Space elevators? Not just for the Nezu anymore

It was hardly the origin of the idea in either sci-fi or sci-fact, but Trekland got its take on the long-time "orbital elevator" concept as the plot device behind Voyager's third-season "Rise!" The script was an ambitious if not overtly satisfying Tuvok/Neelix pairer aboard a sabotaged mag-lev "tether carriage" rising (get it?) into the clouds about a disputed Nezu colony.

That was the fiction. Now, a Japanese company says it wants to do the same, basically .. and can likely do it.

By 2050 ...

Space Elevator Plans Unveiled by Japanese Company

... According to the proposal, 30 passengers at a time would depart from the equator and travel in an enclosure guided by a 60,000 mile (96,000 km) cable that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon. The final destination would be a spaceport that contains laboratories and living quarters 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above the Earth's surface. ...