This is the official LiftPort announcement about their long-awaited, newly released book.

More good news from the Carbon Nanotube “front” (from Andy Price).  Closer and closer…

In his latest announcement email, Andrew Price pointed out a recent article in the Japanese Daily Yomiuri Online (don’t worry – it’s in English) detailing advancements in carbon nanotube production.

If you’re interested in subscribing to Andrew’s announcements, email your request to him at aprice AT healthspace.ca.

In this issue, Liftport’s Research Director, Tom Nugent, shares with us slides from two of his presentations at last week’s ISDC 2006 conference (Bob Munck alert – these are .pdf files).  He also talks about the new interns arriving at LiftPort and tells us that the long-awaited LiftPort book has finally arrived!!  I’ve been looking forward to this book for some time and will be posting a review of it in the next several days.

Also, Andrew Becker is looking for opportunities to use LiftPort’s HALE platform to help site wind power farms.

The newsletter can be found here.

In this undated (but current) article, author Al Globus talks about Space Settlement and how a Orbital Tower / Space Elevator can make this feasible.  According to his bio, Al works at the NASA Ames Research Center as a contractor.

An undated, German-language article on an Orbital Tower.  I don’t read German, but for those of you who do, enjoy…

This short article discusses the three Welsh College students who have won a trip to NASA facilities in Florida and Texas with their idea of the Space Elevator.  Warning, the article/site loads V E R Y   S L O W L Y . . .

At adAstra Online, Leonard David writes about the upcoming 25th Annual International Space Development Conference.

From the conference schedule, as of this posting, the following Space Elevator themed presentations and panel discussions will occur:

On Thursday, May 4th:

Steven E. Patamia: Movement of Space Elevator Ribbon due to Magnetospheric Storms and Solar Pressure (3:30)
Jim Dempsey: Second Generation Space Elevator (4:00)
Michael Fischer: Using Momentum Transfer to Climb the Space Elevator (4:30)
Tom Nugent: Modular Self-Reinforcing Space Elevator (5:00)
Tom Nugent: The Lifter Shield — An Improved SE Vehicle Design (5:30)

On Friday, May 5th:

Ben Shelef: The Story of the Space Elevator (2:00)
Bradley C. Edwards: Overview of the Space Elevator Concept (2:30)
Alan Chan: How I Built the Space Elevator – Primers to Using Hollywood Talent and Tools to Shape the Future (3:00)
David D. Lang: Space Elevator Initial Construction Mission Overview (3:30)
Panel: Engineering Alternatives for Design and Deployment of the First Space Elevator (4:00)
   Brad Edwards, Tom Nugent, Ben Shelef, Moderator Vern McGeorge

On Saturday, May 6th:

Bradley C. Edwards: Current Activities on the Space Elevator (2:00)
Deepak Srivastava: Nano- and Macromechanics of Carbon Nanotube based Materials: Space Elevator (2:30)
While Waiting for Our Miracle (3:00 – 4:30)
   Panel moderated by Monte Davis
   Vladimir Chobotov, Jordin Kare, Geoff Landis, Tom Nugent, Steven Patamia
Can Space Help Solve Earth’s Energy Crisis? (3:30)
   Moderator: Mark Jannot, Editor in Chief, Popular Science Magazine
   John Mankins, SUNSAT Energy Council
   Brad Edwards, Space Elevator Guru
Ben Shelef: The Spaceward Foundation and the 2005 Space Elevator Games (4:30)
Anders M. Jorgensen: The Space Elevator and the Magnetosphere (5:00)
Blaise Gassend: Fate of a Broken Space Elevator (5:30)

Sure wish I was going…

SpaceRef.com announcement of the upcoming 25th Annual International Space Development Conference.  One of the exhibits will be a “thirty-foot space elevator mockup”.

In this Stanford Daily review of the Cool Products Expo, the Spaceward Foundation and “plans to build a Space Elevator” are briefly mentioned.

As mentioned in the LiftPort April, 2006 Technical Newsletter, Jasper Bouwmeester, an Aerospace Engineering student in the Netherlands, will be interning at LiftPort this summer.  The Newsletter describes a Space Elevator concept project that Jasper and his team did, with one of their conclusions being that the Space Elevator should be anchored in the Atlantic Ocean.  The Newsletter contains a link to the paper created – you can also find it here.  It’s well worth the read.

CBS2Chicago.com reports that an exhibit honoring the life and works of Leonardo Da Vinci has opened at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry.  It’s a 4-part exhibit; the fourth part highlights “40 modern Leonardo’s” with one of them being Brad Edwards.  Tickets are $21.00 and the exhibit is open until September 4th.

