Last weekend, the Japan Space Elevator Association  (JSEA) sponsored their first Japan Space Elevator Technical & Engineering Competition (JSETEC).

Shuichi Ohno, president of JSEA, sent me the results of the competition as well as some photographs.  My favorite picture is the middle one in this post – a tether going up into the sky.  Unfortunately the picture is a bit blurry, but it’s still cool nonetheless…

This event looked like a lot of fun – I wish I could have attended, perhaps next year.

Competition Goals:

Participants competed to see whose battery-powered Climber would be the fastest to ascend a 50mm wide 150m long tether elevated by a helium-filled balloon.

Summary:

Despite the somewhat uncooperative weather and some strong wind, teams were able to test their respective climbers once on each day of the competition.  Sporting a variety of styles and unique engineering, hopefully the climbers brought out some insight into what a real Space Elevator Climber may be.

I’m not surprised they had weather / wind issues.  It wouldn’t be a Climber competition without them 🙂

Refer to the Press Release to see the detailed results of the competition.

Future Plans:

Each year we will look toward increasing the height 2-fold and refining the regulations and categories which will be evaluated. JSEA looks forward to participating in other areas related with Space Elevator development.  Please see our Home Page for details.

Congratulations to the Japan Space Elevator Association and its president, Shuichi Ohno, on a successful competition!  We’re all looking forward to what you will accomplish next year.

(Pictures provided by JSEA – click on the picture thumbnails to see a larger version)