Axis Mundi

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Johan Fredrik Petersson

AXIS MUNDI Master Thesis in Architecture Department of Architecture Graduate School of Engineering The University of Tokyo & School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund University Examiner: Christer Malmstrรถm Tutors: John Ross, Jun Sato, Akihisa Hirata

2015

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“The axis mundi, in religion or mythology, is the world center or the connection between Heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence is made between higher and lower realms. Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all. The spot functions as the omphalos, the world’s point of beginning.”

–Wikipedia: Axis Mundi

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Abstract Axis Mundi – a continuation of a 2012 Tokyo University project – the architectural possibilities of a Space Elevator in an equatorial island context are researched and formalized. The present project integrates disparate technologies into a singular system to engage in an endosymbiotic relationship with the nature and culture of the island.

Study trips to a Space Elevator conference in Seattle and to Kiritimati island have led to deeper understanding of organisational and formal problems, which are evaluated through digital and physical models.

The resulting project deals with finding optimal architectural arrangements for integration, structure and the experience of space, it thus becomes a starting point for discussing Space Elevators as a system of many complex parts, rather than singular engineering concepts.

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Mercury Capsule Instruments Drawing. Image: UpShip

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Contents Abstract

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Prologue: Newspaper Architecture 6 The Space Elevator

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Kiritimati

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So what is a Space Elevator?

When is the future from?

What is it made of?

Why do we need a Space Elevator?

Location, location, location!

Prelude: Gilbertese Mythology The History of Christmas Nuclear Tests at Kiritimati Atoll Geo/Biology Animal Life Te Mwaneaba Culture

Study Trip: Seattle Workshop Notes:

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Study Trip: Kiritimati

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Axis Mundi

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A System of Space Elevators 82 A Master Plan for Kiritimati 85 Growth Scenarios 86 An endosymbiotic relationship 89 Light Rail 90 Horizon 99 Perimeter Ring 101 Cook Island 102 The Floating Platform 106 Structural System 108 Perforations 112 Facade Apertures 115 Upper Level Plan 116 Lower Level Plan 119 Sectional Array 120 Timetable 124 Elevator Approach 127 Inner Courtyard 131 Elevator Climber 135

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Staging Altitudes 137 Solar Arrays 139 The Partitioning of Space – in Space 146 The Human Scale Capsule 154 Habitation Capsule 158 Colour Orientation System 160 Programming 164 Growth 166 Radiation Mitigation 183 BuilderBot 184 Unfinished Structure 187 The Return 189 Axis Mundi – Discussion 196

Bibliography

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Acknowledgements

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Prologue: Newspaper Architecture Summer Semester of 2012 Design Studio: Architectural Design 1A – Newspaper Architecture Department of Architecture, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Teachers: Akihisa Hirata, Professor Jun Sato

Ideas for a floating sea-grid of functions on artificial atolls in the Bay of Wrecks

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T

he idea to make a project about a Space Elevator came about during an exchange year 2012 at Tokyo University in Japan. I was taking a studio called Newspaper Architecture for architect Akihisa Hirata (former lead designer at Toyo Ito & Associates) and brilliant structural engineer Jun Sato. The aim of the studio was to look into the future and see what emerging technologies were just below the horizon and predict the architectural projects they would lead to – technological achievements in architecture that surely would lead to newspaper headlines. After a lot of brainstorming on interesting groups of subjects and sciences, I decided to go with material science and the anticipated revolution of carbon nanotube technology. Having previously encountered the Space Elevator concept through a friend in Lund and being fascinated with the possibilities of it, I could not resist taking up the challenge to make a project that was so –literally– out there.

However, people in Japan are much more familiar with the concept of Space Elevators; mainly due to the Space Elevator appearing in the popular anime series of Gundam and efforts to build a Space Elevator from both the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the construction company Obayashi Corporation (who recently finished Japan’s tallest structure – the Sky Tree tower in Tokyo).

Working on the project for Hirata-sensei and Sato-sensei turned out to be both rewarding and difficult. Since it was a very technical topic with great architectural possibilities, many arguments on what should take precedence: technological focus or inventive design took place. Finding the balance in between these two was, and would continue to be, one of the great challenges of the project.

It was during this first stage of the project where the site was chosen, and the comparison between different view on optimal geometry started, ranging through the geometric relationships of euclidean geometry, Riemann geometry and Benoit Mandelbrot’s fractal geometry. In the end, the geometry of space-filling polyhedra was introduced to me by a fellow student and researcher, and it became the basis for the geometrical concepts. In a previous studio, that of Hirokazu Suemitsu, biological growth was studied, a subject I expanded on here – perhaps an act of inspiration due to the fact that this was the school where the metabolist movement was born.

The project was presented and exhibited under the name Axis Mundi during the summer of 2012 in Tokyo.

But even though it passed and got the best grade possible, the project did not seem finished to me. The complexity of the task was severely underestimated and my deep dive into carbon nanotube technology and Space Elevator science turned out to only have scratched the surface of these immense subjects.

Previous spread: Tokyo Tower by night.

Image: lestaylorphoto.com

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Sphere tesselations

Reinventing the vernacular architecture of Kiribati

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Atoll geometry analysis diagrams on Maldives.

Right: Elevator Climbers with reconfiguarable solar arrays

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The Space Elevator A brief summary of Space Elevator history, technologies and concepts.

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h e concept of an elevator to space is unfamiliar –perhaps it even sounds ridiculous– to most people. Knowing that so far human achievements have not gotten us no further than building almost one-kilometer-high skyscrapers and that space travel remains a dangerous business restricted to highly trained astronauts (and the occasional unfortunate animal). The idea of taking a slow elevator ride beyond the atmosphere sounds far off – and it is.

It is, however, not as far off as one could expect. Recent technological developments in physics, chemistry and material science bring us closer to the reality of having Space Elevators with every passing day.

So what is a Space Elevator?

Simply put, the Space Elevator is a thin string of a super-strong, super-light material hanging from space down to Earth from a fixed point in orbit.

This point is in what is called a Geostationary Orbit (GEO), 35.786 km above the equator. In this orbit, if an object moves with the same speed and direction as the Earth rotates, the gravitational and centrifugal forces of the planet cancel each other out, that is to say the object neither falls “down” to Earth nor away from it – into space. A simple analogy is that of attaching a stone to a piece of wire and spinning it around your head, the wire stays taut and in orbit of your hand as long as you keep spinning.

In the case of a Space Elevator, this wire has to be up to 100.000 km long – depending on the counterweight represented by our stone. This needs sufficient mass to cancel out the gravity of Earth on the inner side of GEO to keep the line taut and from falling either in or out of orbit. The line is then tethered to a location on Earth, and vehicles can climb the tether, holding on to it by friction. Compared to rockets it’s a slow climb, it might take up to 7 days to reach GEO, but the method is considerably cheaper, more sustainable and safer.1,2 We do not yet have a wire long – or strong – enough to carry its own weight over a distance as long as this. Kevlar, super-strong steel and other high-tech materials all fall short by several magnitudes, and we can not yet produce a material with these properties – but it may not be as far off as it seems.

This is due to the emerging technology of carbon nanotubes, a hyper-strong, hyper-light form of carbon discovered in 1991 by Japanese physicist Sumio Iijima. The amazing properties of this new material re-awakened the by then almost century-old idea of a Space Elevator.

1 Edwards: “The Space Elevator” 2000 2 (ed) Swan, P.:”Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and Way Forward” 2013

Image on previous spread: De la terre a la Lune, Jules Verne

Earth’s gravity understood as a volcano-shaped hill where GEO is the rim of the crater. From here gravity accelerates you downhill either towards or away from Earth.

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Tether base near equator

GEO

Falling In Orbit

35.7

86 km

Counterweight

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Tether station at GEO

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“To the Cosmos by Electric Train”, article by Artsutanov in Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Image: www.spacequotations.com

“The Fountains of Paradise” by Arthur C. Clarke Image: Amazon

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When is the future from?

An appropriate point of departure for telling the story of the Space Elevator would be in Paris during the year 1895. The Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky visited the grounds for the 1889 World Fair at Champs de Mars and was –as most visitors– impressed by Gustave Eiffel’s iconic tower. Being well aware of the limiting physics of rocket launch into space (Tsiolkovsky is the inventor of the Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation, or simply THE Rocket Equation, describing the physics behind getting a rocket to accelerate to achieve enough speed for space travel), Tsiolkovsky realised the potential of a structural engineering approach to space travel and suggested building a “celestial castle” in geostationary orbit (GEO) attached to an Eiffel-similar tower on Earth.1 In 1960 another Russian, this time Leningrad engineer Yuri Artsutanov, looked into the concept of a structural link between GEO and Earth. Having realised that it would be impossible to build a structure tall enough using traditional compressional stress, Artsutanov suggested a tensile structure – a “rope” stretched by gravitational and centrifugal forces. He imagined several intertwined threads of tapering metal wires on which electrical trains ascend running on a electromagnetic field, carrying passengers calmly into space. Powered by huge solar arrays the trains travels past GEO to cosmic city hanging by a single thread from the surface of the Earth. From there rockets could easily be dropped at already cosmic speed into space, without the need of explosive fuels.

1 “Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators”, http://science.nasa. gov/, 2000-09-01

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Artsutanov also writes about the difficulties of the initial Space Elevator deployment and the need of better materials but ends with assuring: “...science and technology are swiftly moving ahead, and, perhaps, already toward the end of our century the construction of a cable way to the heavens will begin “2. The idea was published in Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, and even though it did not get much attention at the time, it is since considered the first appearance of today’s tension-tether Space Elevator concept.

The concept reached the public by large in 1979, when British author Arthur C. Clarke (known for cowriting Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 – A Space Odyssey) published his prize-winning novel “The Fountains of Paradise”. In the book readers follow the life of a structural engineer dr. Vannevar Morgan in his struggle to build a Space Elevator on the fictional island of Taprobane, (a fictional reflection of Sri Lanka) a task made difficult by politics, accidents and the fact that ideal location for the elevator is situated on a holy mountain occupied by an ancient Buddhist monastery. The mountain is Clarke’s fictionalized version of Sri Pada, or Adam’s Peak, an important Axis Mundi in Sri Lanka. The story itself is told as a reflection of an ancient myth of an eccentric monarch King Kalidasa, who in a similar attempt tries to build a palace to reach the heavens. Being written before the discovery of carbon nanotubes, Clarke precedes reality with suggesting a diamond crystal “hyperfilament” to construct his enormous tether.3 2 Artsutanov, Y. “To the Cosmos by Electric Train” Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1960-07-31 3 Clarke, Arthur C. “The Fountains of Paradise” 1979

What is it made of?

Carbon is a chemical element, number 6 in the periodic system, the 15th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, the 4th most abundant in the Milky Way and the 2nd most abundant in the human body.1 It is tetravalent – meaning that it has four electrons in its outermost electron shell that can bond to other atoms. Carbon thus have many ways of bonding with other elements – and itself.

When carbon bonds with itself it can form a variety of allotropes (molecules made solely from carbon atoms) where diamond and graphite are two of the most known, but there are also other, more peculiar forms of carbon that have recently been discovered: Graphene is a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms connected in an hexagonal pattern.

Buckminsterfullerene are spheres of carbon atoms connected by hexagonal and pentagonal cells.

Carbon Nanotubes (CNT’s) are a mix of the two: the thin sheet of graphene rolled up into a cylinder, closing the open ends of the graphene structure by joining them together. The open ends left at the ends of the cylinder can be capped with semi-spheres of buckminsterfullerene.

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http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/elbio.html

The common denominator of these three allotropes is their bondings. Even though there are four valence electrons each atom is only connected to three others, this is because each atom connects to the next by sp2-bonding (meaning that each atom is bound to its neighbours by a double bonding). While a regular sp3-bonding (single bond) takes about 84 kcal/mol of energy to break, the double bonding takes almost the double with 150 kcal/mol. This bonding gives the CNT’s not only extremely high tensile strength, but also make them very conductive to both electricity and heat.2 Graphene is by many definitions a 2-dimensional material that hardly has any mass, and as a carbon nanotube essentially is a rolled up piece of graphene, CNT’s are very light – but also very strong. In fact multiwalled CNT’s (that is a carbon nanotube within a wider carbon nanotube etc.) have the highest tensile strength of any material yet measured.3 CNT’s also tend to stick together like fibres, held together by a seemingly weak phenomenon known as Van de Waals forces, which could be understood as a kind of atomic “friction”. This makes CNT’s stick together and form ropes. This phenomenon is used to spin 2 http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/multimedia/2013/feb/18/ why-are-carbon-nanotubes-so-strong 3 http://www.sciencemag.org/content/287/5453/637

Spun Carbon Nanotube wires.

Image: SixSpot 20

a substrate of CNT’s into a long filament consisting of many short “fibres”. The longer the nanotube the more influence from Van der Waals forces, making the material stronger. Although most CNT’s produced today measure in micrometers, Tsinghua University in Beijing managed to produce a single molecule half a meter long in 2013.4 Yet another superlative that might be connected to CNT’s is darkest. Nanotubes on a substrate with the ends up capture almost all light that hits it – making it the darkest colour of black available.5 This could be potentially useful for constructing and calibrating cameras, telescopes and other light-dependent technology as well as using the thermal qualities of a purely black surface.

The production of CNT’s can happen in a number of ways, the most common being Arc Discharge, where CNT’s are formed as soot on the electrodes and Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), where CNT’s are “grown” on a layer of catalyst particles by letting various gases react with each other and deposit their carbon atoms on the substrate.6 4 http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn401995z 5 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/blackest-is-thenew-black-scientists-have-developed-a-material-so-dark-that-youcant-see-it-9602504.html 6 Musaddique Ali Rafique, M. & Iqbal, J.: “Production of Carbon Nanotubes by Different Routes— A Review”

A.

B.

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Carbon isotopes: A – Graphite (layers of graphene), B – Buckminsterfullerene, C – Open-end Carbon Nanotube.

Image (altered): Wikipedia

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Electron microscopic image of CNT bundles growing on substrate Image: Newswise

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CNT’s held together by Van der Waals forces being pulled into rope from substrate Image: Wikipedia

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Why do we need a Space Elevator?

Space might be the final frontier, but are rockets not already getting us there? What is the point of an infrastructural approach to what is already done without infrastructure?

The rocket formula set up by Tsiolkovsky states:

m ∆v = veln m0 1

What this means is that there are theoretical boundaries on the efficiency of rockets, and that for a rocket to reach escape velocity from the gravitational pull it needs to reach extremely high speeds at the cost of a large mass of propulsion fuel (usually in the regions of 95 % of the entire rocket mass). This enormous amount of explosive material combined with the high speed required and the inevitable g-forces, shaking and heating makes rocket travel risky at best. The launch success rate for rockets today ranges between 90-97 %, meaning that around1/20 rocket launches will fail.1 This high-risk, high-speed approach also entails high-cost: To put 1 kg of mass into orbit (needing about 19 kg of fuel) costs in the range of $4300-40000.2 A Space Elevator is not governed by Tsiolkovsky’s equation since it has no need for the rapid acceleration but can rather rely on the friction between vehicle and tether, meaning that it can gain altitude at its own leisurely pace. And even though a fuel-propelled system might work in theory, a space elevator climber can be powered in a number of different ways, meaning the huge excess mass inherent in rockets is no longer needed.

Since no certain acceleration in proportion to mass is needed, the system can be much more energy-efficient. Minimizing explosive fuel, sudden acceleration and high speed minimizes launch risks and costs. The calculated cost of putting 1 kg into orbit with a Space Elevator is around $220/kg.1,2 Rocket Launch Space Elevator

4300 – 40000 220

$/kg $/kg

The projected building costs of a Space Elevator are estimated at between $15B3~$40B4, equivalent to the cost of launching 33~89 space shuttles at $450 million/shuttle.5 In 2014, 88 successful orbital launches took place worldwide and Facebook bought messenger application WhatsApp for $19B. The initial investment in a Space Elevator can be compared to that of a railroad. Even though the initial cost of laying the tracks is high, it is a far cheaper mode of transport per unit due to its re-usability.6 3 (ed) Swan, P.:”Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and Way Forward” 2013 4 Edwards: “The Space Elevator” 2000 5 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/ shuttle_faq.html 6 ISEC Conference 2014

1 ISEC Conference 2014 2 http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-elevator.htm

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First launch of NASA’s “Challenger” Space Shuttle Image: Wikipedia

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Why we need a Space Elevator: NASA’s Challenger Space Shuttle explosion on its 10th mission in 1986. Image: Wikipedia

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For those still not convinced that rockets need to be replaced, take a look at the picture on the opposite page. Taken only seconds later than the picture on the previous spread, the Challenger shuttle is no more. Besides the tragedy of losing the crew, try to fathom the effort, the investments (both emotional and financial) that goes into a venture like this. Failure is unacceptable, but far too common.

There are a number of resources in space that we can not yet obtain. Most notable is the pure and unobscured light from the sun that is always shining in space – and with far greater energy than what reaches the surface of the Earth. “Space Solar” concepts have been around for years but without a way to get heavy arrays into space they have largely remained at a conceptual level.

Having a cheap, safe and reliable way to get to space would mean a great deal of things. For the existing systems of orbital technology, it would make us able to deploy more satellites and space stations at a fraction of the cost – increasing their potential to look both down at Earth and out at the universe.

Telescopes and other satellites that are too heavy, or too fragile today could be shipped up in parts and assembled in space. It would also enable repairing these and pre-existing satellites – meaning the cost of those initial investments would drop considerably.

Another important task is the cleaning up of Earth’s orbits from decades of space debris from rocket use that threatens not only the existing satellites but potentially a future Space Elevator too.1

With a Space Elevator large solar collectors could be put into orbit and beam sustainable energy through microwave transmission back to Earth-based rectennas (receiving antennas), reaching any remote or energy-demanding place on the planet. Besides from solar power, there are a number of rare metals that can be found throughout the solar system that are suddenly available for harvest without environmentally hazardous mining operations on Earth.1

Cutting out the large costs and risks of rocket transport would mean the ability to manufacture products that can not be or are difficult to manufacture in gravity or without vacuum (for example manufacturing new Space Elevator tethers, complex medicines or nanocomputer chips). Orbital factories can thus change entire industries on Earth. The shaky and violent rocket trip that can potentially damage delicate parts is replaced by a smooth and calm ride up and down the tether.1

With a Space Elevator it is not only the voyage up into Earth’s orbit which is made safer and cheaper, but also that beyond. Using the centrifugal force of Earth’s rotation the tether becomes a giant sling, which through precise timing can enable cheap and safe travel around the solar system for probes, satellites and humans. Getting to Mars can be achieved with only small thrusters for course correction.1 Human presence in space can be dramatically increased and not limited to those with the physical capabilities and long training of astronauts, letting a more diverse group of scientists, companies, travellers and tourists escape Earth’s atmosphere. A Space Elevator will benefit our civilization as a whole, through progress in science, manufacturing, materials and energy production.

