘the fountains of paradise’. If it could be achieved it would literally transform space travel as it would provide a low cost way of moving things into space. However, the technical challenges involved means it’ll probably remain science fiction. Or maybe not!

The dream of a working space elevator has been given a new lease of life in recent years with the development of carbon nanotubes – a wonder material with the strength and flexibility that some believe might make them a perfect candidate for building the cable that lies at the heart of the space elevator concept.

Whether it happens or not the very idea of space elevators from carbon nanotubes is a fantastic hook for getting school students into materials science and nanotechnology. Exploring the science of nanotubes and fantastic applications like space elevators is just one of 13 new teacher modules that have been produced by AccessNano. Each module provides teachers with ready-to-use, versatile, web-based teaching lessons, featuring PowerPoint presentations, experiments, activities, animations and links to interactive websites. And many of the activities are fun. For example, in the space elevator module students get to build carbon molecules and sweet nanotubes in which marshmallows are used for carbon atoms.

Topics covered fit into current Australian curricula requirements, and include teaching units for Years 7-11. Other units include shape memory alloys, nanogold and health, glass, and performance materials.

AccessNano is an Australian government initiative funded through the Australian Office of Nanotechnology. Check it out yourself at http://www.accessnano.org/