Out- of- this- world elevator feasible, Japanese firm says

A major Japanese construction firm claimed Wednesday it could execute an out- of- this- world plan to put tourists in space within 40 years by building an elevator that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon. Obayashi Corp. claims it is feasible to use carbon nanotube technology, 20 times stronger than steel, to build an elevator towering 96,000 kilometres above the Earth. The company said it would carry 30 passengers at a time and travel at a speed of 200 kilometres an hour for a week, stopping at a station at 36,000 kilometres. Tourists would stay there, but researchers would be able to travel all the way to the end. So far there are no cost estimates nor any idea who would pay for it.