1 1 Edwards: “The Space Elevator” 2000

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Location, location, location!

A Space Elevator can not be placed just anywhere.

The main requirement that needs to be fulfilled is that the Space Elevator needs to be equatorial, or at least within a certain range of the equator. This because the centrifugal rotational forces of earth are perpendicular to the rotational axis (north-south poles), as evident in planets with rings such as Saturn. An elevator too far from the equator would thus fall towards the equator and then wrap around the Earth along it. However, being slightly off-equator has some benefits in avoiding equatorial space debris.1 Even though the circumference of Earth at the equator is 40,008 km long2, there are still only a few places where a Space Elevator can be safely constructed.

This is largely due to weather conditions which might pose a threat to the stability and the operations of the elevator. Looking closely at weather data one quickly realises that weather systems are most active near or over the major continents and that some special conditions apply to the equator.

Most important is the occurrence of lightning strikes, or rather, the lack thereof. A lightning strike at the tether could possibly have serious structural consequences for the tether itself, and since carbon nanotubes are extremely conductive, to whatever is situated in the ends or along it. Looking at Figure 1, lightning strikes are a largely continental phenomenon with a significantly lower frequency over open seas and especially so along the equator in the middle to eastern Pacific Ocean.

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The same weather systems that generate lightning also generate storms (fig 2), clouds (fig 3) and high waves (fig 4). It becomes apparent that going too far off the equator into the tropics puts the elevator at risk of being caught in a tropical storm. Due to the Coriolis effect storms are born in the tropics along the equator but then move away from it towards the poles, leaving the equatorial area storm-free. Cloud cover, which could cause problems with energy transmission, communication and ice build-up on the tether is also a factor to be considered. The equator is generally quite cloudy, but larger patches of lower annual cloud density is to be found in the Pacific and the Atlantic.

As the conditions are best at sea along the equator, coupled with the fact that the elevator is usually assumed to require a moving base to further avoid orbital debris and dampen oscillations on the tether, the general assumption is that a floating platform is the best way to attach the tether to earth.3 As the name implies, wave heights are generally lower in the Pacific Ocean than its two sister oceans. For a Space Elevator tethered to an ocean platform large waves could jeopardize stability and disrupt operations and shipments.

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Edwards: “The Space Elevator� 2000

Gassend B: Non-Equatorial Uniform-Stress Space Elevators http://www.space.com/17638-how-big-is-earth.html

Fig 1. Lightning strike frequency, Image: Wikipedia

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Fig 2.Significant wave height Image: OSTM/Jason 2

Fig 3. Annual Mean Cloud Coverage, Image: ESA

Fig 4. Tracks and intensity of all tropical storms, Image: Colorado.edu

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MALDIVES (N) Ihavandhoo Makunudhoo VI Haa Dhaalu Atoll Raa Atoll Faadhippolhu Atoll Baa Atoll Kaashidhoo Gaafaru Atoll V Alifu Alifu Atoll Mai Falhu North Male Atoll South Male Atoll Ari Atoll IV Felhiduu Atoll Rakeedu Atoll Faafu Atoll Meemu Atoll III Thaa /Daalu Atoll II Laamu Atoll Gnaviyani Atoll I Huvaduh Atoll

MARSHALL & MICRONESIAN ISLANDS Ngulu Atoll Sorol Woleai VII Ifalik Atoll Olimarao Island Elato Lamotrek Atoll Satawal Poluwat Pulap Chuuk Lagoon Neoch Oroluk Atoll VI Pakin Atoll Eauripik Nama Losap Atoll Ant Atoll Mokil Atoll Pingelap Atoll Ngatik Atoll V Namoluk Atoll Etal Atoll Lukunor Nomoi Islands Ebon Atoll IV

GILBERT ISLANDS (N) Nukuoro Atoll IV Makin Atoll Marakei Atoll III Abaiang Island Tarawa Atoll II Kapingamarangi Maiana Island I

LINE ISLANDS (N) Kingman Reef Palmyra Atoll Washington Island Fanning Island Kiritimati Howland Island Baker Island Jarvis Island

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-8째 Bird Island Denis Ile Alphonse II St Francois SEYCHELLES I

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Kanton Island Enderbury Island Mackean Island Birnie Island Rawaki Island Malden Island Nikumaroro Island Hull Island Manra Island Starbuck Island PHOENIX & LINE ISLANDS (S)

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Ascension Island

The maximum distance from the equator that is considered possible before a tether failure is 8° from the equatorial plane1. Increased distance from the equator means increased force to hold the tether in place. At the equator the tether would hang straight down, but as it is moved from the equator the tether starts sloping towards it, meaning it has to be held in place by force. However, just moving a few degrees off the equator means avoiding the major band of orbital space debris in lower earth orbit. Somewhere between 1–3° should be sufficient for avoiding debris while not having to use too much force to keep the elevator in place.

Considering all these required conditions, there are but a few places left available as a site for the space elevator. None get a perfect score but some trends are evident: 1 Gassend B: Non-Equatorial Uniform-Stress Space Elevators

1. Being on or near the equator requires being away from larger landmasses to avoid weather systems.

2. The middle Pacific is more suitable than its sister oceans due to lower annual lightning, cloud coverage and wave heights.

3. Enough space for moving the floating platform is required, which either means an open sea location or a large enough bay or lagoon.

4. The angle off the equator needs to be more than 0°, but less than 8°, where being closer to 0 is better in terms of force required to hold the elevator in place. Therefore, a range between 1-3° is chosen.

Since a Space Elevator is a major infrastructural project I have deemed it preferable not to go with the open-sea-approach but rather use an existing island as a project location. Islands within the possible 8° range are seen on the opposite page.

PSfrag replacements Equator

Axis of Rotation

y Anchor

s ψ θ r

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φ

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A non-equatorial Space Elevator, and some of the angles that are used to characterize it. Image: Gassend B.

Figure 1: A non-equatorial space elevator, and some of the angles that are used to characterize it.

will study the problem of determining the maximum latitude a space elevator can start from. Finally, Section 4 covers a few practical concerns that are specific to non-equatorial space elevators.

All the notation that is used in this paper can be found in Table 1. Examples will often use values that are typical for Earth and the tethers considered by 31 Edwards [1]. Table 2 summarizes these values.

consider elastic effects as they can be incorporate into σ0 and ρ.

Equations (2) and (3) can be combined to eliminat the area of the cable. ρT dT = ∇V σ0 ds

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Taper Profile

(4

Luckily, most islands in the previously defined zones are coral atolls. As atolls generally have low landmass they do not generate weather systems, and their large interior lagoons provide large protected areas of calmer water.

There are two main nations consisting of atolls that straddle the equator and have islands within the preferred 3째 range: The Maldives in the Indian Ocean, and Kiribati in the Pacific. These atolls, all of varying sizes, population, existing infrastructure and natural environment were evaluated for the project.

The Maldivian atolls were not chosen because of their location in a less stable weather system and the fact that their atolls are generally fragmented into an archipelago of smaller islands, making it hard to create a larger infrastructure.

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Huvadhu Atoll, Maldives Addu City, Maldives Tabiteuea, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Laamu Atoll, Maldives Gnaviyani Atoll, Maldives Ocean Island, Kiribati Abemama Island, Kiribati Howland Island, US Ocean Territory Baker Island, US Ocean Territory Jarvis Island, US Ocean Territory Nikunau Atoll, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Maiana Island, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Beru Island, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Tamana Island, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Aroae Island, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives Abaiang Island, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Kuria and Aranuka Islands, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Kanton, Phoenix Islands, Kiribati Onotoa, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Meemu Atoll, Maldives Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Nonouti Atoll, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati Thaa Atoll, Maldives Kapingamarangi, Maldives Kiritimati, Line Islands, Kiribati Marakei Island, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati

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Kiribati is divided into three groups: the Gilbert, Phoenix and Line Islands. The Phoenix Islands are part of an environmental protection area and should thus be left alone. In the end, Kiritimati in the Line Island group was chosen due to its large size with potential for infrastructure, and its central location in the Pacific.

List of atolls/islands within the 1-3째 span.

Images by Google to scale on opposite page.

AF RIC A

+1 1.5 52

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Satellite imagery of atolls in the 1-3° span. Image: Google Maps

33

“In

spite of the opinions of certain narrow-minded people, who would shut up the human race upon this globe, as within some magic circle which it must never outstep, we shall one day travel to the moon, the planets, and the stars, with the same facility, rapidity, and certainty as we now make the voyage from Liverpool to New York!� — Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon, 1865.

Opposite: Diagram of the length of really really long things.

34

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Kiritimati An island in the middle of nowhere, between sky and ocean.

Prelude: Gilbertese Mythology

In

t he beginning the spider god, Nareau the Creator, is floating around in the emptiness of space, sleeping. In his dreams he hears a voice call out to him: “Nareau, why do you lie like that doing nothing?” Upon hearing this voice Nareau wakes up and opens his eyes – but there is nothing to see. He goes back to sleep and is called again. By the third time he awakens he responds: “Who calls my name?” – still nothing. Or was there?

Beneath him, conjured by his dreams is something else in the void besides him. He descends on the curious object and finds it to be a large round object, like a coconut or turtle shell, but it is in fact Te Bomatemaki – The Earth and Sky sealed together.

He curiously circles this new world, not finding a single opening, and tries to crack the hard shell.

I stamp, I stamp, Over the skies to the northward; There are neither spirits nor men; But only I, The Powerful Nareau.

He proceeds to slit the shell with his barb, creating a tiny hole into which he inserts his right hand and feels water. He inserts his left hand and feels sand.

He combines the two to create stone, Na Atibu. He carefully puts his new creation inside again and then orders Na Atibu to have a child with the emptiness, Nei Teakea. Their offspring is Nareau the Wise.

The Creator tells Nareau the Wise to lift the roof up above him from the inside. As he lifts, some light floods into Te Botemaki, and he becomes aware of the presence other creatures and spirits around him.

They can neither move nor speak, so he breaks their stiff forms to create joints and breathes life into their bodies through song.

Why lying, why lying.

Crowd-of-spirits (bunanti) Within Te Bomatemaki Arise for we’ll converse Speak for we’ll speak.

He then names the spirits that share his world: Uka – blowing,the essence of moving air Karitoro – push into heap,he essence of energy Kanaweawe – lofty, the essence of dimension Ngkoangkoa– long, long ago,the essence of time Riiki – growing, the essence of procreation Auriaria – coming from afar, the essence of light Nei Kika – the octopus), Nei Tituabine – the sting ray, the cockroach Nei Tewenei – the comet

Next, Nareau the Wise chants to Te Bomatemaki itself, using his ancestor’s magic to lift the sky: Speak of the sky and move it.

Speak of the sky and lift it.

Rest it on its pillar, Te Kaintikuaba (The Tree of Life) May fruits of this, my sceptre, come forth.

Speak Riiki, speak Nei Tituabine.

Te Bomatemaki lifts a little more, and the spirits and creatures join in to help. When they can lift no further, Nareau the Wise calls Kanaweawe (lofty) to lift the sky by himself. But even Kanaweawe can not lift far enough, so Nareau the Wise calls the lazy Riiki, the eel, who has the ability to grow. But Riiki is tired and hungry and can not lift. Nareau the Wise then goes to Nei Kika (the octopus) and takes two of her ten arms – thus leaving her and all other octopi with eight. He feeds the arms to Riiki who begins to grow immensely and lift the sky.

The faint light produced by this is not enough, so the Creator tells Nareau the Wise to slay his own father, Na Atibu (stone) to create light for the world from his body. He does so, and by throwing his eyes into the sky creates the sun and the moon. His ribs are scattered into millions of pieces when thrown against the vault, thus creating the stars of the night sky. His limbs become the directions of the compass and their corresponding winds. His spine becomes the first land, and his intestines its first people: Kain Te Botemaki – The People of Creation Surveying the limitless waters as they merged with the infinite sky, Nareau the Wise gathers his people beneath the Mwaneaba and speaks to them “This land and the vast expanse will become a world of fellowship amongst men.” He picks up a piece of dirt and hurls it into the ocean. He does so again and again. He thus creates the islands of the Pacific and the Kain te Bomatemaki becomes their people.

Nareau the Wise then goes back to Riiki, who by now has grown very tall, and tells him to raise the sky as high as he possibly can. As Riiki lifts the sky far above everyone else, Nareau stampes hard on the eel’s tail, causing him to jump with pain – up into Te Bomatemaki as it reaches its maximum height.

Riiki’s body can still be seen in the sky as Aiabu: the Milky Way. 1, 2 1 2

Traucht, M “How true was the voice of the Void” 2012” www.janesresture.com “Micronesia Mythology – Kiribati”

38

Pholcus Phalangioides Daddy Long Legs

39

K

iritimati [krissmas] is a coral atoll – and island in the Northern Line islands of Kiribati, in the central Pacific Ocean. With a land area of 388 square kilometres it is the largest coral atoll island in the world.1 The large interior lagoon of the island measures about the same area as the land area itself.2 A growing population of around 5000 people live mainly in the four villages of Tabwakea, London, Banana and Poland. A substantial percentage of the overall population growth is due to immigration from the other Kiribati islands.

Being part of the tiny (yet huge) nation of Kiribati [kiribas] the large island constitutes about 70% of the country’s landmass, but holds only 5 percent of its 103.500 population. Kiribati’s name is the local pronunciation of Gilbert (Islands), the main atoll group in the western part of the nation. Kiribati as a nation is made up out of 32 atolls and 1 raised coral island in an ocean territory of 3,5 million square kilometres (about the land area of India) straddling the equator.

The three island groups that constitute the nation are (in west-to-east-order) the Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands. The Gilberts are the most populated, have the most islands and holds the nation’s capital island of Tarawa.

1 Scott, Derek A. “Republic of Kiribati. A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania” 2 Streets, Thomas H. “Some Account of the Natural History of the Fanning Group of Islands”.

Previous page: Lagoon detail. Image: Google Maps, 2014

The Phoenix islands (about halfway between the Gilbert and the Line Islands) are mostly uninhabited but are since 2008 one of the worlds largest marine protected areas through the establishment of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA).3,4 The easternmost group, the Line Islands, consists of 11 islands (where 3 are U.S. Incorporated Territory and the rest are Kiribati). These are further divided into three groups: the Southern, Central and Northern Line Islands. The islands in the Northern Line islands are (north to south): Kingman Reef (US), Palmyra Atoll (US) Teraina (Washington Island), Tabuarean (Fanning Island) and Kiritimati (Christmas Island).

Since Kiritimati is situated so far away from the capital of Tarawa, most communications and transports go through either Fiji or Hawaii. Fiji Airways operate the only passenger flight which goes between Fiji to Hawaii with a brief stop at Kiritimati for refuelling.

The flight makes a return trip once a week. A weekly cargo flight provides foods and goods. Other than that Kiritimati relies on a monthly Tarawa-Kiritimati freighter.

Being a near-equatorial coral atoll, the climate is very stable and dry. A near-constant temperature of 2430°c and moderate rainfall together with bad soil conditions makes the island dry and arid.5,6

3 4

http://www.phoenixislands.org 2014-10-08 Stone, Greg. “Saving the ocean one island at a time” (TED)

5 6

Scott, Derek “Republic of Kiribati...”

Streets, Thomas H “Some account of...”

Scale comparison of Kiritimati and Manhattan islands.

40

Hawaii

Tarawa

Gilbert Islands Phoenix Islands

Northern Line Islands Kiritimati

Central Line Islands Southern Line Islands

James Cook’s map of Christmas Island.

Image: The Royal Library of Denmark

42

The History of Christmas Archaeological surveys conform that Kiritimati has been temporarily inhabited as a replenishing station for Polynesian pacific voyagers from perhaps as early as 400 AD. By 1000 AD the route was regularly travelled but by 1200 AD travel became less frequent.1 The island was then discovered by Europeans with the arrival of Spanish explorer Hernando de Grijalva in 1537 who named the island Acea (presumably old Asturian for aceña ≈ mill channel2).

On Christmas Eve of 1777 British explorer James Cook’s ships, Resolution and Discovery cast anchor outside (what was later named) Cook Island at the mouth of the lagoon.3 The atoll was consequently named Christmas Island, in gilbertese Kiritimati.

Cook and his ships stayed at the island for a few days, refreshing their supplies, mostly by catching turtles.

Telescopes were set up to observe a predicted solar eclipse. Although cloudy, Captain Cook could not finish his observations:

“At these observations I continued about three quarters of an hour before the end when I left osƒ being in fact unable to continue them longer on account of the great heat of the fun increased by the reflection from the ƒand.”4 1 2 3 4

Scott, Derek “Republic of Kiribati...”

Rato y Hevia, Apolinar de. “Vocabulario de las palabras...”

Cook, James “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean” Ibid: Volume II Page 184

Cook’s crew were also the first to discover how hard it was to navigate the flats, ponds and barren land of Kiritimati:

“In the afternoon the boats and turtling party at the South Eaƒt part of the iƒland all returned onboard except a ƒeaman belonging to the Diƒcovery who had been miƒƒing two days. There were two of them at firƒt who had loƒt their way but diƒagreeing about the moƒt probable track to bring them back to their companions had ƒeparated and one of them joined the party after having been abƒent twenty four hours and been in great diƒtreƒs. Not a drop of freƒh water could be had for there is none upon the whole iƒland; nor was there a ƒingle cocoa nut tree on that part of it. In order to allay his thirƒt he had recourƒe to the ƒingular expedient of killing turtle and drinking their blood. His mode of refreƒhing himƒelf when weary of which he ƒaid he felt the good effects was equally whimƒical: He undreƒƒed himƒelf and lay down for ƒome time in the ƒhallow water upon the beach.

