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Day 2 (Part 2) !

Dawn is breaking here – dawn in the desert is truly beautiful.  I spent 8 years living and working in Saudi Arabia and one of my favorite things there was to go camping in the desert and wake up to to the sunrises.  But it’s still bloody cold.

New development; As I wrote last night, Centaurus Aerospace showed up at the last minute and were hoping to compete.  However, their microwave source is not working so they’ve teamed up with Punkworks, the other microwave team.  Kevin Estrabillo from Punkworks tells me that the new combined team, known as “Punktaurus” will split the prize money 50-50 with Centaurus Aerospace if they win.

Several teams are here already and there is some jockeying going on as to who will go first, how much time they’ll be allowed on the tether, etc.

Bryan Laubscher (back to the camera), Ben Shelef (in the truck) and Dr. Bradley Edwards getting things ready for this morning’s competition.

 

 

 

Day 1 – (Part 6) !

The next team to make an attempt was the German Turbo Crawler.  This is the biggest climber in the competition, a full 26 kilos (1 kilo over the allowance – some negotiation and winning formula recalculation was necessary to allow them qualify).  But they, too, fell victim to the winds here.  Below are some photos showing what happened – as always, click on the thumbnails to view a larger version of the picture.

The tether twisting, twisting, twisting.  It got so bad at times that the tether actually wrapped around the line next to it.

 

 

 

 

German team struggling to get their Climber in a position to launch.

 

 

 

Another view…

 

 

 

Professor Dr. Detlef H. Meche explaining to one of the news crew that today’s test had to be cancelled due to high winds.  He made the point that their particular climber needs to have a stable tether for the first 5 meters – after that they can deal with the wind.

 

 

 

One other point of note; TurboCrawler uses 30,000 watts of light to drive their Climber.  They brought an 18,000 watt spotlight from Germany with them and rented a 12,000 watt spotlight here (from Hollywood, no less).

Day 1 (Part 5) – Partial success !

MClimber became the first team to attempt a run today, and they succeeded in making it all the way to the top of the 200 foot-tall tether.  It took them 6 minutes and 40 seconds to complete the run, and the rules state that you have to do it in one minute or less.  So, the success is partial – they got to the top, but not in the required time (and thus are not eligible for the prize with this run).  But it’s incredible that they made it all.  The tether was twisting tremendously and the solar array was continuously in and out of the best optical position.  They are now going over their “lessons learned” and I expect them to make another attempt tomorrow.

Congratulations to the University of Michigan’s team; Julie Bellerose, Andrew Lyjak, Joel Schweitzer and Kwan Chong Tan – the first team, ever, to make it to the top of a 200 foot tether ! (As always, click on the thumbnails for a larger version of the picture).

MClimber on the tether – last minute adjustments being made.

 

 

 

On the way up…

 

 

 

You can see the Climber oscillating on the ribbon, round and round and up and down (on each side).

 

 

The successful team; from left-to-right, Joel Schweitzer, Julie Bellerose, Kwan Chong Tan and Andrew Lyjak.

 

 

 

Next up (we hope) are the Kansas City Space Pirates…

(Note: My thanks to Dustin Sensiba, from Cruces.US News for the first three pictures – due to a technical glitch, I wasn’t able to take any of this run.  Thanks, Dustin).

1 Day and Counting (Part 4) !

As of right now, there are still only six teams that have qualified to compete in the 2006 Space Elevator Games Climber Competition.  They are the Kansas City Space Pirates, TurboCrawler, LiteWon, UBC-Snowstar, MClimber (from University of Michigan) and USST.  That’s a pretty broad mix.  The KC Space Pirates are a family affair, TurboCrawler is from a German University, LiteWon is from an American High School, UBC-Snowstar and USST are from Canadian Universities and Climber 1 is from an American University.  No company sponsored qualifiers, though.

As for the other six entrants, here is their status;

Recens – From Spain.  I have my information second-hand, but from what I understand, their Climber was lost (not delivered to the wrong address, but LOST) by UPS, somewhere in Kentucky.  Even if it shows up tomorrow, there is almost no chance they can compete.  If the information about their missing equipment is true, they were well and truly screwed – what a shame.

SpaceMiners – They burned out 4 cells on their photocell array on a qualification attempt and are still hopeful of qualifying tomorrow.

StarClimber – They suffered a mechanical problem while on the ribbon, trying to qualify.  While Matt is working on fixing it, he’s not hopeful.  It doesn’t look good for them, but they’re not totally dead yet.

Punkworks – They still think they have a shot at it.  They were doing some ribbon testing tonight and hope to qualify tommorrow.

Beamer (the Fischer team) – Another tragedy.  When their Climber was being weighed in, it somehow got disconnected from the scale and crashed to the ground.  The lens fractured and may not be usable.

Centaurus Aerospace – As far as I know, no one’s heard from them – I guess they’re no shows.

So that’s where we are.  At least six teams will be competing and there’s a chance that up to 3 more may make it (though I’d give odds on only 1 or 2 of them).

Below are some more pictures from today.  Click on the thumbnails for a larger version.

Dr. Bradley Edwards arrives.  Here he is with Spaceward CEO Ben Shelef – both getting their hands dirty.

 

 

 

Ben Shelef directing an all-hands meeting tonight, going over the logistics for competing tomorrow.  Evidently, there has been some sort of snafu in getting credentials issued and it promises to be a merry mess getting in, in the morning !

 

Meet Marty – