>Mars is, AFAIK, the only place we could conceivably build a space elevator with current materials technology That's not true: the Moon would be much easier.

>Mars is, AFAIK, the only place we could conceivably build a space elevator with current materials technology That's not true: the Moon would be much easier. But if you're just comparing Mars to Earth, then definitely yes. Building a space elevator on Earth is sci-fi for now. I'm not sure about Mars, but on Moon it would be rather easy actually, since not only is the gravity 1/2 of Mars', but there's no pesky atmosphere.