The Museum of Science & Industry is a cool place, but has gotten a bit dated as of late.  They’ve been working to update their exhibits and, as a Chicago-area resident, I’m looking forward to seeing this one.

In this issue, LiftPort Research Director Tom Nugent mentions a proposal written by 10 Aerospace Engineering Students in the Netherlands to build a Space Elevator in the Atlantic Ocean.  He also reminds us that he will be presenting at the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles on May 4th.  The Newsletter can be found here.

The March/April issue of MIT’s Technology Review comments on Brad Edwards appearance and remarks at the recent MIT Enterprise Forum.

The Spaceward Foundation will be exhibiting “its Space Elevator” at Stanford University’s Business School Cool Products 2006 Expo on April 26th.  Details can be found here.

And, today I find out that this blog has been added to Robot Guy’s Space Blogroll.  Thanks!  And thanks for the work to put the Space Blogroll together.

I’ve added the Space Blogroll to my links and, as soon as I get competent in php, I’ll figure out a way to post it in it’s entirety rather than as just a link.

NY Times article about the NASA Centennial Challenges.  Steve Jones, a 2005 and 2006 contestant in the Beam Power Challenge is featured.  It’s a good article, but (free) registration is required to read it.

I’ve just learned that the world’s first space elevator is going to be built in Canada.  The exclusive scoop is here.

Happy April Fool’s Day…

Liftport’s Executive VP-Media, Joe Julian, gives an update of their HALE platform, their carbon nanotube factory and robotic lifter and also posts a calendar of coming events that LiftPort personnel will be participating in.  The Newsletter can be found here.

The online version of Business 2.0 discusses the Space Elevator here.  Note that clicking on the link will open up the March, 2006 issue.  Navigate to page 78 for the article.  No registration is required.

CNNMoney.com also has the article here.

In the March Technical Newsletter, LiftPort’s Research Director Tom Nugent writes about “The Lifter Shield: A More Robust Lifter Vehicle.” The Newsletter can be found here.

James Miller proposes that the Republicans should add support of a Space Elevator to their 2006 campaign.

A lengthy article in SFGate.com, the online arm of the San Francisco Chronicle, discusses potential problems that can be caused by space debris.  Much of the discussion centers around the danger (real or imagined) that such debris could pose for a space elevator.

A Business 2.0 article discussing profit generating opportunities in Outer Space.  The Space Elevator is mentioned as a technology that would “…reduce orbital freight costs by 98 percent and open up space just as the railroads opened up the Wild West.”

In the Newsletter, LiftPort’s Research Director Tom Nugent discusses “Space Elevator Ribbon: The Elastic Energy Problem.”  The Newsletter can be found here.

In this Issue, LiftPort’s Executive VP – Media, Joe Julian, describes the “shocking” results from their latest test and discusses the chosen theme for the first Lift tickets.  The Newsletter can be found here.

A CNNMoney.com / Business 2.0 article estimates the 2021 Space Elevator market size at $2 Billion / year.

Article from NewScientistSpace discussing Liftport‘s success in launching a mile-high tether and other, Space Elevator-related issues.

Both SpaceRef.com and Seattle based dBusinessNews.com note the recent successful Liftport test.  The SpaceRef.com article is here and the dBusiness News.com article is  here.

The official Liftport announcement, stating that they have successfully completed their “second round of preliminary tests of its high altitude platform and robotic lifters”.  They were able to launch their platform a full mile into the air while their robotic climbers were able to climb more than 1,500 feet.

In the email announcement I received about the release of Liftport’s February, 2006 Technical Newsletter, there was also an announcement about a study which had been done by Nicola M. Pugno (available here) stating that, because of “inherent defects” in a Carbon Nanotube cable, it’s maximum strenght would be no more than approx. 35 GPa.  If true, it’s a problem.  But only if it’s true.  Liftport has started a discussion forum on this subject here.

LiftPort’s newest employee, Joe Julian, introduces himself and discusses what his focus at the company will be.  The Newsletter can be found here.

In this issue, Tom Nugent, Liftport’s Research Director, introduces a paper he has just written; “Scale Questions on Space Elevator Physics.”  The Newsletter can be found here.

This article from Space.com discusses a new technology to be tried on an upcoming joint Japanese-European satellite launch.  This new technology, robotic “space spiders”, would be used to “crawl” along a web deployed in sub-orbital space in order to prove that the concept could work.  Possible future applications for these space spiders could include working on a space elevator.

Several announcements are made in this issue, including news of a very successful stock offering by LiftPort, and a new engineering paper prepared by Tom Nugent, Liftport’s Research Director.  The Newsletter can be found here.

Popular Science’s Online Magazine discusses the 2005 Space Elevator Challenge here.

A damn interesting web site is DamnInteresting.  This is their entry on the Space Elevator.