It was a matter of ƒurprize to every one how theƒe two men could contrive to loƒe themƒelves. The land over which they had to travel from the ƒea-coast to the lagoon where the boats lay was not more than three miles acroƒs nor was there any thing to obƒtruct their view for the country was a flat, with a few fhrubs ƒcattered upon it and from many parts of it the maƒts of the ƒhips could eaƒily be seen. But this was a rule of direction they never once thought of nor did they recollect in what quarter of the iƒland the ƒhips had anchored and they were as much at a loƒs how to get back to them, or to the party they had ƒtraggled from, as

Discovery and Resolution Image: Wikimedia Commons

43

if they had just dropped from the clouds. Considering how ftrange a fet of beings the generality of ƒeamen are, when on ƒhore, instead of being ƒurprized that theƒe two men ƒhould thus loƒe their way it is rather to be wondered at that no more of the party were miƒƒing. Indeed one of thoƒe who landed with me was in a ƒimilar ƒituation but he had ƒagacity enough to know that the ƒhips were to leeward and got on board almost as soon as it was discovered that he had been left behind.

As ƒoon as Captain Clerke knew that one of the ƒtragglers was still in this awkward ƒituation he sent a party in ƒearch of him; but neither the man nor the party having come back the next morning. I ordered two boats into the lagoon to go different ways in proƒecution of the ƒearch. Not long after Captain Clerke’s party returned with their loƒt companion, and my boats having now no object left I called them back by ƒignal. This poor fellow muƒt have ƒuƒƒered far greater diftreƒs than the other ƒtraggler; not only as having been loƒt a longer time, but as we found that he was too ƒqueamish to drink turtle’s blood.”5 After spending a week on the island making observations and restocking with around 300 turtles Cook and his ships left the island. In the introduction of his last survey of the island he writes:

“...should any one be so unfortunate as to be accidentally driven upon the island or left there it is hard to say that he could be able to prolong exiftence”6 5 Ibid: Volume II Page 184-186 6 Ibid: Volume II Page 188

James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance-Holland 1775 Image: Wikimedia Commons

In 1850 an American called John Stetson surveys a guano stratum on Kiritimati. This led to the claiming of the island by the US under the US Guano Islands Act in 1856. However, little guano was mined there.1 In 1865 the British claimed ownership of the island and leased it as a coconut plantation. After a few failures and droughts the islands was leased to a French priest, Father Emmanuel Rougier. Many toponyms on the island goes back to Rougier’s days, such as Paris, where Rougier had his villa, or London (of course across the channel from Paris). The village of Poland is named from a Polish merchant, Stanisław Pełczyński who greatly helped with the island’s irrigation problems. In gratitude he was made a saint, was built a church and the large part of the lagoon above Poland bears the name St Stanislau’s Bay. Joe’s hill – the tallest on the island with its 13 meter elevation – is named after Rougier’s plantation worker Joe English who served as plantation manager in Rougier’s place between 1915 and 1919. During this time English and two teens were the only inhabitants of the island, and due to a Polynesian cholera outbreak and the start of WWI they were left isolated on the island for almost two years. When later rescued by the British Fleet, English pulled his revolver on Admiral Lord John Jellicoe, thinking he was German and the war was still ongoing. 1 During WWII, the island was occupied by the Allied Forces, held by an American Infantry Regiment who constructed the first landing strip next to the British Main Camp. The strip later turned into today’s Cassidy International Airport.1 When the war was over the British built an airstrip of their own, Aeon Field, in preparation for their planned nuclear testing programme: Operation Grapple. The British detonated 6 nuclear warheads, some directly above the island, before handing it over to the Americans and their nuclear programme: Operation Dominic.1 22 nuclear bombs were tested by the Americans.

During these tests, most locals were often not evacuated, but were instead provided with hearing and eye protection and told to stay inside at the moment of detonation. According to official (US Military) sources there were no victims of the blast or resulting radiation sickness, but a lawsuit by 700 involved military staff claims otherwise.2 The British Main Camp was converted into Captain Cook Hotel in 1975, and two years later Kiribati gained independence from the British Empire. In 1983 the US Guano Islands Act was formally ceded, and no other nation had claim on Kiritimati.

Since then the island has been developing its economy gradually with help of foreign aid and land- and fishing right leases. In 2006 the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) leased property to build what is now the JAXA Satellite Tracking Station.

In 1997 the island was designated a conservation area under the South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme, and in recent history the neighbouring uninhabited island group of the Phoenix Islands became what was then the largest protected marine reserve, Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in 2010.

2 Wojciech, Hupert “Between Sky and Ocean” , 2012

Opposite Page: Timeline of Kiritimati Events from end Micronesian colonies, through European discoveries in the pacific, the island’s role during and after World War II and present day preservation and development.

The timeline is displayed on a spiral logarithmic scale since most events happens in recent history.

1 Scott, Derek “Republic of Kiribati...”

44

2014

International Space Elevator Consortium Conference discusses Pacific Marine Node locations

2010

Phoenix Islands Protected Area is designated

2006

Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency satellite tracking station is established

1700

1764

Captain John Byron passes through Kiribati as captain of HMS Dolphin

1777

1639

Russian Cossacks advance over the Urals to the Pacific.

2001

Current freezer facility built with Japanese aid

2000

1997

Declared conservation area under South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme

3000 BC -1300

James Cook “discovers” Kiritimati on Christmas Eve, on his third and last voyage

Micronesian travellers pass through Kiritimati

1788

1400

Thomas Gilbert sights the western islands of Kiribati, since known as the Gilbert Islands

1800

1300

1606

First Sighting of other Kiribati islands Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sights the Makin/Butaritari group.

1600

1983

US Guano act claim formally ceded

1979

1500

Kiribati gains independence from British rule

1975

Former army base is converted into Captain Cook Hotel

1537

Hernando de Grijalva sights Kiritimati and names it “Acea”

1513

Vasco Núñez de Balboa “discovers” the Pacific

1521

Magellan names the “Mar Pacifico”

1962

22 US Nuclear tests “Operation Dominic”

Early 50’s

Aeon Field is built by British Army

1900

1842

Darwin publishes “The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs”

1939-1945

Island occupied by US forces during WWII Cassidy Airfield is built

1850

John Stetson finds guano on Kiritimati

1917-1939

1856

Kiritimati is claimed by United States under Guano islands Act

1865

British claim ownership of Kiritimati

French priest, Father Emmanuel Rougier leases the island for copra production

1905-1912

Island uninhabited again

1870

First lease request

by Alfred Holder

1882

First permanent settlement

1882

Formally annexed

by Britain

1915

Joe English starts copra production for Rougier

1898

The Pacific Islands Company obtaines a ninety-nine year lease of the island

45

1919

Incorporated into the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony

1957

6 British Nuclear Tests “Grapple X”

1958

“Grapple Y” & “Grapple Z”

Nuclear Tests at Kiritimati Both the United Kingdom and the United States conducted nuclear weapon tests at Kiritimati. Between the years 1957–62 at least 30 nuclear bombs were detonated. Six of these were part of the British Operation Grapple, and the remaining twenty-four were from the Americans – Operation Dominic. A total of 21,5 megatons of explosive power was detonated, equal to 1345 Hiroshima bombs.

Dominic: Yukon, 8th of May 1962

British Operation Grapple lasted from the 15th of May 1957 and ended the 23rd of September 1957.9 tests were made in total, 6 over Kiritimati. US Operation Dominic lasted from the 25th of April 1962 and ended the 30th of October the same year. 31 tests were made, 24 over Kiritimati.

Sizes of circles show the explosive power of each bomb in megatons (Mt) or kilotons (kt).

(Scaling is to area and not to radius.)

For comparison, the circle below is 16 area units and represents the bomb dropped in Hiroshima.

47

“At

t he moment of detonation there was a flash. At that instant I was able to see straight through my hands. I could see the veins. I could see the blood, I could see all the skin tissue, I could see the bones and worst of all, I could see the flash itself. It was like looking into a white-hot diamond, a second sun.”

— Ken McGinley, “No Risk Involved” 1991 Participant during Grapple Experiments

48

Grapple X

Grapple X-1

Grapple Y

Dom. Yukon

Dom. Swanee

Grapple X

Grapple X

Grapple Y

Grapple Z

Grapple X

Dom. Arkansas

Dom. Aztec

Dom. Bighorn

Dom. Chetco

Dom. Frigatebird

Dom. Nambe

Dom. Bluestone

Dom. Encino

Dom. Questa

Dom. Truckee

Dom. Swordfish

Dom. Yeso

Dom. Sunset

Dom. Yeso

Dom. Yukon

Nuclear tests. Images: Wikimedia

49

Kiritimati landscape from satellite. Images: Google Maps

50

Atoll Geo/Biology Kiritimati has a peculiar geology, or perhaps a peculiar lack of one. Since the entire island is a coral atoll – essentially a pillar of dead and living coral rising from the sea floor – there is no rock, no mud and no topography to speak of.

Coral atolls were first explained as a biological structure by Charles Darwin, who made observations of the phenomenon during his five year voyage with the Beagle. Darwin hypothesised correctly that atolls are formed by islands or seamounts slowly sinking or eroding due to geological action while their fringing coral reefs continue to grow. After some time the original island is fully submerged, but the coral keep pace by growing upwards to the ocean surface, forming a cylindrical wall marking the position of the original reef. Inside this reef dead material is deposited by erosion and forms inwards offset islands of coral sand and a interior lagoon, usually much shallower than the surrounding sea. Most atolls also have an inlet, or channel, through which tidal changes can equalize the water level of the lagoon.1 Kiritimati is the largest singular island formed by an atoll in the world with a large, yet partially landfilled, lagoon. While many atolls appear to be sinking due to sea level rise, Kiritimati appears to still grow.2 Due to climate change, changes in ocean temperature (El Niño) and resulting coral bleaching many coral reefs are currently not growing, which is a particularly pressing issue in the case of atolls which need sustained growth to keep above the ocean surface.

Therefore, some atoll nations are facing extinction.

Kiribati recently bought land in Fiji to evacuate its population in case the trend continues.3 However, Kiritimati’s reefs were not severely affected by El Niño and still continue growing – at least where they are not being overfished by the human population.

1 Darwin, Charles “The Structure And Distribution Of Coral Reefs” at http://darwin-online.org.uk 2 Wojciech, Hupert “Between Sky and Ocean”, 2012 3 Caramel, Laurence, in The Guardian – “Besieged by the rising tides of climate change, Kiribati buys land in Fiji” 2014

51

Despite its impressive size, measuring more than 50 km from NW point to SE point, the island is almost completely flat. The only topography to speak of are the sand banks along the beaches which rarely rise more than 1 meter above high tide. The exceptions are (other than man-made landscaping) “hills” formed by erosion such as Auvergne Sand Hills and Joe’s Hill.

The latter is the highest point on the island, measuring a height of 13 meters above sea surface.

Kiritimati is also special due to its large number of ponds that are not in direct contact with the main, tidal lagoon. Around 300 large ponds perforate the interior of the island. These ponds are mostly shallow, hypersaline and overgrown with algae of various species and colours, each forming a micro-habitat for its species. Since ponds are not in contact with another, a variety of colours and salinities are present in ponds which are right next to each other, separated only by thin coral sand banks.

Small islets (moto) are situated within the lagoon and the ponds. These have, due to their isolation from island mainland, become sanctuaries for the bird populations which otherwise are plagued by invasive species such as rats, cats and pigs that were imported by western settlers. The ecology of the island was also radically changed with the introduction of palm trees for copra plantations which replaced the shrublands which previously served as nesting grounds for millions of birds.

Atoll formation by sinking volcanic island as described by Darwin.

Image: Tubbathareef.com

Bird life in the lagoon. In order left/top to right/bottom we see Te Taake (Red-tailed Tropicbird), Te Etei Are E Bubura (Great Frigatebird), Te Keeu (Sooty Tern) Te Koota (Red-footed Booby) & Te Tarangongo (Grey-backed Tern)

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Animal Life The surface of Kiritimati is an inhospitable place.

Besides from the millions of stubborn crabs that scurry around between the palm trees, and a few imported rodents, the place is a desert. But Christmas Island is the place between sky and ocean – both of which are teeming with life.

As rats, cats and pigs have feasted on bird-eggs for over a century now, the bird population is severely decimated. But on the protected islets in the lagoon, the moto, one understands what it must have been like before European arrival. It’s loud and crowded, barely a single plant can grow without becoming a nest for a frigatebird or being undermined by the digging birds. The birds curiously swoop down to look at visitors and hover in the air besides the fishermen.

The huge coral reefs that surround the island are some of the best preserved in the world – especially away from the human settlements. Coral, fish, sea urchins, sharks and dolphins thrive for now, but their preserved habitat is threatened both by further human expansion and global coral bleaching events such as El Niño. Until then, the reefs around Kiritimati remain a sanctuary.

Marine life on the reef. Presence of many sharks signifies a healthy reef. Images: Enric Sala

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Traditional Mwaneaba. Image: Incredipedia

Te kora lashings on joint. Image: Whincup

Mwaneaba advertising. Image: Socialpaths

Burenneita Mwaneaba interior in Eita Village, Tabituea North. Image: Whincup

Traditional dancing in a modern Mwaneaba Image: Moanasailing

Small fenced Mwaneaba. Image: Socialpaths

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Catholic Mwaneaba in Tabituea North. Note the fence around the marae. Image: Whincup

Te Mwaneaba Culture The te mwaneaba (sometimes spelled maneaba) is central to traditional Kiribati culture. A Samoan building type exported to the Gilbert islands and through them to Kiritimati, the name consists of two words: Mwane, which means to collect, to bring together, and Aba, the land, the people of the land.

In a traditional Kiribati community the mwaneaba is a nexus for social, religious and political assembly. It is here the elders, unimwane, gather to make decisions about the village; the youth displays traditional mwaie dances and it also functions as temporary housing for visitors from other villages.1 The building is not owned by anyone in particular, a reflection of the old bubuti system where property changes hands depending on who needs it rather than who made it or inherited it. Tools and buildings were thus collectively used and born out of the need of the population rather than the individual. With the successive westernisation of the islands the bubuti system was abolished and personal ownership, a previously lacking concept, was introduced. Older mwaneabas are one of the few aspects that still are truly communal in Kiribati.

Structurally, the mwaneaba is a very large thatched roof on a rectangular base of wooden pillars without walls standing on a foundation of coral rocks, boua.

The floor is traditionally made out of smooth coral rocks and pebbles which are then covered with woven inaai mats made from palm tree leaves. The long sides of the structure is oriented towards the lagoon.

There are three types, Tabontebike, Tabiang and Maungatabu. The difference in these are the proportions of length to width and the resulting amount of pillars and beams needed. The type is decided by the number of village inhabitants. Joinery of the parts is made by wooden pins and rope made from coconut husk called te kora. Each type of joint has a specific way of lashing the rope, requiring a skilful master builder. Like other Kiribati architecture the mwaneaba lacks both 2- and 3-dimensional decoration.

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The mwaneaba is surrounded by a field of coral rock called the marae which you have to cross to enter.

Inside is a great open space with a designated circle where the unimwane meet. Their seating positions in the circle declare their status and authority in the group; sitting up against or near certain pillars proves more status. Failure to work out the social hierarchy of the unimwane circle leads to dispute and bad luck for the mwaneaba, in some cases leading to the mwaneaba having to be burnt down and rebuilt.1 A decorous mood is to be kept within the mwaneaba out of respect for the community and the elders.

The mwaneaba is built by a village, and belongs to the village. Everyone is involved in building, and everyone’s effort is valued. Tasks are different for men, women, children and elders, but everyone is needed in completing the finished building. It thus unifies the community and passes on the traditional skills for building it, and is vital for the cultural traditions performed in it.1 Mwaneaba are still built. However, the trend is shifting from local materials and craftsmanship to that of imported materials such as corrugated metal and concrete, seen as a luxury but not fit for the climate.

This is potentially devastating for the community’s traditions and its unity since these new mwaneaba are financed and owned – usually a church – rather than being crowd-”funded” and collective. Thus a village which earlier had to solve their differences under a common roof are segregated into either catholic or protestant mwaneabas where God, and not the elders, represent the power.1 1 Whincup, Tony “Te Mwaneaba Ni Kiribati” 2010

S t u d y Tr i p : S e a t t l e August 21tst – August 25th 2014 International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) 2014 Space Elevator Conference Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, WA

T

he starting point of this project as a thesis was the ISEC conference of 2014 in Seattle: a three-day conference with presentations, workshops and meetings at the inspiring Museum of Flight, at the old Boeing Field in the outskirts south of Seattle.

The theme for the 2014 conference was The Space Elevator: Architecture and Roadmaps. (The term “architecture” here refers to what parts are needed in the organization rather than that of architectural buildings.) These two were the topics for the workshops and group presentations. Notes from those workshops, on the group assigned subjects of Marine Node: Island or Platform and Roadmapping: Success Criteria are included later in this chapter.

A mixed group of attendants and presenters were present representing fields such as Aerospace Engineering, Architecture, Astrophysics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Journalism, Mathematics, Meteorology, Physics, Software Engineering, Space Engineering Systems, Space Flight Direction, & Space Life Support Engineering.1

1 ISEC 2014 Conference Handout, Seattle, 2014

The group ranged from high school-, collage-and university students, professionals, professors and retired academics. This diversity of people led to many interesting discussions and ideas being exchanged in just a few days’ time.

Some notable – and architecturally interesting – talks included Keith Lofstrom’s talk on Increasing Throughput – Decreasing Radiation, Bryan Laubscher’s talk on CNT Technology Progress at Odysseus Technologies, John Knapman on The Space Elevator in the Earth’s Atmosphere, Winifred Crawford’s talk on Weather Support to the Space Elevator Program and The Space Elevator Challenge in Japan by Shuichi Ohno.

Other than lectures, the Museum of Flight has interesting exhibits on space flight, including a fullsize space shuttle and replicas of International Space Station Modules and the Hubble Telescope, and a tether climber challenge for high schoolers to build tether-climbing robots.

Previous page: Facade detail of EMP Museum, Seattle, by Frank Gehry

Copenhagen

London

Seattle Chicago

Dallas Honolulu

Kiritimati

Total study trip route, 9 (!) flights & 8 airports.

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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

– Oscar Wilde

Attendees at the ISEC 2014 Space Elevator Conference in Seattle.

