Kansas City Space Pirates meet another fund-raising goal

From Brian Turner, captain of the Kansas City Space Pirates:

New Mexico here we come!

We have passed the bottom fundraising threshold and now have enough Contributions, Sponsors, Assets(From 2006) and Pledges to finish the climber and make it to the competition in New Mexico!

We are now calling ourselves a “Participant”. That means that we can buy enough solar cells to make the climber function but not enough to secure a win. We will still be working to raise more money to fill out the solar cell budget. We can buy them in batches costing about $1,750. Look at the attached graphic to see the fundraising goals.

Budget amount (Competitiveness)
$15,000 (Land Lubber)
$32,000 (Participant)
$37,000 (Contender)
$42,000 (In-The-Money)
$53,000 (Dominating)

Those of you who have pledged, I would like to encourage you to send in your contribution as we are ordering the parts and building as fast as the money allows.

We currently have the parts needed to test every aspect of this years climber designs. In the next three weeks we should be testing each component and be able to come up with solid performance predictions. Our current predictions are based on specs and estimates.

In case you have not heard the venue will not be in Las Vegas. It looks like we will be at the fairgrounds that held the qualifications last year. This is good news as we really liked the facilities there and kinda know our way around Las Cruces.

Be sure and check out the New York Times Magazine in this Sunday’s paper for the Centennial Challenges article. I think my messy garage will be in there.

Brian Turner
Captain,
KC Space Pirates

So, this is good news – the more competition, the better.  Last year, the KC Space Pirates certainly put on a good show and I think we can count on them doing it again this year.  Whether or not they’re going to be able to successfully compete against one or more Laser-driven units, only time will tell.  Click on the Pirate ship picture for a larger version.  And, as Brian notes, please be sure and check out tomorrows NY Times.

Finally, you’ll note that Brian talks about Las Vegas and New Mexico as possible venues for the Space Elevator Games.  Yes, these were possible sites, but nothing has been announced yet.  And, if I were a betting man, well, I’d be hesitant to put money on either site.  More on that (very) soon…