UBC again failed to lift off. They went up 10-12 feet at the most and then their climber began slipping on the tether again.
This finishes the first round of competition today. There is going to be an attempt to move the competition climber over to the fairgrounds for some more climbs. I hope it succeeds, but that’s an awfully big crane and the roads to the fairground aren’t that rolbust. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. The tether competition is coming up later today, too.
More soon…
Actually, TurboCrawler made the next attempt and they, too, succeeded in getting all the way to the top. Their time was 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
So, now we have four teams that have made it all the way to the top; University of Michigan’s MClimber (who was first – 6 minutes and 40 seconds), USST (who have been the fastest so far (58 seconds), LiteWon (2 minutes and 20 seconds on their second attempt) and now TurboCrawler (3 minutes and 27 seconds).
UBC-Snowstar is next up…
The University of Michigan made a second attempt with their MClimber. Unfortunately, they were unable to get launched in their designated window and had to pull their climber off.
So LiteWon got a second chance and made the most of it. They made some changes and it sure showed – their second run was done in the very impressive time of 2 minutes and 2 seconds. And their descent, under control, was accomplished in probably (I didn’t time it) under 10 seconds. So, congratulations are also in order for LiteWon!
Up next, USST for another attempt.
We may have a winner. The USST Team (with assistance from Recens and TurboCrawler – borrowing their lights for additional power) made it to the top in 58 seconds !! So, they’ve met that portion of the test requirements. There’s also a requirement that they come down in a controlled descent within 2 minutes and there is some issue about whether they made that or not. We’ll have to see. But no matter what, their climb was VERY impressive – especially the first half – they really zipped up the tether. After that, the inverse-square law began to be felt and they slowed down somewhat. But still they made it in 58 seconds.
There are all sorts of rumors flying around about what kind of deal USST cut with Recens and/or TurboCrawler to borrow their lights. We’ll let the future sort that out. In the meantime, congratulations USST!!!
Events are happening very quickly now, quicker than I can do a post for each attempt.
LiteWon made it to the top of the Ribbon in 5 minutes and 31 seconds, a full 1 minute and 9 seconds quicker than the University of Michigan’s MClimber did. So, we have our second successful climb (though again, not in the time period allotted to win the prize). Pretty impressive for a High School team…
The Kansas City Space Pirates also made an attempt, but failed/stopped about 1/2-2/3 of the way up. Brian Turner, captain of the Space Pirates, said that he was a “victim of the winds”. The wind would blow the climber out of alignment with the solar array, triggering a stop. Then the wind would bring it back inline and the climbing would start. But this began to happen so quickly at the end that the climber was essentially stuck in position. So, back down for the Space Pirates.
USST is up next. I’ll be posting more pictures when I have a few extra minutes.
No joy for the German team either. They got onto the tether in good order and, when light was applied, seemed to move up a few feet pretty quickly. But then they had controller problems and had to remove their climber from the tether. Hopefully they’ll try it again later on.
Pictures of the attempt below. As always, click on the thumbnails for a larger version.
Making adjustments on the tether.
Turbo Crawler, illuminated with the 18,000 watt spotlight.
Lights for TurboCrawler. The big one is 18,000 watts and the smaller is 12,000 watts.
LiteWon up next.
UBC-Snowstar failed in it’s attempt to climb the tether. They got on the tether in good order. When they first loosed the brake and attempted to climb, you could see the wheels on the climber turn, but it didn’t move. They clamped it back to the ribbon and made an adjustment to tighten the grip. When they tried it again, it did go up a few feet, but you could hear the wheels/gears slipping. So, they’re done, at least for now.
Below are some pictures from the UBC-Snowstar attempt. Click on the thumbnails for a larger version.
Getting on the tether.
Steve Jones tightening the grip.
Snowstar illuminated with the spotlights.
TurboCrawler is up next.
The competition tether is now up and the initial order of teams has been set. First up will be the UBC-Snowstar team. Second will be the German TurboCrawler team. Third will be the High School LiteWon team. Fourth will be the Kansas City Space Pirates. Fifth will be the USST team. The University of Michigan MClimber, the team that made the only climb yesterday, is set as an alternate. If one of the scheduled teams is not ready to go, MClimber will get their slot.
The winds are still light, but the tether is already twisting in the wind. It’s not whipping around like it was yesterday, though, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
An update to the Microwave team test. They are going to have to demonstrate that they can successfully climb the 30 foot Qualification tether before the effort is going to be made to move the 200 foot Competition tether to the fairgrounds.
Well, bad (and good, I think) news. We’ve received word that the airport will not allow any Microwave-powered competitors to run. This means that “Punktaurus” is not going to be allowed to compete at the airport. That’s the bad news. But “Plan B” has been put into effect; after today’s competition is completed, the competition tether is supposed to be moved to the Fairgrounds (where the teams are “camped”) and the Microwave team will be allowed to run there. So that’s the good news.
An obvious question is why did this restriction show up now? My response is “I don’t know”. That’s going to be part of the post-mortem, I’m sure. Right now, it’s just important that the microwave people be given every chance to make an attempt and it looks like that’s going to happen…
Dawn is breaking here – dawn in the desert is truly beautiful. I spent 8 years living and working in Saudi Arabia and one of my favorite things there was to go camping in the desert and wake up to to the sunrises. But it’s still bloody cold.
New development; As I wrote last night, Centaurus Aerospace showed up at the last minute and were hoping to compete. However, their microwave source is not working so they’ve teamed up with Punkworks, the other microwave team. Kevin Estrabillo from Punkworks tells me that the new combined team, known as “Punktaurus” will split the prize money 50-50 with Centaurus Aerospace if they win.
Several teams are here already and there is some jockeying going on as to who will go first, how much time they’ll be allowed on the tether, etc.
Bryan Laubscher (back to the camera), Ben Shelef (in the truck) and Dr. Bradley Edwards getting things ready for this morning’s competition.
It’s bloody cold here, in the desert, before the sun comes up. Very little wind and, in this morning’s forecast, it said that the winds were going to “continue to be mild”. Let’s hope that they’re correct.