David Horn, Dr. Bryan Laubscher, Dr. Pete Swan, Leonard David, Mark Dodrill, Nick Martin, Peter Robinson, Robert “Skip” Penny, Keith Lofstrom, John Knapman, Winifred Crawford, Sherif Hindi (video link), Shuichi Ohno, Devin Jacobson, Akira Tsuchida, Martin Lades, Paul Wieland, Michael Fitzgerald, Alexander “Sandy” Curth, Fredrik Petersson, Lana and Campbell Gorlinski, Ben Shelef, Vernon Hall, Charles Gorlinski, David Schilling, Michael Laine, Phil Richter.

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The Museum of Flight – Main Exhibit

Inside of the ISS replica

Scale 1:2 Hubble Telescope

Robot climber competition

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Day 1 – Friday, August 22

Day 2 – Saturday, August 23

Day 3 – Sunday, August 24

9:00 – Conference Opening

and Welcome – David Horn

9:00 –

9:00 – Philanthropy vs. Investment Starting a

Space Elevator Institute – Dr. Pete Swan

9:15 – Space Elevator System

Overview – Dr. Bryan Laubscher 9:45 – ISEC Officers Report – Dr. Pete Swan 10:00 – Keynote Presentation – Leonard David 11:00 – ISEC History Committee Report Dr. Pete Swan, Mark Dodrill, Nick Martin 11:45 – Space Elevator Speech Competition

Announcement – Peter Robinson 1:00 – Space Elevator Climber Operational

Phases – Robert “Skip” Penny 13:30 – Loop Technology – Increasing Throughput,

Decreasing Radiation – Keith Lofstrom 14:15 – Space Elevator Simulation Validation

and Metrology – Peter Robinson 15:15 – The Space Elevator in the Earth’s

Atmosphere – John Knapman 16:00 – Weather Support to the Space

Elevator Program – Winifred Crawford

For Space Elevator rope: Production of exfoliated graphene and high surface charged-cellulose nanocrystals as stabilizer synthesized by lyophilized acidic hydrolysis – Sherif Hindi

9:45 – CNT Technology Progress at Odysseus

Technologies – Dr. Bryan Laubscher 10:45 – Space Elevator Challenge in Japan –

Shuichi Ohno 11:30 – JSEA Outreach efforts and potential

Business collaboration – Devin Jacobson 13:00 – “Road to Space Elevator Era”, IAA New

Study Group Creation – Akira

Tsuchida (co-author Dr. Pete Swan) 13:30 – Mini-Workshop: Research

Activities and Global Cooperation

- John Knapman and Martin Lades 15:30 – Family Science Fest/Youth Robotics

Competition Finals/Explore Museum of

Flight/Mingle and Collaborate

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9:30 – Living on Cloud 9: Or What We Could Do

With A Lunar Space Elevator! –

Paul Wieland 10:15 – Mini-Workshop: Marine Node Design

Concepts – Dr. Pete Swan 11:30 – Space Elevator Speech Competition 13:00 – Mini-Workshop: Space Elevator

Architectures and Roadmaps

- Michael Fitzgerald 15:15 – Shotgun Science Session (open to all

to present an idea or concept in 5 minutes) 16:30 – 2015 Conference Theme and Conference

Wrap Up – David Horn 17:00 - End of Conference1

1 Technical Program Agenda, edited from ISEC Conference handout

Workshop Notes:1 Marine Node Mini workshop – ISLAND VS. PLATFORM Fredrik Petersson, Bryan Laubscher, Devin Jacobson, Lana Gorlinski, Campbell Gorlinski, Sandy Curth.

Some plausible islands to work with (close to the Equator): In the Pacific: -- Kiribati Islands (specifically Christmas Island) -- Galapagos In the Atlantic: -- Azores Islands (quite far North, off of Portugal) -- Canary Islands -- Note: The undersea mountain range running down the middle of the Atlantic may present opportunities, but may also be too seismically active to be useful.

Island pros/cons: -- Stability (ease of anchoring system) -- Not ideal for using node to avoid space debris.

-- Already existing infrastructure (ports, people, food, etc.)

-- Little seismic activity on the central pacific island options.

-- Whatever the closest island is, the final product will end up with a major increase in infrastructure anyway, we might as well plan for it.

-- There are only a few feasible islands so any island efforts may not be repeatable, whereas a platform system could be repeated all over the ocean.

-- Christmas Island has a nice central location in the Pacific that could be conducive to international cooperation.

-- Most central pacific islands have large lagoons which could be useful for post space debris clean up elevator locations where a great deal of manoeuvrability is not needed.

-- Ryuichi Kaneko proposed the use of Addu Atoll in 1997.

Platform pros/cons: -- A platform is potentially very manoeuvrable.

-- Good for space debris avoidance.

-- Can be used to damp oscillations.

-- Platform construction/anchoring systems already exist in the oil industry.

-- Platform could have modular/additive design like ISS for future development.

-- In Central Pacific environmental issues are less problematic than near coast or north of the Equator.

-- In the Doldrums -> minimal wind.

-- There are options in the Pacific with minimal tidal forces. See Kaneko’s research via JSEA. -- Anchoring should really not be hard if we have usable tether tech by time of build.

High Stage 1 Considerations: -- It might be helpful for initial construction to have one end near/on an island.

Legal Considerations: -- Research needs to be done on international waters law.

-- International waters are by no means a free for all and many years of litigation in conjunction with the UN will likely be necessary.

-- Most of the Central Pacific Islands are autonomous.

Seattle Monorail and EMP Museum by Frank Gehry

Contacts: -- Ken Fitzgerald (has experience of offshore drilling) -- Oil Rig Manufacturers -- Sea Launch (note that Sea Launch stays near the Hawaiian Islands at all times) Conclusions: -- All contingencies seem to benefit from being near an island for infrastructure needs.

-- The middle of the ocean has less weather and seismic problems than the coast.

-- An Island is not viable for first elevator node because it would not be compatible with -- Current space debris avoidance plan.

1 Curth, Sandy . E-mail. 2014-08-26

Seattle Space Needle by Carlson,Graham & Steinbrueck

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Workshop Notes:1 Roadmapping Mini Workshop – SUCCESS CRITERIA Shuichi Ohno, Fredrik Petersson, Devin Jacobson, Jose Fuentes, Indio (Michael) Farrel, Sandy Curth Tether -- Validation of tether material durability through highly accelerated life test (HALT) at all altitudes.

-- There must be tests done in space.

-- Testing for durability from environmental effects and from being part of the whole integrated system of climber, node and tether.

-- Some large quantity of the tether must be produced to prove manufacturing capability.

-- Failure models must show safe disintegration of tether in case of collapse/re-entry from all altitudes.

-- Destructive tests that match modelled predictions.

-- Successful integration demo of climber on tether.

-- Demonstration of tether to node docking.

Climber -- Validation of environmental protection for crew and cargo and system redundancy.

-- Life support, radiation shielding.

-- Successful cargo loading/unloading demo.

-- Successful long distance climb demo.

-- Power supply demo and demonstration of a back up system.

-- Emergency protocols demo -- Does the climber need to execute a successful re-entry free of the tether?

-- Everything from the most basic climbing functions to plans for emergency stops in the Van Allen belts

must be demonstrated.

-- Demonstrate the climbing getting sufficient traction on CNT tether for up and down travel.

Marine Node -- HALT tests for node/tether connection.

-- Demonstrate system for minimizing extra load on tether caused by node.

-- Validation of large scale oscillation damping.

-- Perhaps tests can be done with high altitude balloons tethered to large ships to show damping through repositioning of anchor.

Maintenance tests -- All aspects of the system must be repairable/ maintainable through some sort of demonstrated system/schedule.

Seattle Public Library, OMA

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1  Curth, Sandy . E-mail. 2014-08-26

“T

h e space elevator will be built ten years after they stop laughing…and they have stopped laughing.”

– Arthur C Clarke

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S t u d y Tr i p : K i r i t i m a t i August 26th – September 2nd 2014 Site visit at Kiritimati [Christmas] Island, Kiribati

G

etting to Kiritimati requires some planning.

There is only one flight per week, touching down at Cassidy twice on the round trip between Honolulu and Fiji. After the flight takes off, there is no way of getting off the island for a week – if there are no problems with the aircraft, in which case you might end up staying for much longer.

As I combined this study trip with the ISEC conference in Seattle, I came in through Hawaii; departing early in the morning from Honolulu Airport and arriving at Kiritimati early morning the next day after a 4 hour flight – the confusing effects of crossing the international date line that wraps around the Line Islands since 1995.

The island appears unexpectedly in the endless pacific waters, like a thin film of colourful oil floating on the surface of the vast sea. Even from the elevated view from the airplane one can tell that the island is completely flat. Flying in over the surprisingly thin fragile-looking strip of land which surrounds the lagoon, all the colours change. The cold dark waters of the ocean are suddenly exchanged for millions of shades of turquoise, and the monotony of waves is replaced by the marbled patterns of the lagoon, ponds and their tiny islands. This beauty ends abruptly as a huge but sparse field of dry-looking coconut trees surround the concrete landing strip which is Cassidy International Airport.

Immigration is a shed on the runway. Departures is the shed next to it. There is an old American military fire truck – a museum piece – and a fence towards the gravel road that is the parking area. Only a fourth of the passengers get off here, earning us confused looks from the tourists heading further, to the tropical, touristic paradise of Fiji. We proceed across the sweltering runway to shade of the immigration shed.

No, I am not here for the fishing. No I am not here to make scientific studies. No I am not an aid worker. Tourist. I am just here as a tourist.

No fishing.

After having my bags searched, once again confirmed I’m not here for fishing (because if I were I would have to buy a pricey fishing license), doing some pointless waiting and speaking to a nice marine biologist who had a hard time understanding why anyone would come here if it was not for fishing or scientific diving, but took the opportunity to warn me about dangers of the waves on the reefs and their condition, I was let out through the fence.

Previous page: Stranded driftwood on Moto Tapu Isle in the lagoon.

We touch down on a bumpy concrete runway. By now my journey has taken me through many airports: Copenhagen’s chic modernist Kastrup, London’s hellish terminal 3 at Heathrow, the stir-fry smelling terminals of Chicago’s O’Hare, the calm evening at Seattle’s SeaTac and a night of sleeping to hula music mixed with jet engines in Honolulu’s open-air terminals. Cassidy International Airport is different in every way.

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Flying in over the lagoon, Tennessee centre along Main Road to London.

Cassidy International Airport, CXI

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The barren palm tree plantations seen from above

A colourful lobster shell found on the beach

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Waiting outside was a man named Mario, who would drive me to the hotel. As confused as the rest by my purpose for being here, we drove to the Captain Cook Hotel – a drive which distance I had severely underestimated and I had thought I could just walk.

The road – because there is only one that deserves being called that – is in a bad condition, filled with potholes and cracks. This single piece of infrastructure enables transport (and thus habitation) on the island, but it is a vestige from the colony days and is not being looked after.

Luckily, I was only nearly alone. Three Australian sport fishing tourists were also staying at the hotel. (The four of us being the only guests that week.) Terry, Robyn and Peter came from Melbourne, and had been here several times before. As confused as everyone else about my purpose for visiting, they themselves came to fly-fish for bonefish. (Kiritimati has some of the best bone-fishing in the world and is the main attractor to foreign tourists today.) These three became my only friends and company and they were very kind to explain how everything worked around the island.

Captain Cook is built on and within the remains of the American military Main Camp and is thus situated quite far away from the villages. What I presume used to be barracks and offices have been turned into hotel rooms and bungalows, but the surrounding landscape of empty concrete platforms informs the visitor that main camp used to be much bigger. After a check-in, and some more confused looks I was in my room. A quite spacious two-bed room with a shower and a toilet, and a very loud air condition unit coming in through the mosquito-net in the glass-less window.

After dining on lobster (not because it is a fancy dish, but rather that the reefs are crawling with them) and tuna (same there), I went to bed, trying to sleep and forget the screenshot I took from Google Maps:

Panic struck.

I was unbelievably far away from home (and from everything else for that matter). The island felt much bigger than I had expected, how would I get around?

What was I to do? Reading back in my sketch-bookturned-diary reveals a fair bit of anxiety.

The abstract is: It’s hot. It’s poor. It’s big. There is little to no fresh water. There are huge crabs everywhere.

Oh thank heaven they have wi-fi! Wi-fi is down. Is it already evening?

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Kiritimati at the red dot, far away from everything.

Having underestimated the size of the island I was not as mobile as I had hoped I would be. My explorations were thus limited to a guided tour that Mario took me on, and joining the Australians for days of fishing in the lagoon.

The guided tour took me through the three main villages: London, Tabwakea and Banana. These villages are extremely poor and consist not of a village street as they would in Europe but rather a large area of huts and houses which the main road happens to pass through. Here and there are the large communal structures, Mwaneaba, which function as markets, schools, councils or social centres. A surprising amount of churches are also to be seen – or not so surprising after Mario told me that almost everyone is Christian in some way. The island seems divided between Catholics and Protestants, but there are also smaller religious communities of Baptists and even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) is present.

Few houses are well-kept, and in many cases new structures are built next to crumbling ones rather than maintaining them. This is also true for the larger buildings and facilities, which are usually not locally funded but results of foreign aid. The attitude seems to be: Why maintain when foreign aid money will buy us new? This is sadly also true for the island’s only hospital, a scary-looking boxy structure in central London.

Other than the Mwaneaba, most large structures are built by foreign aid. Notable ones are the freezer house in London, built by the Japanese to freeze fish for export, the government centre/bank “Tennessee” built by the US Navy and the NASDA Downrange satellite tracking station built by the Japanese Aerospace Agency. Schools are built either by foreign aid (elementary) or by religious organizations such as the Church of St. Francis of Assisi (high schools).

Traditional structures as Mwaneaba and their scaleddown private version exist all over the villages, but people seem to have shifted towards a more westernised ideal of living by erecting more westernstyle houses with corrugated metal walls (whereas the traditional structures do not have walls, but at most woven partitions). The two styles currently co-exist and rarely did I see a house which did not have the raised, roofed platform next to it. Mario told me the reason for the particular shape of the platforms: Getting off the ground means you are away from crabs and livestock, as well as having ventilation underneath.

The open structure means the breeze can blow right through and cool its inhabitants under the shading roof. When the sun is at its highest, many i-kiribati (the demonym for Kiribati citizens) retreat for a siesta on the platforms, resting there until the temperature goes down and the evening arrives.

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A typical house with dual structures, new and traditional

A shop in Tabwakea selling food, beverages, tobacco and candy.

Traditional thatched roof from the inside

A large, modern, Mwaneaba with a tin roof in Tabwakea

The Mormon Missionary Centre

The ruins of a church, one of the few remnants of Main Camp

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The red ponds with white foam from their hyper-saline waters

Connection to the rest of the world through satellite

Tuna fishermen heading out to sea from London

Children playing on the lagoon beach

The grounds- and beekeeper of the Bathing Lagoon

The pier extends into deeper waters across the reef

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The beautiful but lonely Bathing Lagoon

The turquoise waters of the bathing lagoon

Everything here is about the ocean. Many young men start out by working on international shipping fleets, sailing around the world. Surprisingly, several of the men I met during my stay had visited Stockholm.

When enough money is earned, they move back to Kiribati to marry, start families and become fishermen.

Women tend to stay at home and take care of the house and the kids, but if a woman gets a job, this responsibility falls to the husband.

Children go to government-funded elementary school, but high schools are private and owned by either the protestant or the catholic church and thus cost a lot of money. Any higher education must be pursued on other islands such as Fanning Island or in Tarawa (mainly the shipping academy which prepares young men to work on large cargo vessels).

Government scholarships send a lucky few to a university in New Zealand.

The lagoon offers a natural – though shallow – harbour where many small boats are kept. We met a group of tuna fishermen about to go outside the reef in a very small boat. Equipped with hooks, lines, bait and pieces of coral for sinkers, they went fishing for fish almost as big as the boat they were travelling in. As the fish populations around the villages are decimated by overfishing, these excursions need to travel further away nowadays.

There is a larger harbour at London Point, right at the tidal opening of the lagoon which can house some bigger boats and skiffs. Indeed this is why London village is situated here in the first place. Larger ships (during my stay a Spanish fishing fleet) are anchored on the other side of the reef outside of London.

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Somewhere halfway between London and Tabwakea there is a pier where larger ships can load and unload cargo. It was at the time of my visit occupied by the government-owned freighter that ships goods between Kiritimati and the nation’s capital, Tarawa (a 3.300 km voyage over open water).

There is a small tourist economy on Kiritimati. The main part is as previously said from sport fishing tourism, and besides from that, there honestly isn’t much to do. A small attempt to encourage a more typical holiday tourist has been built in an inner sublagoon named the bathing lagoon. Here some sun chairs, a toilet, some coloured lights and some traditional huts have been placed. But it is far away from the villages, and quite far away from Captain Cook Hotel.

Even though I visited in low season, one could tell the bathing lagoon was not as popular as they had hoped for. The grounds-keeper – who was also the sole producer of honey on the island – lived there alone with his dog and his bees, waiting for tourists to come by for a swim.

A short drive from the Bathing Lagoon one comes to the red waters of the Manulu Lagoon. Red algae are the only thing that can live in these hyper-saline ponds (lagoons not connected to the ocean are referred to as ‘ponds’). The extreme flatness of the island makes it perfect for sea salt evaporation harvesting. The pink (coloured from the algae) salt is one of the main exports of the island. The salt plant (a tin shed) is situated at the closed off entrance to the lagoon and can thus refill it with water when the salt is harvested.

Large flat in the lagoon

A frigate bird takes flight.

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The lagoon is the most exiting part of the island. I asked for permission and got to follow my new Australian friends for two days of (them) fishing the flats for bonefish. Flats are the shallow waters where one can stand ancle-deep in the milky water on a firm coral sand bank. These are spread out all over the lagoon and sometimes the break the surface and form islets that are immediately populated by nesting seabirds.

To go fishing one leaves the hotel at 06.30 in the morning for a half-hour drive along the bumpy main road to London harbour. Here the hotel keeps its designated fishing skiffs. To get the right sunlight to see the elusive bonefish, the skiffs cross the lagoon, past Cook Island and Paris Point and start fishing on the southern flats. As the day progresses, they move counter-clockwise around the edges of the lagoon.

I spent two full days in this surreal but beautiful place.

While my friends were fly fishing with their guides, I walked the flats and the islets, or floated around the labyrinth of channels, sandbanks and lagoons on the shaded skiff. The lagoon is not as rich in marine life as the reefs as no coral or seaweed grows in these shallow waters. But what it lacks in fish it more than well makes up for in birds. The entire island used to be a nesting sanctuary for seabirds, then the humans arrived and brought plantations, rats and cats that severely decimated the bird population. But on the hundreds of small isolated islands the birds still thrive, and not yet accustomed to human presence, they are not afraid at all.

