ONE WORLD, DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVESExplore diversity in vision and figure out how the same topic may be vieweddifferently by different folks. This is a mirror to society and life

1In 1895, Russian rocket sci-entist Konstantin Tsi-olkovsky gazed at the Eif-

fel Tower and imagined itstretching into spaceHis daydream became the firstpitch for a space elevator. Heimagined that a tower like itcould carry cargo to geostation-ary orbit — the height at whichsatellites can sync their orbitwith Earth’s rotation — 35,786km (22,236 miles) above sea lev-el. As objects ascended the tow-er, they would gain horizontal ve-locity from Earth’s rotation andcould use that speed to launchinto orbit.

2Relative to rockets, spaceelevators would be a cheap-er, faster way to get cargo

and people from Earth. That’sbecause liftoff is one of the mostexpensive and difficult parts ofspace travel“The high cost of space trans-portation coupled with unrelia-bility is a virtual padlock on thefinal frontier,” reads a 2008 Nasafact sheet. “Our dreams of every-day life in space and its promisefor a better life on Earth arehostage to the high cost of spacetransportation.

3 “The space elevator wouldessentially be an econom-ic game-changer for the

space industry,” Tyler Harris,an engineer at the Pacific North-west National Laboratory saidBy some estimates, a well de-signed elevator would cut the costof cargo transportation to as lowas $100 per kg. Even at $1,000 perkg, that would be just 5% of thecurrent cost.

4 The basic design of a spaceelevator would involve acable, or “tether,” that

could stretch from an anchor

on the ground to a counter-weight in space A heavy car, or “climber,” wouldtravel up and down the tether. Theelevator would carry cargo to geo-stationary orbit.

5 The centrifugal force ofEarth’s rotation wouldhold up the tether

Think of holding one end of astring with a stone attached to theother end, and whirling it aroundin a circle. Centrifugal force is whatpushes the stone outwards andmakes the string stretch out its fulllength. In a space elevator, the teth-er would be like that string, andthe counterweight would be likethe stone.

6Experts say this type ofstructure could be builtwith current technology.

Cost estimates range consider-ably, from $1 billion to nearly$90 billionHarris recently conducted an as-sessment of three different space-elevator designs and found thatthey would all be “environmen-tally sustainable and economical-ly viable.”

7The $90 billion cost esti-mate comes from ObayashiCorporation, which is

based in Japan. The companywants to build a space elevatorby 2050.China Academy of Launch Ve-hicle Technology, a subdivisionof the nation's main space pro-gramme contractor, wants tobuild a space elevator by 2045,though the company has not re-leased any details about thoseplans. Nasa has funded researchon space elevators, too, but hasnever committed to building one.But if a space elevator eventual-ly becomes a reality, it could alsohelp us access resources in space.

A giant elevator could connect Earth to spacewith new technology. But there are severalhurdles to overcome before it can get started

GOING UP?

➤ The trickiest part of developing a space elevator is findingthe right material for the tether.

➤ The tether would have to withstand the weather in Earth’satmosphere, radiation from the sun, and impact from mete-orites and other debris.

➤ Another hurdle keeping space elevators in the realm of sci-ence fiction: space debris.

➤ The European Space Agency estimates that 128 millionobjects smaller than 1 cm are orbiting Earth, along withanother 900,000 objects that measure 1 to 10 cm. Anyspace elevator will be subject to collisions with theseobjects, so it will have to be capable of withstanding or out-manoeuvring them.

➤ For now, though, any space elevator remains theoretical.The big idea is still subject to a lot of details that we don’thave the answers to.

IT’S NO CAKEWALK!

What is Nuclear Command Authority?

