The Space Elevator is a space capsule used by John Tracy to travel between Thunderbird 5 and Tracy Island. On Thunderbird 5, the elevator is docked on the bottom of the space station, and when it lands on Tracy Island, it does so on its own launch bay beside Thunderbird 1, using a claw on the bottom of it to lock itself into place.
Since Thunderbird 5 is 22,400 miles above Tracy Island, the cable will be near the same length. Due to the bottom-mounted claw and the extreme length of the cable, the Space Elevator occasionally comes in handy during rescue missions.
History and Appearances[]
In, EOS, the A.I. known as EOS took control of Thunderbird 5. She locked John outside the space station. Later on Alan arrived in Thunderbird 3 to save John and helped him get back inside Thunderbird 5 by using a spare space suit to distract EOS. However the A.I. catches on, sees John entering the station and gets payback at Alan by using the Elevator to chase Thunderbird 3. But in the end John talks some sense into EOS and she stops the Elevator chasing Thunderbird 3.
In Slingshot, John uses the Elevator to travel to Tracy Island and back to talk with his brothers after Thunderbird 3 was put in danger trying to save a mining asteroid from falling into the Sun.
In Skyhook, it is confirmed that the elevator simply lowers from Thunderbird 5 via a long cable rather than being a completely independent craft. When all other Thunderbirds are unable to complete a rescue to stop a rapidly-ascending low-atmosphere weather station, John moves Thunderbird 5 into position over the station and uses the elevator to catch the station like a hook before hauling it up to the satellite for safety.
In Legacy, the elevator was used as a blunt weapon to damage the Hood's aerial fortress when he attempted to escape after his attempted coup of Tracy Island, John slamming the elevator into the fortress to knock it 'off-balance' long enough for Thunderbirds 1 and 2 to tear it apart. John is also shown travelling in a space pod to investigate an apparent damaged satellite that was part of the Hood's trap.
In Impact, the elevator's grappling arm is used to grab the Global One satellite, and pull it out of the path of an incoming comet.
In High Strung, the elevator is used in a more traditional manner to deliver equipment - and a cheeseburger for John - to Thunderbird 5 from Tracy Island.
In The Man From TB5, Gordon and Alan attempted to call down the space elevator so that Gordon could take charge of Thunderbird 5 while John was attending a charity auction with Lady Penelope, but EOS refused to let them in as they failed to pass various security protocols- which EOS may have invented just to tease the others- prompting them to take Thunderbird 3 up instead.
In Brains vs. Brawn, Brains takes the Space Elevator away from Tracy Island and then detaches it from its cable so that he can use it to confront The Mechanic in the Project Sentinel satellite, correctly deducing that the Elevator is small enough to escape detection if he approaches the satellite at low power.
In Growing Pains, John takes the Space Elevator down to the Global Seed Vault with a mobile EOS drive.
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