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If anything they are curious. Often they would swoop down from the sky and hover in the wind next to me, trying to figure me out. Most of them are frigatebirds or tropicbirds, but the white terns were the most curious ones. Some birds nest underground, so you have to watch your step when walking on the islets. Some of the bigger islands are designated bird sanctuaries, providing nesting grounds for thousands of birds. They are noisy and chaotic places, quite different from the stillness of the rest of the lagoon.

It is ridiculously easy to get lost. All the flats look the same and being near equatorial the sun does not help much with directions mid-day. The few existing landmarks are groups of palm trees in the distance.

It’s easy to believe you are on the open sea when standing in the lagoon, as its shallow turquoise waters stretches all the way to the horizon. The islets break the waves and leaves the leeward side still and reflecting like a mirror pond. This bleak, otherworldly – but beautiful – landscape has no differences in elevation whatsoever, and one can almost feel the curvature of the Earth by tracing the thin line, the vague difference in hue which separates sea from sky.

Next pages: Pictures of Kiritimati nature After that: The lagoon from our skiff

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Axis Mundi Giving architectural form to objective facts and subjective experiences.

A System of Space Elevators Building the first Space Elevator is an immense task and in case anything happens to it, the investment might be completely lost. Luckily, building a second one is significantly easier and cheaper once the first one is in place as one can use the first for transporting all the needed parts into GEO. This second elevator could then be used along with the first to build the third, the fourth and so on. The more elevators are built the more secure is the access to space.

Based on Japanese Obayashi Corporation’s plans to have a Space Elevator up and running in 20501, it will take around 4 years before the second elevator can be constructed. The third could be operational two years after that and by 2056 one Space Elevator could become operational every year. These elevators will likely transport mostly cargo and a few trained astronauts.

The aim for the design proposal is to describe the first elevator, but not at the time of construction but 10 years later, when the 2050 technology is outdated and the elevator is upgraded and repurposed from being a cargo elevator to one that can carry untrained visitors to space.

1 Obayashi.com,” The Space Elevator Construction Concept”

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2054 2nd Elevator Diego Garcia, British Ocean Territory

2060 7th Elevator Woleai, F.S. Micronesia

GEO

2060 8th Elevator Ascension Island British Overseas Territory

2059 6th Elevator Addu City, Maldives

2057 4th Elevator Palmyra Atoll, U.S.A,

2056 3rd Elevator Tarawa, Kiribati

YEAR 2050

2055

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2060

2058 5th Elevator The Galapagos Ecuador

2050 1st Elevator Kiritimati, Kiribati

2060 1st Elevator repurposed Kiritimati, Kiribati

A Master Plan for Kiritimati Introducing a high-tech elevator to space from a poor rural pacific island could be seen as a forced union of opposites, but instead I wish to unite the two by creating an ecosystem of functions and feedbacks: Creating an endosymbiotic relationship between the island and its new inhabitant. Rather than focusing all the operations of the elevator into one area, and thus isolating it from the life of the island, an infrastructural framework is laid out around the lagoon.

This loop follows both the existing road system and the freshwater supply along the rim of the island, basically the ring-shaped zone fit for human habitation, but also connects over the missing gap at the lagoon opening by a bridge. A light rail connects all the existing ports, air strips and villages into one system that serves both the island as a whole and the Space Elevator as a function. Other than communication the infrastructural loop can provide electricity, wastewater and allocate precious fresh water where it is needed.

A number of stations along the loop would be in already existing villages or at other functions such as the NASDA satellite tracking station, Captain Cook Hotel or Cassidy Airport. With facilitated communication, previously abandoned places such as the village of Paris, the Old Wharf or the limestone quarry at NE point could be revived.

Other stations are placed at previously named locations as these are usually of importance as a natural resource or significant to the island’s history.

New functions are added along the loop, such as a rectenna for energy and algae production and fish farming for an alternative protein source and as a coastal erosion countermeasure. Older but currently ineffective practices such as copra plantations, brine shrimp farms and salt production on the flats are all rejuvenated by easier access.

Where the loop bridges the mouth of lagoon it brings the two points of the island that are currently the furthest apart – London and Paris – together. Between these two points Cook Island is made accessible to visitors from a station that also connects to a smaller interior loop – that of the Space Elevator perimeter.

This is set inside the lagoon for primary protection from weather and waves, but also from potential hostile approach as the only way to approach is by boat is through the now controlled opening of the lagoon – which in itself is too shallow for large oceangoing vessels. The required radius of the perimeter, 2,4 km, fits neatly inside the open part of the lagoon without disturbing any existing flats or islands.

Growth Scenarios Historically, the settlements of Kiritimati were situated at the mouth of the lagoon. Here one could get past the fringe reef into the protected waters offered by the lagoon in natural harbours by London, Paris and Poland. With the construction of the airstrip the focus shifted from naval to aviation transport, and Main Camp, and later Banana, became important settlements.

The current trend seems to be the uncontrolled expansion of Tabwakea and Banana, (as London is limited by sea and lagoon) even though they are currently facing problems of freshwater supply both in terms of quantity and quality. This sprawl is caused by the lack of roads or other communications, so building close to already existing villages is the only way to access the services provided there. It also means that villages are growing away from Main Road, which is the sole artery of the island.

The freshwater lens, from which all fresh water is collected, runs along the rim of the island, along Main Road. The suggested infrastructural loop runs along this lens, and the road, with a light rail which makes all parts of the loop equally accessible to everyone – thus allowing settlements along the freshwater resources so they can be used without being depleted or contaminated. Although stations on the route can theoretically be anywhere along the loop, the proposal focuses on growth along 15 places which already have some sort of importance for the island, be it of historical significance, resources or simply existing settlements.

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Soil Space Solar

Compost/ Waste Management Quarry

Fresh Water Retention

Space Station Rectenna

Building Process

Nature/ Environment

Space Manufacuring / Material Extraction

Clean Energy

Local Labour Tourism

Fresh Water Extraction

Porphyra Mariculture

SPACE ELEVATOR

Fish & Clam Mariculture

Ocean Rise Resilience

Island Growth

Agriculture

Excess Energy

Feed

Fertilizer Copra Production LOOP INFRASTRUCTURE

KIRITIMATI

Salt Production

Hilbertz cages

Food

Coral Reef Regeneration

Economy

Expanded Airport(s)

Fishing Fish Pop. Regeneration

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Expanded Port(s)

An endosymbiotic relationship The term endosymbiotic differs from normal symbiosis in that in an endosymbiotic relationship the parts are no longer distinguishable from each other. Together two separate things become so intertwined that they form a singular unity.

In this project three main parts can easily be identified: The existing condition – the island.

The new species – the Space Elevator.

A middle man – the added infrastructure.

It is by now easier to see how the latter two benefit from the island, simply by its location. But how does a millennia-old coral atoll populated by fishermen benefit from an expanded infrastructure and an elevator to the skies? Other than the purely economical gains, what preserves and reinforces the existing qualities of life on Kiritimati?

One of the main reasons to build a Space Elevator in the first place would be to launch space solar satellites that can harvest energy for transmission back to earth.

Building a rectenna to transmit this energy to beside the island can provide all the energy needed for the Space Elevator itself, but will also provide Kiritimati with enormous amounts of clean energy.

The rectenna’s considerable size (around a 10 km diameter) makes sure that the radiation is low enough not to be harmful, but an area this big is now at the disposal of the island. Since food supply is a constant problem for this isolated part of the Pacific, the rectenna is proposed to double as a Porphyra algae mariculture site. Algae grow from the floating structure, and due to the depth of the water outside the reef it does not shade any of the marine habitats that would usually require sunlight. The algae harvested are a good food source for the island in form of nori, but can also be used as feed for fish farms on the opposite side of the island in order to create a controlled protein source and stop the overfishing of the reefs that is happening today.

Fish excrements that float add nutrition and microscopic life to the water which becomes a good food source for clams and other tropical shellfish that are grown along the fish farms acting as filters.

Excrements that sink are collected from the bottoms of the fish cages and are used as compost landfill or to fertilize crops on land and kick-start the rejuvenation of the islands copra industry. More soil means more greenery and thus a better freshwater retention system for the island, making sure that freshwater does not drain away through the porous limestone as it does today.

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These functions are easily connected by the infrastructure’s eastern parts, and thus need not disturb the operations of the villages and the Space Elevator that are mainly situated in the western parts.

Low currents of excess energy are led through metal wires out of the reefs, which by electro-accumulation will soon be covered in a limestone stratum through a process known as accretion. This method was invented by the late Prof. Wolf Hilbertz as a way to rejuvenate coral reefs after it was proven that coral that grows on this type of structure does not just grow faster, but are much more resilient to the water temperature fluctuations that have been killing most of the Earth’s coral reefs the in last decades. A fastergrowing, more resilient coral reef not only restores the ecology of the reefs and by that the food supply, but it is also able to keep up with the erosion and increased sea levels that are effects of global climate change.1 As the Space Elevator needs the infrastructure to work, there is also an economical interest in investing in, and maintaining the systems, be they natural or artificial – or something in between.

1 Hilbertz, Wolf. http://www.biorock.org/

Light Rail Transportation around Kiritimati today is limited to a number of trucks driving along the main road. As population grows, but gas prices increase, a light rail system is introduced as an alternative solution. The system suits the nature of the island with its thin, linear, habitable rim – one is never far from either lagoon or ocean.

Stations are easily set up along the existing main road, connecting all of the pre-existing villages and functions through one system. The light rail can use the existing road as a foundation, and where repairs need to made for the rail, they also benefit the road.

Like the trucks, skiffs and the local architecture the rail cars are open-air wall-less platforms with a large shading eaves. This allows for natural cooling as the cars move, and the large roof provides efficient shading of the seats all year around due to the sun’s high position at the equator.

The rail goes through all the different landscapes the island offers: Through plantations and shrub land, across salt flats and along the inner lagoons, bridging the channel and going through village streets. It also connects existing infrastructural hubs such as harbours, jetties and airports, so that cargo and people can easily move between these.

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Light Rain system for the Loop Infrastructure. Open-air cars in short and longer configuration.

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Kiritimati’s existing infrastructure, the large concrete road built by the British, is complemented by a light rail system which allows people to move about the island in a cheap and effective way, making the remote areas of the island accessible to everyone. The copra coconut plantations which today grow abandoned can be renewed when workers can move about easier.

The solar power harvested in space is sent to earth not through wire, but as low-frequency microwaves. These are aimed at a vast rectenna, floating on the leeward side of the island, where a net of metal dipoles captures the energy and converts it to electricity.

This huge floating surface becomes a new part of the landscape from which Porphyra algae can be grown as a new food source.

By-products from copra and algae production, together with the by-catch of ocean fishing are used to feed fish in arrays of fish farms in the large Bay of Wrecks on the island’s north-eastern side. The fish cages double as breakwaters, protecting the eroding coastline inside the bay. Growing fish makes sure that most of the protein needed by the islanders can come from farmed fish rather than the reefs – thus ending the current depletion of species on the island’s coral reefs.

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Horizon The unique landscape of Kiritimati provides a magnificent horizon. Standing on the surface of the island aligns your feet with the distant line, and travel across the lagoon is an almost two-dimensional experience. To emphasize the flatness of this environment, design strategies for built structures use the horizon as a starting point. Sketches on the opposite page sample some of the offered experiences.

The top row of images emphasize what Le Corbusier calls the crystallisation fixation of a site – when the horizontal line is met with a right angle. “The vertical gives meaning to the horizontal”.1 Through either a positive or negative counter-form to the horizon we are reminded of the counter-forces to gravity. Something reaching all the way to the horizon creates the illusion of a vertical to the eye of a person elevated above the horizontal plane.

The middle row instead draws lines parallel to that of the horizon, through reflection, framing or alignment of the eyes to the waterline. The symmetrical framing that happens in the first two images merge into one single line in the third, as one descends below the horizontal plane.

The third row comes from Kiritimati’s vernacular architecture, where the lack of walls reduce structures to platforms, roofs or the combination of both into spaces that are open towards the horizon. The architectural space does not enclose its inhabitant vertically, but rather invites the horizon with its cooling winds to pass through the space.

1 Moulis, Anthony: Le Corbusier’s Horizon

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Perimeter Ring A large inner loop inside the lagoon provides a second layer of protection for the Space Elevator besides that from the island itself. As its uppermost surface is just above the waterline it does not obstruct views across the lagoon. Serving as a breakwater and a fence, it makes sure that no unauthorized boats can approach the elevator platform.

But the perimeter ring also has a more important function. Along the rim are six stations where horizontal tethers are connected to the floating platform. Winding in and out on these tethers ensures that the platform can move about inside the perimeter ring.

This feature is required to be able to avoid orbital debris for the tether cable, from some 160 km above the lagoon. Current debris avoidance manoeuvres made by the International Space Station usually move the station between 1-2,5 km, so a 2,5 km movement radius in Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) is established for the ring. This results in a radius for the ring itself which is 2,4 km in radius since a 1 km displacement on the earth surface results in a 1.31 km displacement in LEO (and a 6 km displacement up at GEO).

When no avoidance manoeuvre is needed the elevator rests in the center of the perimeter ring, making sure it has a maximum range of available movement across the 18 km2 enclosed area.

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Cook Island The large infrastructural loop and the perimeter ring interest just off the coast of Cook Island – the small islet in the middle of the lagoon’s mouth between London and Paris. The resulting station uses Cook Island’s eastern flat as a foundation for the railroad switch, rotating table and parking for those who wish to visit the elevator platform by car.

The open-air structure consists of two large horizontal roofs: one for shading the parking, and one for shading the turntable and the adjacent drop-off point. The latter is held up on slender pillars as to not impede the view of the perimeter ring, while the former is held up by a solid coral limestone wall, shielding off the Pacific expanse.

A narrow slit in the wall creates an opening towards Cook Island. Steps in the slit lead down to a footpath, submerged ankle-deep into the water – this to keep foreign fauna out as Cook Island is a bird sanctuary.

After wading through the shallow water, steps lead up the sand bank to the island shore. A path is laid out, and visitors are encouraged to stick to it as the island is home to vulnerable birds species that nest underground.1 The walkway leads around the island, past its westernmost point, where the distant horizon is framed by a window in a limestone slab – a monument to James Cook and other explorers who dared go beyond the horizon.

1 Christmas Island Bird Species Guide, www.parliament.gov.ki

Above: Cook Island Station Right: Cook Island bathymetry map

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Each station along the perimeter ring has a rotating table for transfer of cargo – or the entire train car – to a ferry that goes along the tether to the elevator platform. Since the elevator platform needs to be mobile, the tether connection is jointed to allow 60° of platform movement on either side of the perpendicular tether position (when elevator is situated in the middle of the perimeter).

As the ferry detaches from the perimeter ring it pulls itself along the horizontal tethers across the lagoon towards the floating platform. Like riding a train running on the calm water surface the travellers going to space are cut off from land and finally begin their journey. This first venture into a vast nothingness becomes a preparation for what is to come.

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The Floating Platform Arriving to the elevator across the horizontal tethers of the lagoon, one reaches a low curved wall floating in the water. This wall surrounds – in two perforated layers – the elevator itself. Between the layers a terminal building for the Space Elevator is arranged around the large circular inner courtyard in which the elevator tether is fastened. To the arriving traveller, the facade slopes away in every direction, making the edges of the building less defined, and thus reduce the visual scale of the building.

Being vague rather than monumental the rounded form does not try to impose its presence in the lagoon and becomes more of a vehicle than a building. This is further achieved by eliminating the traditional roofto-wall relationship by twisting surfaces along the curvature of the building, what is “wall” in one place becomes “roof” further along.

The water surface intersects with the wall at two thirds of the building’s actual height, putting most of the

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structure under water where it fades into the milky waters of the lagoon, but is clearly not attached to the bottom of it.

Like the coral sand of the lagoon flats, the facade has a warm-white colour tone, reflecting the harsh equatorial sun. The large rhombic panels, made from a white-anodized aluminium, follow the internal structural system of the floating platform and enclose it in a smooth continuous surface.

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Structural System Before we move on to describe the interior of the building, a few words have to be said about its structure.

Since the floating platform needs to be mobile in every direction in order to avoid debris along the tether, all sides are equal in form from the water surface and down and at equal distance to the centre. This gives a large circular shape which is hard to structure by conventional orthogonal standards.

The platform instead has a radial structure that originates from the central tether core. Three structural moves make up the basic geometry: First, straight spokes originate from the center and reach all the way to the outer facade. Second, the outline of the facade is offset onto the radial spokes into a pattern of concentric circles. Third, connecting the intersections of the first and the second systems, one ends up with a spiralling triangulation of the surface.

For further stiffness, this system is doubled, one for the floor and one for the lower hull. These are then connected through the spiral intersections to create a space frame which is equally rigid in all planar directions, effectively making it a radial version of an octet truss.

On top of this resulting space frame stands a more porous structure that surrounds the inhabitable spaces. The center of the courtyard is offset from the center of the outer boundaries in order to create larger spaces and an extra floor in the west part of the building, meaning that this secondary structure does not conform to the concentric rings of the space frame. Instead it rises from the radial spokes, wraps around the interior space as pillars and beams and comes down at the same radial spoke on the outer perimeter. The spiralling pattern follows the spoke pattern up to stabilize the surface while also giving it partitions for the cladding panels.

There are 60 radial spokes, effectively dividing the building into a clock-face between the numbered structural members. Most interior spaces are divided into “minutes” on this clock-face. For example: the departure gate is situated between (10-15) – a five minute space.

The resulting structural systems are very well integrated into each other, with no loose ends and multiple paths for both compressive and tensile forces – effectively spreading these forces all across the structural system.

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Roof Structure

Spiral Structure

Roof / Wall Structure Radial Spoke Structure

Interior Wall Structure

Top of Radial Space Frae

Ring Structure

Diagonal of Radial Space Frame

Radial Space Frame Structure

Bottom of Radial Space Frame

Structure divided into different directional types of members

Structure divided by resulting surfaces

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Above: Possible structural hierarchies in the space frame structure do to connections with tethers (dotted).

Right: Rendering of full structural lattice

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Perforations Each of the facade panels has a 10x10 grid of perforated holes that follow the angles of the parent surface. These perforations are filled with glass with a rhombic fritting pattern similar to that of the perforations in order to diffuse the light from the outside and limit the view outside.

In order to keep the impression of a continuous surface, the pattern fades by scaling the perforated holes in six stages ranging from a 25% perforation (rhombic sides in this perforation size is around 220 mm depending on the panel) to a completely solid panel. The most porous surfaces enclose spaces with high daylight requirements, the arrival hall and the administration offices, and then gradually fade into a closed surface for more introvert functions like storage or the departure gate. The perforation pattern wraps around from the inside of the courtyard to the outside of the building, following the descent of the travellers down under the water surface towards their departure.

Surrounding this text is a diagram of the perforated panels, colour-coded by their perforation and what parent surface they belong to.

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Roof Plan

East Elevation (not to scale)

West Elevation (not to scale)

South Elevation (not to scale)

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Facade Apertures Other than the provided views for arrival and departure, the required openings in the facade shell for cargo and passenger flows are hidden within the perforated panelling system and are only opened when needed. This ensures the visual continuity of the outer facade, as well as that of the interior perforated surface which gradually fades.

As each opening is set at a vertical tether connection point, it is always between two members of the structural grid, allowing openings of a 6 meter width in the outer facade and a minimum of 3,6 meters in the facade facing the courtyard – enough for the largest pieces of cargo to the elevator to pass through with a one-meter margin. As both surfaces are curved, the doors slide perpendicularly to the respective surface radius.

Passenger entrance aperture closed. Seams are hidden within the paneling seams with the exception for central division of the entrance.

Opening begins with offsetting the panels in the radial direction...

...and then sliding apart perpendicular to that direction, revealing an opening to the interior.

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Upper Level Plan Now we move into the building, we enter on the upper level which is one meter above the water surface (entrance area is +0.5 as is the barge that goes along the horizontal tethers). Travellers enter into a large arrival hall (46–55) with departures and security to the left and arrivals to the right. The monotony of the horizontal is broken with a large vertical opening to the lower floor where the everyday activities of the staff are made visible. The large perforated facade behind the slab opening hints at the space in the central courtyard, but for now keeps it hidden from a clear view.

Travellers come back from their journey to space by ascending a stair in the western part of the courtyard (45–46), pass by a sluice/lock (which normally allows guided tours and personnel to move perpendicular to this approach) and onto a west-facing balcony recessed in the outer facade. This space allows the travellers to watch the sea and the horizon and enjoy the open air and some solitude before reuniting with friends and family in arrivals. When ready they re-enter the building through a pivot door into the arrival hall where they are greeted and can reclaim their luggage before leaving the same way they first arrived.

Travellers use a check-in desk (53–54) to the left and then proceed through a security checkpoint (55–56), but here the likeness with a regular airport ends. After security the travellers are equipped with space suits which they change into after showering in designated locker rooms (57–59). Wearing these suits, they walk back toward the arrival hall where they can wave goodbye to friends and family in the waiting area by the concessions kiosk (54–55) – separated by a void space as to have the goodbye process be a gradual experience. They then descend along a gently curving ramp (56–12) down onto the lower floor where the departure gate is situated.

The upper floor also houses the administrative parts of the mission control centre (41–45), with offices and meeting rooms surrounding another vertical opening down into the large mission control floor.

Opposite: Upper Floor Plan, cut 1200 mm over floor, 2200 mm over water surface.

Whether companions are waving travellers off or welcoming them home, a staircase in the arrivals part of the room (46–48) leads to a large depressed roof terrace (43–48) that offers a clear view of the courtyard and the surrounding lagoon.

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Lower Level Plan We pick up where we left off with the travellers and follow them down the ramp along the northern facade. As they walk downwards they slowly descend under the water surface clearly visible through the facade perforations. As they reach the horizontal tether holder in the north-east, the ramp opens up into a larger departure gate (10–15). Here travellers are encouraged to get to know each other before departing. Other than a seating area the gate also holds a replica of an elevator capsule and a small museum with information about the Space Elevator project which hopefully works as a good conversation starter.

When it is time for departure the passengers gather and are led through a pivot door into the elevator approach (15–16). This narrow space makes a vertical incision into the building, connecting the inner courtyard with the lagoon, but as travellers have descended below the surface of the water, the horizon line is now above their heads, lapping against a near-invisible graphene-reinforced surface.

In the other direction, the narrow corridor opens up to the huge courtyard. Here, the horizon becomes invisible as the walls slope up towards the sky.

The sublime feeling of walking onto an airfield is condensed into a minimalistic space where only the traveller, the elevator and sky are present.

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As the elevator takes off, one emerges from the sunken courtyard, penetrates the plane of the horizon and ascends out of the lagoon towards space. The rest of the lower level is less romantic. Half of it holds storage areas for elevator parts: mainly the capsules (23–35), the solar arrays (36–41) and the climber engines (60–10).

Under the slab of the upper floor are the employee spaces (41–60): the mission control centre we peeked down into earlier, as well as the large open space under the arrival area. Supporting functions such as locker rooms, canteen and sleeping quarters for shift workers are dispersed along the outer wall while cargo and mission control are situated along the inner wall as they need physical and visual access to what happens in the courtyard.

The floor of this level is situated three meters below the surface of the lagoon, which means all perforations in the outer facade lets light filter first through water, then into the building, casting serene reflections and refractions into resting spaces and sleeping quarters.

Opposite: Upper Floor Plan, cut 1200 mm over floor, 2300 mm under water surface.

Sectional Array As the floating platform tapers in both plan and elevation, the sectional profile is constantly changing, no sectional cut through the building thus looks the same. At the same time, the large courtyard comprises most of a traditional section drawing and another method was thus chosen.

In the sectional diagram to the right, a section is taken at every other structural “minute� (see structural system), offset from the building volume (seen in plan) and laid down in a clockwise direction. Similar to a classical Beaux-Arts fold-out facade drawing, this is done to facilitate the reading of the sectional profile to a precise location on the plan, relating the width, height and location of each sectional plane.

This rhythm of sectional cuts is meant to show differences in the sectional profile and the formal transitions and conditions of the structure rather than showing the most interesting spaces. Sections will thus sometimes cut along walls, or in voids. However it is the objective of the diagram to show all these varied conditions of the structure.

A-A

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In this diagram, the elevation behind the section is limited to a few important lines in the building interior.

All sections look in a clockwise direction.

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Timetable Based on a method described by Keith Lofstrom in his paper, Increasing Throughput – Decreasing Radiation1, the elevator operates with several different types of climbers on different altitudes. Slower but stronger climbers takes the cargo through the atmosphere, where gravity is high and there is still resistance from air. Once the cargo reaches a certain altitude it is met by a new climber, which can climb considerably faster due to less gravity and air resistance. This means that several payloads of cargo, or passengers, can travel the elevator at one time, and that climbers can be optimized for their specific environments. This cuts down travelling time from just under seven days (climbing time of one climber strong enough to escape the atmosphere) to under one day.

The graphic on the opposite page represents a mapping of the timetable for possible Space Elevator climbs. At the center is Earth, marked by its astronomical symbol �.

The Earth is set in the middle of a 24-hour clock-face representing the 24 hours of a day. The shadow cast from Earth corresponds with the daylight hours at the equator. Sun rises around 06.00 every morning and sets around 18.00 every evening.

The rings that fill the space between earth and the outer edge of the clock-face represent altitude and are to scale with the Earth. Each of the thin black lines marks an altitude at 1000 km increments up to 36000 km – just past geostationary orbit at 35 786 km which is marked by the outer dashed ring. The inner dashed ring represents the semi-synchronous orbit.

The blue fields represent at what times and altitudes climbers are on the tether. The edge of the field, marked by a white line gives the exact altitude of the climber at a given time. Waiting times are built in to the timetable, for changing climber mechanisms, and are seen as flat caps at a certain altitude of each field.

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Lofstrom, Keith, Increasing Throughput – Decreasing Radiation

As is evident from the diagram, the length of the night, when earth blocks the light from the sun, dramatically decreases with altitude. Already at 3000 km altitude night is just around 6 hours long, half of what it is at the surface, and up at GEO, night lasts just over one hour. This means that the higher a climber reaches, the more sun-time it has and can use solar arrays effectively to power the climber engine.

With the exception of the darkest field closest to earth, where solar arrays can not be deployed due to the air resistance in the atmosphere, climbers climb using only solar power. When night occurs climbers either rest at that altitude or descend using gravity. This method allows for 3 launches every day. At sunrise, noon and just before midnight.

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Simplified launch diagram showing time and altitude.

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Elevator Approach After waiting in the gate the passengers are let out into a narrow open-air corridor clad with limestone.

In one end of the corridor is the large open courtyard with the elevator, and in the other is the ocean. The traveller is now 3 meters under the surface of the lagoon. An almost invisible “window” of graphene goes from floor to top, making it seem as if the wall is made out of water, and waves splash against an invisible barrier above your head.

The launch timetable for the elevator coincides with the movements of the equatorial sun and sky, creating three different scenarios for the three daily launches: 06.00 – First Launch – Sunrise As passengers enter the corridor the sun rises over the horizon in the east. The water surface on the window marks this horizon and the travellers get to experience the sunrise from underneath the sea. When the first rays of light hit the limestone walls above and the waves diffract the light shining through the turquoise water it is time to board the first launch.

12.00 – Second Launch – Noon By the equatorial noon the sun is straight above, making the travellers cast almost no shadow. Small imperfections in the wall however cast long vertical shadows. So does the towering tether, which acts as a giant sundial. When the sun passes its zenith, the corridor is suddenly filled with the shadow of the tether; it is time for the second launch.

23.00 – Third Launch – Before Midnight Being far away from other civilisation, Kiritimati’s night sky is completely unpolluted by the light of the great cities and offers a stunning view of the traveller’s destination. The milky way, the mythological body of Riiki the Eel, is seen clearly as a cloud in daylight, but its diffuse light is strong enough to cast shadows. At around 23.00, Earth’s rotation aligns the galaxy eastwest across the night sky and bathes the corridor in starlight, which means its time for the third launch.

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“E

very age has its dreams, its symbols of romance.

Past generations were moved by the graceful power of the great windjammers, by the distant whistle of locomotives pounding through the night, by the caravans leaving on the Golden Road to Samarkand, by quinqueremes of Nineveh from distant Ophir . . . Our grandchildren will likewise have their inspiration — among the equatorial stars. They will be able to look up at the night sky and watch the stately procession of the Ports of Earth — the strange new harbors where the ships of space make their planetfalls and their departures.”

— Arthur C. Clarke, The Promise of Space, 1968.

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Inner Courtyard Entering the inner courtyard from the elevator approach is a sublime experience. From the narrow corridor there is a perceptional explosion of space.

The huge open surface with its continuous leaning sides encloses a room that from this view connects only to the endless sky. In the equatorial sun the courtyard is harshly lit, without shadow, and warm gleaming white panels contrast the azures of the Pacific sky.

The elevator is placed beyond the middle point of the courtyard, allowing travellers to experience the center space, while the floor panels create a pattern that like a cortex leads towards the launchpad. The vertical sensation intensifies as one gets closer to the tether, a shimmering string going off, seemingly infinite, into the sky.

From the sunken balcony above the arrivals stairs, spectators can watch the lift-off without interrupting the travellers’ visual experience. Their view is quite different, being perched on the edge of a void into the lagoon which surround them in all directions.

As travellers depart for space, the climber slowly ascends through the horizontal plane, rising from the waters of the lagoon. The approach corridor now focuses the view eastwards, where the colourful lagoon ponds and flats appear, gleaming turquoise, and stretch out into the pacific – revealing yet again the flatness of the island. The horizon gently starts to curve before the climber reaches the thin Pacific clouds above, and as the climb continues the line that once was flat becomes a circle – the silhouette of Earth.

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1 – Contracted mode

2 – Moving apart

3 – Extended mode

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Elevator Climber To climb the tether up into space some sort of climbing mechanism is needed. Most likely, many different sorts of climbers will ascend the tether, be they for cargo, maintenance, or passenger transport.

The climber rolls up the tether by friction. A wheel on either side rolls up while holding on to the thin carbon nanotube wire. As gravity is strongest closer to Earth, more friction is required here in order to lift and accelerate a climber. Current studies suggest a 20 ton climber (cargo and passengers included) will be able to ascend the tether.1 To avoid damage by micro-meteors, the tether itself has a curved cross-section. The one meter wide filament, only micrometers thick, has a 120 cm bend.1 This means that any small particle colliding with the tether in space will have but a small risk of severing the tether completely. This does however complicate the design of the climber mechanism itself.

Since the tether is curved, normal wheels can not apply friction at all possible points on the tether. To do this a shape that follows the form of the curved tether is needed. Hence two special wheels, one for each side of the tether, has been designed. A crosssection along the axis of these wheels shows their difference. One is concave, the other convex.

Four of the convex wheels and three of the concave are placed in a flexible lattice that is built to contract and expand. In its most contracted mode, the tether is forced to zigzag in between the wheels, adding more surface for friction. As the gravitational pull decreases, and there is no longer any need of friction for other purposes than acceleration, the lattice can relax – bringing the wheel axes up to an aligned state where a minimum friction is held. This does not force the tether to zigzag and the climber can accelerate faster.

Of the 20 tons of weight, climbing mechanism, engine and power source are presumed to weigh around 4 tons, leaving 16 tons for cargo and cargo containers.1 If passengers ride the elevator, a fair bit more weight is required for the container since this needs to be airtight, radiation-proof and insulated for sound and temperature. Raw material cargo shipment does not require travelling in any certain climate, and can thus have a higher weight efficiency.

To not add any extra weight, the climber will not carry any fuel, but rather generate its own energy through photovoltaic panels or have energy wirelessly transmitted from earth.

1 (ed) Swan, P.:”Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and Way Forward” 2013

Isometric: Concave and convex wheels on tether.

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Tether Anchor + >35786,05 km - < 100000 km (depending on mass) Outer Earth Orbit <0% gravity

Geostationary Orbit +35786,03 km Total travel time: 18 h Outer Van Allen Belt 0% gravity

S5 +17786,03 km Total travel time: 14 h Outer Van Allen Belt Middle Earth Orbit 5,6% gravity

S4 +7900,12 km Total travel time:10,5 h Middle Earth Orbit 19,3% gravity

S3 +4927,11 km Total travel time: 7 h Inner Van Allen Belt Middle Earth Orbit 31,4% gravity

S2 +3000 km Total travel time: 3,5 h Inner Van Allen Belt Middle Earth Orbit 45,9% gravity

HS1 +50 km Total travel time: 1 h Within Stratosphere 98,5% gravity

-Potentially outside Van Allen Belts -no radiation -Very high negative gravity

-Large space station -High Radiation, shielding needed -Satellite drop into GEO

Staging Altitudes Middle stage stations for climbers to optimize logistics vs. energy are situated at an energy interval along the tether. At these, cargo can be reloaded onto new climbers (see timetable).

However, many of these stations fall within the radioactive Van Allen Belts which are not suitable for any prolonged stay without sufficient radiation shielding. The exception here is the stage 4 station, S4, which is situated in between the inner and outer Van Allen belts in Middle Earth Orbit.

- Medium Radiation, no lingering -Satellite drop into MEO

Increasing altitude results in a fading gravity gradient along the tether, making the stations operate under very different conditions. While S1 has almost terrestrial gravity, S2 has only half of that and S3 merely a third.

- Less Radiation, lingering possible -Comfortable microgravity -Satellite drop into MEO

As one progresses up the tether from Earth, gravity decreases up to Geostationary Orbit. Past this a â&#x20AC;&#x153;negative gravityâ&#x20AC;? caused by the centrifugal force is present. Depending on the length of the tether and the mass of the counterweight beyond GEO, this negative gravity may amount to a many times stronger force than gravity on the planet surface.

- High Radiation, no lingering -Satellite drop into LEO & MEO

- High Radiation, no lingering -Satellite drop into LEO & MEO

- Weather Station

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Solar Arrays Above the atmosphere the climber is powered by large photovoltaic solar arrays. Although solar array technology today is not yet effective enough, a projection states that by photovoltaic efficiency could rise to 70% (from the current ≈ 10%) in a decade.

Efficiency lowers mass of the solar arrays themselves while providing more energy to lift cargo. A required 11,800 kW would be needed to lift a large climber with cargo – which would require 191,000m 2 of photovoltaic panels.1 Due to this considerable the solar arrays can not be deployed at launch, both for logistic purposes of moving something that big around, and that their thin brittle nature could not stand a climb through the atmosphere.

Instead, the solar arrays start the climb in a folded state and deploy once the climber is past the atmosphere, like rocket-launched solar arrays do today.

1 (ed) Swan, P.:”Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and Way Forward” 2013

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The problem is compacting as much solar array as possible into a container as small as possible and still having it deployable. The solution to this was given

by Japanese astrophysicist and origami enthusiast Koryu Miura, who invented a folding technique that could compact large rectangular areas down into small boxes.2 2 Nishiyama, Yutaka. “Miura Folding: Applying Origami to Space Exploration”

Left:

The ESA folding solar sail, entire 20x20m sail fits inside the central suitcase-sized box in the middle of the room. Image: ESA

Middle:

Koryo Miura’s folding technique folds large flat surfaces into small compact boxes without trapping fold within folds. The resulting surface is surprisingly flexible and rigid at the same time.

Image: University of Cambridge

Right:

An astronaut repairs the orange solar panels on the International Space Station. Image: NASA

“L

et us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes. In the meantime, we shall prepare for the brave sky-travelers maps of the celestial bodies.”

– Johannes Kepler, letter to Galileo Galilei, 1609

Since the solar arrays needed for a Space Elevator are so large, a shape is needed that is more efficient than a simple rectangle. A circular shape provides the least circumference to area ratio and an equal distance for all edges to the center of the fold, which makes deployment easier.

I thus had to re-invent the Miura fold and apply it to a circle as a radial folding technique. This method allows the array to fold up into a cylinder instead of a box, and deployment can happen in one plane perpendicular to the length-axis of the cylinder.

The outermost edge of panels set the size for the cylinder. If the panels measure 1 meter from the outer edge towards the centre of the circle, the height of the cylinder will be 1 meter as these fold parallel to the cylinder axis. If the width of the same panel along the circumference of the circle measures 1 meter, this will fold perpendicular to the cylinder axis and together with its counterpart on the opposite side of the circle give the cylinder a 2 meter diameter.

