Getting the first space elevator off the ground, factually, would use two space shuttle flights. Twenty tons of cable and reel would be kicked up to geosynchronous altitude by an upper stage motor. The cable is then snaked to Earth and attached to an ocean-based anchor station, situated within the equatorial Pacific. That platform would be similar to the structure used for the Sea Launch expendable rocket program.

Once secure, a platform-based free-electron laser system is used to beam energy to photocell-laden "climbers". These are automated devices that ride the initial ribbon skyward. Each climber adds more and more ribbon to the first, thereby increasing the cable's overall strength. Some two-and-a-half years later, and using nearly 300 climbers, a first space elevator capable of supporting over 20-tons (20,000-kilograms) is ready for service.

Using a laser beam to boost the climbers into space is doable, said Harold Bennett, president of Bennett Optical Research, Inc. of Ridgecrest, California. "If you do it right, you can take out 96 percent of the effect of the atmosphere on the laser beam through adaptive optics," he said. The strength of the pulsed laser beam is less than the intensity of the Sun, so birds, airplanes, or human eyes wouldn't be affected, he said.

Eric Westling, a Houston, Texas-based consultant on the space elevator, is bullish on the concept. Spending billions on a space elevator is small change for a big purpose.

"Other than the invention of some Buck Rogers engine, the space elevator is the only system for accessing space that is subject to the economics of scale. It's a true return on investment enterprise. The cost of space travel has to become an incidental part of the overall cost of what we're trying to get done," Westling said.

"It will change the world economy. It's worth what ever it costs to put it up," Westling said. An initial elevator, he added, is sure to give birth to even larger systems, capable of handling larger loads of up and down traffic.

"I'm looking at a business plan that shows some investor could triple his or her money in about 6 years, and the initial investment could be as low as $5 billion," Edwards said.

The elevator to space concept does entail aggressive research work. As example, Edwards said he is looking into the environmental impacts stemming from elevator operations. Being studied too is impact of lightning, wind and clouds on an Earth-to-space cable system. Space elevators for use on other worlds, like Mars and the Moon are receiving attention as well.

One thing to keep in mind. Building the impossible is done here on Earth routinely, Edwards said.

Take for instance the $13.5 billion Millennium Tower envisioned for Hong Kong Harbor. This incredible skyscraper would be 170 stories tall. Elevator traffic within its walls is estimated at 100,000 people per day.

Edwards also points to the Gibraltar Bridge project. It would span the Straits of Gibraltar, linking Spain and Morocco at a projected cost of $20 billion. The bridge would use towers, twice as high as the world's tallest skyscraper. Roughly 1,000,000 miles (1,600,000 kilometers) of wire cables would be utilized in the project.

"I think those projects are a lot harder than what I'm talking about," Edwards said.