Editing Lunar space elevator (section)

==History==
The idea of space elevators has been around since 1960 when [[Yuri Artsutanov]] wrote a Sunday supplement to ''[[Pravda]]'' on how to build such a structure and the utility of geosynchronous orbit. His article however, was not known in the West.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} 
Then in 1966, [[John Dove Isaacs|John Isaacs]], a leader of a group of American Oceanographers at [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography|Scripps Institute]], published an article in ''[[Science (magazine)|Science]]'' about the concept of using thin wires hanging from a geostationary satellite. In that concept, the wires were to be thin (thin wires/tethers are now understood to be more susceptible to [[micrometeoroid]] damage). Like Artsutanov, Isaacs’ article also was not well known to the aerospace community.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

In 1972, James Cline submitted a paper to NASA describing a "mooncable" concept similar to a lunar elevator.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kestsgeo.com/1techconcepts/documents/lunarspaceelevator1972/lunarspaceelevator1972.html |title=The Mooncable: Gravitational Electric Siphon in Space |access-date=2011-11-24 |archive-date=2012-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208053339/http://www.kestsgeo.com/1techconcepts/documents/lunarspaceelevator1972/lunarspaceelevator1972.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> NASA responded negatively to the idea citing technical risk and lack of funds.<ref>[http://www.kestsgeo.com/1techconcepts/documents/lunarspaceelevator1972/mooncableoriginals.html Reply to attn of: KB] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426001755/http://www.kestsgeo.com/1techconcepts/documents/lunarspaceelevator1972/mooncableoriginals.html |date=2012-04-26 }} [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]], June 23, 1972</ref>

In 1975, [[Jerome Pearson]] independently came up with the [[Space elevator]] concept and published it in ''Acta Astronautica''. That made the aerospace community at large aware of the space elevator for the first time. His article inspired [[Arthur C. Clarke|Sir Arthur Clarke]] to write the novel ''[[The Fountains of Paradise]]'' (published in 1979, almost simultaneously with [[Charles Sheffield|Charles Sheffield's]] novel on the same topic, ''[[The Web Between the Worlds]]''). In 1978 Pearson extended his theory to the moon and changed to using the Lagrangian points instead of having it in geostationary orbit.<ref>Pearson, J., "Lunar Anchored Satellite Test," ''AIAA Paper'', 78-1427, August 1978</ref>

In 1977, some papers of Soviet space pioneer [[Friedrich Zander]] were posthumously published, revealing that he conceived of a lunar space tower in 1910.<ref>{{cite book|first=Fridrikh Arturovich|last=Tsander|title=Selected Papers|date=1977|publisher=[[Zinātne]]|location=[[Riga]]|language=Russian}}</ref>

In 2005 Jerome Pearson completed a study for NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts which showed the concept is technically feasible within the prevailing state of the art using existing commercially available materials.<ref>[http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/1032Pearson.pdf] Pearson, J., "Lunar space elevators for cislunar space development", ''NASA NIAC Phase I Final Technical Report'', under NASA Grant #07605-003-034, 2 May 2005</ref>

In October 2011 on the [[LiftPort]] website Michael Laine announced that LiftPort is pursuing a Lunar space elevator as an interim goal before attempting a terrestrial elevator. At the 2011 Annual Meeting of the [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/leag/ '''Lunar Exploration Analysis Group'''] (LEAG), LiftPort CTO Marshall Eubanks presented a paper on the prototype Lunar Elevator co-authored by Laine.<ref>[http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/leag2011/pdf/2043.pdf LADDER: The Development of a Prototype Lunar Space Elevator] T.M. Eubanks and M. Laine, Liftport Luna</ref>  In August 2012, [[Liftport]] announced that the project could actually start near 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Liftoff! Lunar 'space elevator' may soon become sci-fact |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Mx4WsZ1x4  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/n2Mx4WsZ1x4 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|publisher=by [[RT (TV network)|RussiaToday]], via YouTube |accessdate=Sep 1, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lunar Space Elevator Infrastructure |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9XVHhkWxpI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/j9XVHhkWxpI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|publisher=ElevatorToSpace via YouTube |accessdate=Aug 21, 2012 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lunar space elevator idea gets new lease of life |url=http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_28/Lunar-space-elevator-idea-gets-new-lease-of-life/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130417175839/http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_28/Lunar-space-elevator-idea-gets-new-lease-of-life/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2013 |publisher=ruvr.ru |accessdate=Aug 28, 2012 }}</ref>  In April 2019, [[LiftPort]] CEO Michael Laine reported no progress beyond the lunar elevator company's conceptualized design.<ref>{{cite web |title=If a space elevator was ever going to happen, it could have gotten its start in N.J. Here's how it went wrong |url=https://www.nj.com/cumberland/2019/04/if-a-space-elevator-was-ever-going-to-happen-it-could-have-gotten-its-start-in-nj-heres-how-it-went-wrong.html |publisher=NJ.com |date=March 28, 2019 |accessdate=May 11, 2019 }}</ref>