Since the real solar arrays would have to have an unfolded radius of 147 meters and still be manageable in their folded state on earth the outermost panels have been given a measurement of 1x4 metres, resulting in a cylinder of 2 meter diameter and 4 meter height – and thousands of folds.

The diagram on the opposite page shows a simplified folding. On the left side of the next spread the real complexity of the folding pattern is shown.

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Folding pattern for radial Miura Fold Line – Cut Dashed – Mountain Fold Dotted – Valley Fold

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Folding pattern for radial Miura Fold solar array with a147-meter radius

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Fully extended r = 147m Fully extended r = 147m

22,5° folded r = 140,59 m 22,5° folded r = 140,59 m

45° folded r = 103,94 m 45° folded r = 103,94 m

67,5° folded r = 48,98 m 67,5° folded r = 48,98 m

90° folded r = 1,00 m 90° folded r = 1,00 m

Fully extended r = 147m

22,5° folded r = 140,59 m

45° folded r = 103,94 m

67,5° folded r = 48,98 m

90° folded r = 1,00 m

Fully extended r = 147m

22,5° folded r = 140,59 m

45° folded r = 103,94 m

67,5° folded r = 48,98 m

90° folded r = 1,00 m

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Ascending climber deploying solar arrays.

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Folding solar panel sketch models

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The Partitioning of Space – in Space Every object currently put into space by man has arrived there by means of rockets. This means that the cargo is adapted to the vessel, rather than the other way around, and the resulting geometry is because of this mostly cylindrical (the International Space Station is one good example, or see page 4).

However, cylinders are not very efficient as stackable units or pressure containers. A high surface to volume ratio exposes the cylinders to space on most sides and interior pressure becomes unevenly distributed on the exterior hull. So even though this is an effective way to transport things into space, it is a bad way of partitioning that space into efficient modules.

Partitioning space on Earth usually becomes a task of subdividing and extruding a 2-dimensional surface as gravity forces larger structures to comply with its downward-pulling force. This results in partitions of space that are perpendicular to a flat surface. In human architecture walls usually rise from a floor at a 90° angle, and meet each other at the same angle, forming an orthogonal system of cubes.

Other species, working in scales less dependent on gravity as a parameter can be more efficient: bees partition their spaces by a hexagonal method – thus minimizing the amount of wall material needed to partition as much space as possible.1 1 Thompson, D’Arcy. On Growth and Form

This can be explained by looking at a circle: the most efficient of forms when it comes to enclosing as much area as possible with a given amount of “wall”. The bees honeycombs are basically a result of circles packed closely together, eliminating the interstitial voids. The walls then meet at a 120° angle since each circle-turned-hexagon is in contact with 2 others in every corner, and the 360 degrees of a circle divided by 3 is 120.

When gravity is lacking the situation is profoundly different. Structures that form naturally without the influence of gravity – such as a foam of bubbles, take on more complicated forms, but which? An optimal bubble foam geometry – one where as much volume is enclosed by as little surface as possible – has been one of the great mathematical mysteries since the renaissance. Of the many ways available to subdivide 3-dimensional space there are three in this case particularly interesting ones: the Rhombic Dodecahedron, the Truncated Octahedron, and the Wearie-Phelan Structure.

The rhombic dodecahedron was long believed to be the most efficient way to partition space as it is the most efficient way to stack spheres. It is also the resulting shape produced when a bee’s honeycomb pipe meets the ends of three others, chamfering each others’ surfaces to a hexagonal pyramid which make up one half of a rhombic dodecahedron.1

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Physicist Lord Kelvin later tackled the problem and deduced that the dodecahedron was not the mathematically most efficient form and suggested that – even though it was not yet optimal – a Truncated Octahedron performed the task better. It remains to this day the most efficient singular units for a bubble foam.1 In 1993 researchers Wearie and Phelan proved mathematically that a foam of two types of geometrically asymmetrical “bubbles” would solve the problem. The aggregation of these bubbles was named the Weaire-Phelan Structure and is the most efficient way to aggregate space with repeated units.

This geometry was famously incorporated into the facade of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Aquatic Centre – the Water Cube.

Above: Optimal circle packing of equal circles transformed into a hexagonal pattern – the most efficient way to subdivide a 2-dimensional space.

Opposite page: Folding patterns for Rhombic Dodecahedron (left), Truncated Octahedron (middle) and the two units used in a Weaire Phelan Structure (right).

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Polyhedra Comparisons Comparing three space-filling polyhedra from different ages of mathematics - all aiming to be the optimal bubble-mesh.

Rhombic Dodecahedron

Truncated Octahedron

Weaire-Phelan-Structure

12 rhombic

8 hexagons + 6 squares = 14 in total

Two units, one has 12, second has 14

Surface types

1

2

4

Vectors

6

7

0

Maximum surface meetings

4

3

3

RD is an inverted Cube

TO is an Octahedron with truncated (cut off) corners

Mathematically optimized bubble foam

Sides:

Geometric relatives

Trivia

Complies with the “Miraldi Angle”, result of sphere packing, result of honeycomb meetings

Lord Kelvin proposed this to be the most efficent space-filling bubble foam

SCORE

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Researchers Weaire + Phelan discovered the mathematical optimization in 1993

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Having considered these 3 options in matters of form, efficiency and simplicity the Rhombic Dodecahedron was deemed the most suitable for a number of reasons:

Rhombic Dodecahedron.

All surfaces equally large.

All edges equally long.

1. All 12 sides are equal in size and proportion, making the polyhedra equally connectable from all sides.

2. All edges are equally long.

Dividing all the surfaces between the 2 points nearest to each other reveals the â&#x20AC;&#x153;hiddenâ&#x20AC;? cube

3. 12 is dividable by 2, 3, 4 and 12, making it more useful for partitioning.

4. Having the least amount of surfaces yet being space-filling, it creates the least complicated interior of the three.

5. Being an inverted cube, it has properties of all other platonic solids when cut in section, meaning it has the ability to be described and utilized using conventional methods.

6. Having pointed surfaces along its vectors, it is the more aerodynamic of the three, which facilitates its movement through the atmosphere with the elevator.

Exploding the dodecahedron into 12 pyramids reveals that the outer pyramids and the inner have the same size. The Rhomboid dodecahedron thus has the volume of 2 of its inner cubes.

7. All 12 surfaces have equal distances to the center, meaning that a deformation by internal or external pressure affects all 12 sides equally.

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Diagram mapping the internal pressure distribution on an unfolded Rhombic Dodecahedron. Note that all surfaces are equal.

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C - Sphere Packing Enclosure (Rhombic Dodecahedron) B - Sphere Packing Center Connections (Cuboctahedron) In Space / No Gravity / 3D

A - Sphere Packing

2 - Circle Center Enclosure

2 - Circle Packing Center Connections On Surface / Gravity / 2D

1 - Circle Packing

The Rhombic Dodecahedron is to the sphere what the hexagon is to the circle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an optimal packing strategy.

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The embedded platonic solids and basic geometry of the Rhombic Dodecahedron and their relation to the circle.

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The Human Scale Capsule The geometry of the Rhombic Dodecahedron lends it well to the human body. Since it is an approximation of a packed sphere we can make the comparison with Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. In his 1490 drawing, da Vinci demonstrates the reach of the human body inscribed into a circle and a square. It also – by the packing properties of the circle earlier discussed with honeycombs – fits inside a resting hexagon. The relation between circle-sphere and hexagon-dodecahedron is made clear when the dodecahedron is cut perpendicular to one of its vectors. This reveals the same hexagonal pattern found in honeycombs and allows us to see how the dodecahedron can aggregate in 3 dimensions, just as the hexagon does in 2.

Since all surfaces are at equal distance to the centre, a body can rotate in any direction and still retain its reach. This becomes especially important in a weightless environment where contact with surfaces is required both for movement and acceleration, and reach is important for stabilization as free-floating can be quite discomforting.

The 3-dimensional aggregation of Rhombic Dodecahedra enables movement between capsules in 12 directions, since every face of the capsule corresponds to a face of an adjacent capsule. While some capsules function as singular rooms with only one opening, others might function more as a corridor, or a niche of a larger space. A capsule without any faces at all can either retain a presence through leaving the framework of the edges in an open lattice, or simply be removed to create a void.

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The individual capsule might seem small compared to the spaces we are used to inhabiting on Earth, but keep in mind that with the loss of gravity the body is no longer confined to a surface but floats freely in space, effectively multiplying one’s range of movement. Capsules may then also be added together to create corridors or larger spaces. In these spaces one can either choose to keep the structural edges of the capsule to create a lattice-filled room or remove these and create a completely open larger 3-dimensional space.

The edges make up the framework of the station by adding up 3 by 3 to create a structural frame.

Each capsule thus contributes with a “cage” which together with its neighbouring cages form a rhombic dodecahedral lattice. In case any force acts on the system, each edge has an angle of 120° to its three neighbours, meaning that said force is quickly dispersed out into the larger system rather than acting on only one continuous structural member as a traditional pillar grid.

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The spaces in the lattice can be filled with more or less permanent panels. Exterior panels have to withstand the often quite extreme conditions of space, with huge heat fluctuations, radiation and most importantly: be completely air-tight. The inner panels can be less complicated and house all of the functions needed at a space station, be it storage, screens, partitioning or just recreational surfaces, making them adaptable to suit a range of programmatic functions.

C.

J. G.

K.

L.

D.

F. I.

A. B.

E.

H.

A. B. C. D. E. F.

Single capsule Single capsule framework Framework corner type B, 6 for each capsule Framework corner type A, 8 for each capsule 3 structural edges added together to create a member in the larger lattice Exploded view of previous members reveal the spherical joint between members.

G. H. I. J. K. L.

Branching in the intersection between 4 capsules.

All surfaces of a closed capsule.

One surface as a solid exterior wall One surface as a porous interior wall with storage capability in a rhombic grid. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shelvesâ&#x20AC;? of the storage surface.

Containers fit into the storage shelves.

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Habitation Capsule Opposite page shows an unfolded view of a habitation capsule meant for 1 person on a shorter stay to the station. Adjacent surfaces in the folded capsule are connected by dashed lines.

H.

“Bed”. While not really a bed the area for sleeping is more like a sleeping bag which one can apply pressure to by belts in order to simulate a pressure of gravity while sleeping and not floating away.

A.

I.

Same as D

J.

“Garden”. In order to make the space livelier each habitation capsule has an artificially lit miniature garden where small plants like clover or cress can grow on a humid substrate. The plants give off familiar scents and offer a calming view from the adjacent bed (H) as well as help replenishing the oxygen and air humidity throughout the station.

K.

Same as D

L.

Storage and emergency kit. Same kind of transparent pockets as the wardrobe (C) and some opaque. In the middle a kit of emergency supplies is easily available from both door and bed.

Folding sheet door for privacy, opposite to the customizable wall (G) so that capsules are easily identified from outside.

B.

Large screen that by default shows real-time footage of station exterior and the view to earth and thus acts like a window. Opposite to bed (H) for easy viewing.

C.

Wardrobe. Transparent pockets on wall show contents.

D.

Padded gripping area without further functions. Needed for the inexperienced visitor. These surfaces are spread out evenly in the capsule so that a grip is always available if needed.

E.

“Bathroom”. For taking care of some basic hygiene such as wet-wipe washing and styling. Toilet and bathing are communal and located within each habitation cluster.

F.

Desk. Place for technical equipment to be strapped down. Charging of devices and storage for work that is taken back to the individual capsule.

G.

Customizable wall. Here a visitor is free to customize her or his own wall with pictures, souvenirs, reminders and so on. Opposite to door (A) and next to the bed (H) for easy access.

C B A

K

G F

D

J

H I

E

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Colour Orientation System The lack of gravity in GEO means there is no up and down, and consequently no left, right, back and forward. Our usual gravity-based cube model of orientation ceases to function as we lose gravity as a point of reference. This already causes problems in space stations today, even though their size is very limited and their structure mostly orthogonal. We therefore need a new system of recognizing direction in a weightless state.

British/Catalan artist Neil Harbisson may have touched upon an answer for this problem. He was born with a rare eye defect called achromatopsia, rendering him completely colour blind. To get to experience the colour he could never see, Harbisson built and installed an antenna into his own skull. The antenna works with a camera that points in the same direction as Harbisson’s eyes, and reads the light frequency of the colour he is looking at. This frequency is then translated into an audible frequency of sound, transmitted to his occipital bone – effectively making him hear colour.

If we take this forced synaesthesia and apply it not to vision and sound, but to vision and direction, could it be possible to use colours as orientation markers?

Human eyes are able to perceive a wide range of colours and we are very adept at identifying colours and separating hues.

A standard RGB triangle can be subdivided with secondary and tertiary colours to create a colour wheel containing 12 colours of the same saturation.

The 12 colours of the 2-dimensional wheel are then mapped onto the 12 sides of the rhombic dodecahedron keeping the groupings intact so that each colour retains at least one neighbour from the colour wheel. This results not only in specific colour directions, but also in greenish, reddish, blueish etc. fields of directions.

After using his device for some time, Harbisson discovered he had given himself a forced synaesthesia – he had begun to associate colour with sound, but also the other way around. “The telephone call sounds green ... and listening to Mozart became a yellow experience”1 Harbisson’s brain had then rewired the input and began extracting other information from it.

1

Harbisson, Neil. TED Talk 2012

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This removes the need to identify each colour and enables a disoriented person to quickly get a sense of for example general cyan direction.

To further simplify the concept, the green, blue and cyan field of tones are directed towards the largest green/blue/cyan object outside the station: Earth.

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Colour-directional paper model

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Inevitably, there will be other colours present around the station, and not all spaces will be the same.

Therefore the directional colour markings need to be placed on an easily readable surface, preferably close to each other to facilitate visual differentiation of the hues.

Markings are thus placed on the structural framework and not on the more interchangeable panels. A strip, 1-2 cm wide (depending on your proximity to given programmatic function), on the interior of each structural unit is enough to easily perceive the colour direction while not distracting from the overall colour ambience of the space.

The colours also relate to different parts of the functional program. Moving in a general blue direction thus means you are also moving in the direction of a certain function. A black dot mid-surface indicates the direction to the central core.

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Programming

CULTURE

For the ease of programming, twelve main functions were chosen to conform to the number of surfaces on the capsules and the colours given to them on the colour wheel. In addition to this a central core is needed to handle the interaction with the Space Elevator tether, climbers and acts as a central nexus for the station.

WORKSHOP

RESTAURANT

HABITATION

The twelve programmatic functions are mapped on their required proximities to each other around the central nexus. Some functions, such as the laboratories, might contain dangerous materials and should therefore not be close to any area where large groups of people gather in case of an accident. Other functions have a crucial proximity, such as the hotel and the restaurant, so that visitors do not need to move through other programmatic areas when going back and forth between these two.

HYDROPONICS

GYMNASIUM

LABORATORY

EDUCATION

The twelve programs were each given a colour, a direction and a pictogram readable from any chosen angle of approach.

NO PROXIMITY

CONTROL CENTRE

HOTEL ACCEPTABLE PROXIMITY

Each function is also designed to grow with time.

But as spaces required for the different functions are much different, each function has its own method of growth, making each piece of program act like a species of coral growing on a common reef.

DESIREABLE PROXIMITY CRUCIAL PROXIMITY

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MEDICAL

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The twelve programmatic functions of the station are not designed as static objects, but rather as methods of growth. Each function starts from the central core, and then grows outward in a manner most suitable to the spaces required by that particular function. The structure will thus grow over time, and has the ability to easily expand or rearrange if needed. Rather than an object, the architecture becomes akin to a coral reef, a collection of species collaboratively building a structure.

l ack of context means not having to deal with problems of the ever-changing earth, moving, grinding, eroding and drying out. Being in nomad space, unstratified and unterritorialized creates no pressures of confirmation to surroundings, but rather becomes an introspective development into its geometrical, because that is what my analysis of matter in void leads to, configuration. Chaos does not rule the void since chaos requires a destabilization and change of systems or their intersections.

Nothingness is complete order.”

In many ways it functions like a metabolist structure – a three-dimensional version of Kiyonori Kikutake’s projects for floating cities in the sea (Marine City, Ocean City), being able to expand in any direction across the vast surface of the ocean.

The replaceable capsules of Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower or his own Ocean City projects function in a similar way.1 1

Koolhas R., Obrist H.U. “Project Japan”

Kisho Kurokawa’s Floating City on Lake Kasumigaura. Image: Dpr-barcelona

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– Gilles Deleuze

Core / Nexus The central core of the station holds the tether and works like a giant climber, so that the position of the station along the tether can be adjusted. The Nexus works as both arrival- and departure space for tether climbers as well as a central hub for the station itself.

Since the core does not expand in any particular direction it is not colour-coded as the rest of the functions, but a black dot on the directional signs inside the station indicates movement towards the core.

In the following illustrations the core will be included as a point of reference.

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Hotel A place to stay for more temporary visitors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the hotel is facing Earth and is situated close to the restaurant and the main hydroponics area. Like a rather normal terrestrial hotel, it has long connecting corridors from which the individual rooms are accessed.

Corridors split in branches after a certain number of rooms and aggregate in a plane perpendicular to that of the tether, ensuring an earth-view from every room.

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Restaurant Since both food preparation and eating can be tricky in a weightless environment, a large restaurant is situated close to hotel and habitation. Being the primary meeting space for residents, it consists of a large open flat space with good visibility, and niches where smaller groups can have their meals together while enjoying the view of the Earth. Being close to the major cluster of hydroponics, the food production is present in the room. It expands by growing around the edges and moving away from the core, filling the void with more hydroponics.

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Habitation For more permanent stays, a series of habitation capsules are set up in neighbourhoods. Up to 10 capsules surround a shared common space which also leads to a shared bathroom. These clustered neighbourhoods are situated along looping transport corridors. While the clusters are situated on the Earthside of the corridors, other shared spaces are situated on the opposite side. Loops are added in a triangular pattern as the station grows.

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Gymnasium Whether you are a visitor or a permanent resident, the muscle and bone loss induced by zero gravity is a serious problem. Movement with resistance is thus an important activity on board a space station, and for this purpose the gymnasium grows from the core with a series of exercise rooms. Ranging from smaller rooms for individual workouts to larger for weightless group activities, the rooms are situated along a common axis.