Not like the USIndia does not have an elaboratenuclear command, control andcommunications system likethe US, with its primary, al-ternative and even airbornenational military commandcentres and posts. Or the so-called “nuclear football”,the special black briefcasewith launch codesand securesatellite com-municationlinks, whichaccompaniesthe US Presi-dent whenev-er he is awayfrom the WhiteHouse or commandcentres. Nor doesIndia have aConstitutionalchain of “pre-delegated” suc-cession, underwhich the nuclear launch au-thority is automatically trans-ferred to the next in line if theUS president is incapacitated.The vice-president is followed by15 other successors in this clear-ly laid-down list.

About NCA The decision to authorise the useof nuclear weapons is more of acollegiate process in India, withthe NCA’s political council as awhole playing the role. Apart from

the PM, it includes the home, de-fence, finance and external affairsministers. But for all practical pur-poses, the nuclear button is wield-ed by the PM. The NCA also hasan “executive council”, headed bythe national security advisor andincludes the three Service chiefs,top officials from Defence Researchand Development Organisation(DRDO), department of atomic en-ergy and others, to provide inputsand “execute directives” given toit by the political council. “Alter-native chains of command’ havebeen established if the politicalleadership is ‘decapitated’ in a firststrike,” said an official.

‘No First Use’ policy No first use (NFU) refers to a pledgeor a policy by a nuclear power not touse nuclear weapons as a means ofwarfare unless first attacked by anadversary using nuclear weapons.Incidentally, both Pakistan and Chi-na have deliberately kept their nu-clear doctrines vague without clear-cut NFU policies. India’s ‘no first use’doctrine on the use of nuclearweapons is open for change in thefuture, defence minister RajnathSingh has indicated recently.

The national security advisor, three Service chiefs, top officials from DRDO, department of atomic energy and others canauthorise the use of nuclear weapons – but for all practical purposes, the PM wields the nuclear button

Although nuclear weaponshave not been used again

in combat, they’vebeen detonated

more than 2,000times since Aug.9, 1945, mostlyby the United

States and theSoviet Union (now

Russia). From 1946to 1958, for example,

the US exploded the equiv-alent of 1.6 Hiroshima bombsevery day in the Marshall Islandsto study the weaponry andintimidate Moscow; the USSRwrought similar devastationnear the Arctic Circle and inpresent-day Kazakhstan.

MYTH: NUCLEARWEAPONS HAVEN’TBEEN USED SINCENAGASAKI

World leaders with biggest aviation carbon footprints

Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe’s planepumped out the most CO2emissions in 2018, accord-

ing to an analysis of flights taken byworld leaders. It produced morethan 14,000 tons of CO2, fol-lowed by US President DonaldTrump’s plane (11,000 tons)and South KoreanPresident Moon Jae-in’s(11,000 tons). Find outabout some others...

Shinzo Abe (Japan) *14, 442Donald Trump (US) 11, 487Moon Jae-In (South Korea) 11, 461

Xi Jinping (China) 8, 280Emmanuael Macron (France) 7, 645Vladimir Putin ( Russia) 7, 616Narendra Modi (India) 7,477Angela Merkel (Germany) 7,325Giuseppe Conte ( Italy) 6,394Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey) 5,088

* CO2 IN TONNES

It’s important to make yourvoice heard. Send Letters to the Editorat ttooiinniiee117755@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Skip a cup, save a turtle We all are well aware of how plastic hasbeen used in our daily lives. Asking peopleto stop using plastic altogether is of no usesince we are so dependent on it. But theinvention of plastic is causing severalmarine animals to choke to an extremelypainful death. Turtles are one of the aquaticspecies that are adversely affected, espe-cially by plastic cups. We can prevent theuse of plastics gradually. A start can be

made by reducing the use of plastic cups asmuch as we can, as each cup takes around450 years to vanish. So, my dear readers,why use a product for a few minutes, whenit won’t go away for years? Let us be sensi-ble and remember the motto, “Skip a Cup,Save a Turtle”. AADARSHINI SINGH, class VIII, Rukmini Devi

