Japanese Company Aims for Space Elevator by 2050

 People could be gliding up to space on high-tech elevators by 2050 if a Japanese construction company's ambitious plans come to fruition.

Tokyo-based Obayashi Corp. wants to build an operational space elevator by the middle of the century, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Wednesday (Feb. 22). The device would carry passengers skyward at about 124 mph (200 kph), delivering them to a station 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth