Scientists envision a novel use for a newly developed carbon product called a nanotube, ultralight and a dozen times stronger than steel - a space elevator.

Rather than blasting off in a rocket every time, astronauts and payloads would board an elevator contructed of nano-tubes for the 23,000-mile trip to an orbiting space station."One wins both ways, first, because of the exceptional strength and, second, because of the light weight," says Jerry Berholc, a physicist at North Carolina State.

And that raises another striking possibility, at least for those of us old enough to remember: Who would have thought that an occupation long ago lost to automation would make a comeback thanks to space exploration - the elevator operator.

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