Arthur Shay, from Team Zero G (the latest qualified entrant into the 2007 Space Elevator Games), forwarded a VERY interesting email to me yesterday. It seems that the Germans are now going to have their own version of the Space Elevator Games in February of 2008. These games are being organized by the Max Born Project, the people behind the German Turbo-Crawler entry into the Spaceward 2006 Space Elevator Games.
The length of the racetrack is 50 meters and the (undetermined) prize(s) will be awarded to the top 3 finishers. If I’m reading the rules correctly (I’m reading the not-so-good English translation, but I’m sure the German version is fine), teams only get three days to put their climbers together, with the sponsors providing the light beam energy source. So, this version of the Space Elevator games is not as ambitious (yet) as the ones being put on by the Spaceward Foundation.
But these are the Germans. Their entrant into the 2006 Space Elevator games was one of only four that made it all the way to the top (along with MClimber, Litewon and USST). They have another entry (not Turbo-Crawler) into this year’s competition. If this idea catches on in Germany, it could be fun…
A .jpg version of the email can be found here and a .pdf version of the rulebook can be found here.
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