Day 2 (Part 7) !

October 21st, 2006

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.

Entry Filed under: News / Announcements, Space Elevator Competitions