Public School, Pitampura, New Delhi

My favourite literarycharacterIt's been a decade since the Harry Potterseries was released. And there are still a lotof Potterheads all around the world. Whilethey fight over Hermione and Harry as thebest literary characters, most of them for-get one of the bravest and daring charac-ters in the entire series — Ginny Weasley. AsRon Weasley’s younger sister, she was por-trayed badly in the movies. But thePotterheads who have read the books willknow that she is the strongest woman char-acter next to Hermione Granger. Growing uptogether with seven boys, she learnt how tofight. Being a girl didn't stop her from play-ing quidditch and becoming a professionalquidditch player. While Harry, Ron and

Hermione went out of Hogwarts in searchof the horcruxe, she fought alone inHogwarts School defending professor Snapeand the death eaters. She is my favouriteliterary character as she taught me how tofight like a brave warrior.ROMA RAMCOUMAR, class XI, Bethel Matric

Hr Sec School, Chennai

Learn to accept failuresIn today’s highly competitive world, suc-cess is given the topmost priority. Butone thing we all don’t know is that suc-cess comes only from our failures. Weshouldn’t mourn over failure, instead weshould use it as a motivation so that wecan do better next time. How we dealwith failure is what defines our personali-ty. Dealing with failure requires a lot ofcourage. If great scientists like AlbertEinstein and Alexander Graham Bell hadquit when they first failed, we wouldn’tbe enjoying the inventions they created.We must always remember that failure isfollowed by success. RIDA SAHER, class VIII, Kennedy High the

Global School, Hyderabad

G reta has setworld leadersthinking about

the global climatescenario. She is a truemessenger of climatechange and has thegrit to challenge worldleaders over their fail-

ure to improve the climate. Addressingour planet’s climate conditions isextremely necessary as Earth’s futurerelies on our generation. INJEELLA HIMANI, class X, SomervilleSchool, Greater Noida

As a symbol ofgreen capitalismGreta will help in

triggering a radicalmovement in its favouracross the world. Thespread of green capital-ism is a good sign as itwill facilitate instant action that isrequired to counter climate changeissues and will increase awarenessamong the masses about their carbon emissions.AKRUTI DABAS, class X, DAV Public School, New Panvel

We must res-pect flightattendants.

Most people think thisis a useless career andso they stop their chil-dren from taking upthese jobs. They mustunderstand that cabin

crew work harder than most people incorporate jobs. Also, they forego festi-vals, leave behind ailing family mem-bers at home only for the sake of duty. SHREYA KUMARI, class X, Blue PlanetSchool, Patna

ARESPECT CABIN CREW

It’s ban WILL TRIGGER MOVEMENT

TRUE MESSENGER

G reta Thunbergis really con-tributing a

great deal towards cli-mate change. Kudos tothe other 16 childrenwho are doing their bittoo. Greta can well bea symbol of greencapitalism. The world needs to wake upand take notice of her work. Good luckto her and her team! KAVYANSHI, class VI, DAV Public School, Faridabad

SPEAKOUT

EXPRESS YOURSELFFeel strongly about what youread? Please send us your viewsand opinions along with your picsat ttooiinniiee117755@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm. To postcomments/articles/photos online,register at www.toistudent.comand start a debate.

Q Critics have saidthat Greta Thunberg

may be used as a symbol ofgreen capitalism. What areyour views?

TAKING NOTE

Beginning withan inspiringlecture on cli-

mate change deliveredby her teacher thatimpressed her to thepresent-day when herspeeches like #how-dareyou Greta Thun-

berg, this 16-year-old has made suchbig changes in the way we perceive theenvironment that #Fridays For Futurehas spread across the world like awildfire. We can’t find a better personthan Greta for the symbol of greencapitalism and the face of a new world.YASHASVI RAWAL, class IX, RyanInternational School, Kharghar

TRUE SYMBOL INDEED

Bonnie Francesca Wright as Ginny Weasley

Photo: AFP

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha02 i-OPENER