I’m not up to speed on the space elevator, Derb. But here’s a related issue. If memory serves, 2001 A Space Odyssey, based on Clarke’s work, featured a space station with artificial gravity created by centrifugal force. That is, the space station rotated. This is indeed good science, but putting it into practice at current levels of technology is a real challenge. See this remarkable article by Jerome Groopman on the medical challenge of a Mars expedition for more on this and related issues.