LaserMotive - one happy bunch…

November 4th, 2009

As I noted in an update to my previous post, LaserMotive’s second climb was 1 second faster than their first one.  So, right now the time to beat is 4 minutes, 1 second.  Over (nominally) 900 meters, that works out to about 3.73 meters/second.

What a great way to finish day 1 of the 2009 Space Elevator Games!

I had a quick chat with some of the Kansas City Space Pirates and they expressed confidence that they have taken care of the problems that plagued them in their first go-round.

And, let’s not forget that USST, the team that has performed the best in all previous competitions, has yet to make a run.

Tomorrow promises to be an even more exciting day than today.  Please tune in to http://live.spaceelevatorgames.org and watch and hear the action live!

And, a few pictures of the winning team for you.  The first two are of the LaserMotive team (all except Dave Bashford) who was out in the truck watching over their climber) while the third picture is of Dave (on the right) with Ben Shelef (in the middle - CEO of the Spaceward Foundation - host of the Space Elevator Games) and Andy Petro - NASA’s person who is in charge of the NASA Centennial Challenge program.  Andy will be handing out the check(s) during the prize ceremony (date/time yet to be determined).

Those first two pictures show the LaserMotive team being interviewed by Fox News.  ABC, AP and some local press were also present.  Look for LaserMotive to be on the news tonight!

More pictures are on the official site of the Space Elevator Games (http://www.spaceelevatorgames.org).  Click on the LIVE COVERAGE button on the top and then click on the LATEST PICS button on the right hand side.

Again, congratulations LaserMotive - you’ve done us all proud!

(Update - I mis-identified Dave Bashford as Carsten Erickson - sorry guys…)

Entry Filed under: News / Announcements, Elevator2010