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Culture With facilitated access to space, culture can finally join the technological progress made outside the atmosphere. Already, important cultural institutions are planning expansions in space, such as Tate Modernâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art initiative Tate in Space. A variety of spherical spaces revolve around a cultural axis where the arts can be enjoyed in a three-dimensional, weightless state together with fellow visitors. The main space will be the largest open space on the station, fit for the first performance of an actual space opera.

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Medical A university hospital in miniature, the medical facilities will be able to both treat and study the human body in a new context. Growing out into wards from a central emergency room, the aggregation of capsules takes on the form of the international symbol for health services, the star of life, which is also the medical facilityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pictogram symbol.

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Laboratories The weightless conditions and the access to vacuum makes the Space Elevator station an optimal environment to conduct scientific experiments. As some lab work is dangerous or requires isolation, the structure of the laboratories branch out as much as possible to put a maximum amount of vacuum between capsules. Security barriers can thus be set up at branch, sub-branch or capsule level for maximum containment.

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Education With the presence of laboratories, medical facilities and workshops, places for educating students into subjects like these or space in general are needed.

Classrooms, reading rooms, and other educational spaces are set as triangular assembly spaces along an axis pointing down toward Earth to enable real-time observation of the planet while attending lectures.

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Docks The Space Elevator is but a stepping stone to the space beyond. Vehicles that are not climbers can dock, be assembled or be repaired at the docks before taking off again. A set of open loops allow vehicles of different sizes to access the station. These are positioned on the part facing away from earth, towards the counterweight on the tether where they can be flung off into space.

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Workshop Maintenance, repair and construction of smaller items are a part of the daily routine on a space station. While not as dangerous as the laboratories the workshop houses some powerful machinery and thus has a similar structure to the labs, but instead of branching the workshops consist of a system of corridors so that one can choose to move around an area where work is taking place. These corridors aggregate in shelves that branch off each other as they grow further away from the core.

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Control Centre An equivalent to the mission control on the Space Elevator platform on earth: the control centre handles docking, analysis and communications at the spaceend of the elevator. Structured as a series of hollow slabs, the control centre functions as an office building with different offices for each slab, interconnected by passages. Growth can happen either though expanding a slab in its 2-dimensional plane or adding a new slab besides it.

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Hydroponics Perhaps the most important function for sustaining human life on a space station, hydroponic greenhouses create an artificial landscape that produces both oxygen and nutrition from our human by-products. Plants grow with considerable speed as climate, moisture and light can be fine-tuned to each species and since plants no longer need structural stems in order to grow. The hydroponic capsules grow, like their contained plants, in a chaotic way, filling any gaps in the structure and thus sealing the inner parts of the station bit by bit. This also makes the hydroponics present throughout all of the station, visible in each programmatic part. Oxygen supply is thus decentralised, so that no single accident can jeopardise it.

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Exploded view of growing space station

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The space station with programmatic functions marked in their respective colour.

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Radiation Mitigation With no protective magnetic field, space stations are under constant risk of radiation bursts from the sun. During a solar storm the radiation can be strong enough to disable electronic equipment and pose severe health risks to biological organisms.

When no magnetic field is available, the best way to shield against radiation is to put as much mass between what needs to be protected and the source of radiation. This is why doctors use led aprons in x-ray procedures or why nuclear power plants have such thick walls. Since any form of mass is limited in space one has to make do with what is already available. The substance which has most mass and is most easily reconfigured on the space station is water, with a fluid mass of 1000 kg/m3.

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In the event of a radiation storm, water is pumped out from other systems into the structureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exterior.

The outer layer of the capsule panels is covered in a graphene sheet, which is not only extremely durable and strong when it comes to micrometeorite damage, but it is also flexible enough to displace and form â&#x20AC;&#x153;bubblesâ&#x20AC;? when the panels are filled with water.

When the storm is over, the water can be drained back (after thawing if frozen) for use in secondary functions until it is safe to be consumed again.

BuilderBot In order to facilitate the growth of the station by adding new capsules to the exterior, a robotic aid has been designed.

The tripedal mechanism moves across the exterior surface of the space station on six-jointed legs that allow for rotation in all angles. Two of the legs are used for walking while the third is used as an arm for holding cargo. As the BuilderBots work in a weightless environment, their limbs do not need to be loadbearing, which allows for thin light parts that can easily be disassembled and transported in cargo capsules.

The BuilderBot also serves as a mode of transportation for astronauts across the station exterior, providing them with safety wires and oxygen while carrying their required repair tools.

The feet are adapted to hold on to capsule frames so that all movement uses the structural framework (rather than the wall panels) which it holds on to using magnetic clamps.

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From Station Surface

Towards Station Surface

Front Elevation

Side Elevation

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Unfinished Structure As there are no limits for growth of the space station as long as the geostationary orbit is kept, the structure will keep on growing over time. In his book, Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke even goes as far as to suggest that the entire planet is surrounded by a giant belt station.1 Whether this is realistic or not is left up to each reader’s imagination.

Through the Rhombic Dodecahedron, a building block is established – as a geometrical rule enabling further programs, expansions and break-offs from the major structure. In the drawings, the continuous expansion is illustrated by the empty structural frames as the edges of the programmatic arms, as newborn polyps on this celestial coral reef.

1 Clarke, A.C. “The Fountains of Paradise”

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The Return After spending time in space, passengers ride back towards earth on the tether. Much less energy is needed on the way down since gravity assists acceleration towards the planet. The only energy needed is starting from GEO, maintaining the environment of the capsules and for breaking (which in itself can be used to harvest energy).

As the elevator descends down into the courtyard again â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this time with the capsules on the opposite side of the tether â&#x20AC;&#x201C; travellers are welcomed and ushered towards the stairs leading up to the upper floor (opposite the elevator approach).

It might be arduous climbing the stairs after some time in zero gravity, but the idea is to re-accustom the body to its own weight and the re-entry to this gravitational environment. The reward for this effort awaits on top of the stairs, where the exterior arrival balcony opens up the facade to provide a view of the mouth of the lagoon, the distant palm trees of London, Cook Island and Paris, and if you arrive on time, the sun setting on a flat horizon again.

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Sketch models

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Thesis exhibition, Black Box, A-Building, LTH

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POWERS OF TEN

1,000,000x 1,000,000 Mm

100,000,000 x 100,000,000 km

10,000,000 x 10,000,000 km

1,000,000 x 1,000,000 km

Moon Mercury Earth

Inner Planets

- PLAN VIEW-

Saturn

Jupiter Sun

Neptune

Mars Venus Sun

Uranus

Asteroid Field

Venus

Earth

FROM SOLAR SYSTEM TO ATOMIC NUCLEUS 100,000 x 100,000 km

10,000 x 10,000 km

1000 x 1000 km

100 x 100 km

10 x 10 km

6¬

Palmyra Atoll (US) Teraina Tabuarean

4¬

Kiritimati

2¬

0¬

Jarvis Island (US)

2¬

162¬

160¬

156¬

154¬

1x1 km

100x100m

10x10m

1x1m

100x100 mm

10x10 mm

1x1 mm

100x100 µm

10x10 µm

1x1 µm

100x100 nm

10x10 nm

1x1 nm

100x100 pm

10x10 pm

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POWERS OF TEN

1,000,000 x 1,000,000 Mm

10,000,000 x 10,000,000 km

1,000,000 x 1,000,000 km

Neptune

Moon

Saturn Mercury Earth

Inner Planets

- SECTION VIEW-

Venus

Earth

Mars Venus Sun

Sun Jupiter

FROM SOLAR SYSTEM TO ATOMIC NUCLEUS 100,000 x 100,000 km

100,000,000 x 100,000,000 km

Asteroid Field Uranus

10,000 x 10,000 km

1000 x 1000 km

100 x 100 km

10 x 10 km

Middle Earth Orbit GEO 35 786 km

Earth

Earth

Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere Lower Earth Orbit Rigid Crust Thermosphere Rigid Crust Plastic Mantle Rigid Mantle

Plastic Mantle Plastic Mantle

1x1 km

100x100m

10x10m

1x1m

100x100 mm

10x10 mm

1x1 mm

100x100 µm

10x10 µm

1x1 µm

100x100 nm

10x10 nm

1x1 nm

100x100 pm

10x10 pm

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Axis Mundi – Discussion As it is the aim for this thesis project to present a new vision for what a Space Elevator can be, it is presented in a way – as most architectural projects are – which makes the project seem finished. This is of course not true. I recognize my limited knowledge and time frame in producing something which has been in the making for over 100 years in merely six months’ time. I hope, however, that the vision is clear and that it can inspire a more multidisciplinary approach to the problems which for now seem to be mostly considered as separate parts.

During the 2014 Space Elevator Conference, dr. Pete Swan talked about the importance of concept art for the Space Elevator – the importance of visualizing an idea so that others can understand and contribute to it. Architecture in this sense works as concept art, and will continue to do so until the day a project becomes reality, when architecture becomes building. The same way that early science fiction, like that of Jules Verne, inspired technological advancement, (in Verne’s case the helicopter, the rocket, the submarine etc.) this project aims to do the same for a Space Elevator.

During the project I have often encountered the opinion that what I am doing is not really architecture, but merely science fiction. I am of the opinion that there is no profound difference between the two, or that one should be valued higher that the other, but the distinction is interesting. If architecture is indeed a form of fiction, it is the application of future technologies that can transform it into the genre of science fiction – a genre that I as a designer find myself much more comfortable in rather than just working on formal concepts which is often pure fiction.

To make good fiction one has to stay as close as possible to the truth. A problem that arises in the process of making a fictional project believable is making it diverse, and as one gathers the information and requirements one comes to the realization that they are usually conflicting. What is preferable for A is unthinkable for B and so on. This becomes a weakness for an architectural academic single-person project as all the priorities are set by one person – what information to use, what stance to take, what is given focus and what becomes peripheral. It becomes a bad simulation of reality as there are no other wills, opinions or external powers. All is left up to the author.

In reality, the role of the architect seems to have changed from this renaissance genius type to the role of a coordinator – an organizer of space, but one of products, technologies, administration and politics as well. Being trained into this role, the profession of architects is both decreasing and increasing.

Decreasing in the sense that the amount of control of the project is diminished as more and more other experts enter the stage, but increased in the sense that through this training architects can be useful outside the realm of the traditional building typology – something I experienced first-hand while attending the Space Elevator conference and was able to give a surprising amount of input into subjects I really had limited knowledge on.

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In my opinion, this yet again proves the importance for the architect to look beyond the architectural box, and have a more holistic view of the project. As the conceptual coordinator of fiction, it is becoming increasingly important to look into external subjects, be they physics, chemistry or mythology, and use the knowledge of others as advantages rather than restrictions. This enables us as architects to create better fiction and open up doors into new kinds of projects, perhaps even ones that are – literally – out of this world.

I end this report with a quote from the Space Elevator’s original creator, Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky:

“A planet is the cradle of mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever.”

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Bibliography Literature:

Papers / Essays

Newspaper Articles

Clarke, Arthur C. “The Fountains of Paradise” London, Victor Gollancz ,1979

Edwards, Bradley C.: “The Space Elevator” NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, Study Phase 1 Final Report, 2000

Artsutanov, Yuri: “To the Cosmos by Electric Train” Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1960-07-31

Cook, James: “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean: Undertaken by the Command of his Majesty for Mapping Diƒcoveries in the Northern Hemiƒphere.”

London, H. Hughes, 1785 Darwin, Charles R.: “The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. Fitzroy, R.N. during the years 1832 to 1836”. London: Smith Elder and Co, 1842 (Available online, http://darwin-online.org.uk) Rato y Hevia, Apolinar de : “Vocabulario de las palabras y frases bables que se hablaron antiguamente y de las que hoy se hablan en el principado de Asturias” Tip. de M. Ginés Hernández, 1891 (available online at books.google.com) (ed) Swan P., Raitt D., Swan C., Penny R. & Knapman J.: “Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and Way Forward”, First Edition Paris. International Academy of Astronautics. 2013 Thompson, D’Arcy Wentworth “On growth and form” (abridged edition 1961) Cambridge, Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1961

Gassend, Blaise: “Non-Equatorial Uniform-Stress Space Elevators” Third Annual Space Elevator Conference, Washington DC, 2004 Lofstrom, Keith “Increasing Throughput – Decreasing Radiation” International Space Elevator Consortium Conference of 2014, Seattle WA, 2014 Nishiyama, Yutaka “Miura Folding: Applying Origami to Space Exploration” International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Volume 79 No. 2 2012, 269-279 Musaddique Ali Rafique, M. & Iqbal, J.: “Production of Carbon Nanotubes by Different Routes— A Review” Journal of Encapsulation and Adsorption Sciences, 2011

Moulis, Antony: Le Corbusier’s Horizon : Technique and the Architectural Plan p134-142 Architectural Theory Review 8 (2003) Scott, Derek A.: Republic of Kiribati. A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania, pp. 199–228.

International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, Slimbridge, U.K. and Asian Wetland Bureau, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1993 Streets, Thomas H.: “Some Account of the Natural History of the Fanning Group of Islands”.

(2): 65–72 ,American Naturalist 11 ,1877 Whincup, Tony: “Te Mwaneaba Ni Kiribati – The Traditional Meeting House of Kiribati: ‘A Tale of Two Islands’” Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures Volume 4 Number 1 2010

Personal Communication: Curth, Sandy: Architecture/Physics Student at Bennington College, VT, USA. E-mail 2014-08-26

Unpublished works: Space Elevator Conference ISEC Conference Handout, Seattle, 2014

Images, unless other source is given, belongs to the author.

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Internet sources: http://www.biorock.org/ Hilbertz, Wolf. Prof.

Viewed [2014-12-26] http://darwin-online.org.uk (see Literature) http://www.daviddarling.info/ encyclopedia/E/elbio.html “Biological Abundance of Elements” Viewed [2014-10-18] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/ blackest-is-the-new-black-scientists-have-developeda-material-so-dark-that-you-cant-see-it-9602504.html “Blackest is the new black” Viewed [2014-10-19] http://www.janeresture.com/ micronesia_myths/kiribati.htm “Micronesia Mythology – Kiribati” Viewed [2015-05-10] http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/ about/information/shuttle_faq.html Viewed [2014-10-19] http://www.obayashi.co.jp/english/ special/2014110424.html “The Space Elevator Construction Concept” Viewed [2014-12-27] http://www.parliament.gov.ki “Christmas Island Bird Species Guide” Viewed [2014-10-10] http://www.phoenixislands.org Viewed [2014-10-08] http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/ multimedia/2013/feb/18/why-arecarbon-nanotubes-so-strong “Why are Carbon Nanotubes so strong?”

Viewed [2014-10-18] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn401995z “Growth of Half-Meter Long Carbon Nanotubes Based on Schulz–Flory Distribution” Viewed [2014-10-18]

Further Reading: https://socialpaths.wordpress.com/ “How true was the voice of the Void” Traucht, Matthew Viewed [2015-05-10] http://science.howstuffworks. com/space-elevator.htm Viewed [2014-10-19] http://www.sciencemag.org/content/287/5453/637 “Strength and Breaking Mechanism of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Under Tensile Load” Viewed [2014-10-18] http://science.nasa.gov/, “Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators”, 2000-09-01 Viewed [2014-10-18] http://www.space.com/17638-how-big-is-earth.html “How Big is Earth?”

Viewed [2014-10-20] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/ jul/01/kiribati-climate-change-fiji-vanua-levu Caramel ,Laurence “Besieged by the rising tides of climate change, Kiribati buys land in Fiji” The Guardian, 2014-07-01 Viewed [2014-10-09] www.ted.com/talks/greg_stone_saving_the_ ocean_one_island_at_a_time?language=en Stone, Greg. “Saving the ocean one island at a time” TED Lecture – April 2010 Watched: [2014-09-30] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXrZ-k333aw Wojciech, Hupert “Kiritimati – Christmas Island Documentary – Between Sky and Ocean” -June 2012 Watched: [2014-10-07]

Martinson, Harry: “Aniara” First edition, 1957 Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm, 2004 More, Thomas: “Utopia” First edition, 1516 Penguin UK, London, 2009 Schalansky, Judith: “Atlas of Remote Islands, An: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited and Never Will” Particular Books, London, 2010 Troost, Marten: “The Sex Life of Cannibals – Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific” Broadway Books, London, 2004 Verne, Jules: “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Sea” First edition: 1869 Penguin UK, London, 1994 Verne, Jules: “Mysterious Island” First edition: 1874 Penguin UK, London, 2012 Verne, Jules: “From the Earth to the Moon” First edition: 1870 Penguin UK, London, 1993 Hajime, Yatsuka (ed): “Metabolism, the City of the Future: Dreams and Visions of Reconstruction in Postwar and Present-Day Japan” Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2011

Further Watching: “2001: A Space Odyssey”, 1968 Stanley Kubrick (+ Arthur C. Clarke) “Gravity”, 2013 Alfonso Cuarón “Interstellar”, 2014 Christopher Nolan “Ponyo”, 2008 Hayao Miayzaki “Solaris”, 1972 Andrei Tarkovsky (+ Stanislav Lem) “Sunshine”, 2007 Danny Boyle

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Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to everyone who contributed and helped with this project. To Akihisa Hirata and Jun Sato of The University of Tokyo for inspiring crazy ideas, and to Christer Malmström and John Ross of Lund University for believing in them.

To my excellent jury, Lina Dahlström and David Andreen, for their effort and deep insight into such complex matters. To Ingegärd Johansson for being the most patient and helpful person in existence and to Christina Isaxon for being so generous in providing me with hazardous materials.

To my new-found friends at the International Space Elevator Consortium, for an inspiring weekend and for including me in so many interesting discussions.

Thanks in particular to fellow student in the crowd of veterans, Sandy McCurth, who has been invaluable for brainstorming ideas and exchanging information.

Thanks also to the staff of Captain Cook Hotel on Kiritimati and my fellow travellers who took me fishing in the strangest places: Robyn, Terry & Peter.

To my parents, Anders & Pia Petersson, for their support in proof-reading, printing and layout advice..

The greatest of thanks to fellow students with their critical minds and inspired discussions. This project would have been impossible to finish without you: Aris Kafantaris, who provided the wisdom of the ancient Greeks and inspired endless enthusiasm. Isak Bergwall, whom apologizes for nothing and took to my project like duck to water. Karolina Nilsson, Linnea Berg, Oskar Tagesson & Sofia Kanerud for being such great friends and partners in crime.

For bringing me down to Earth; thanks Oskar Nielsen.

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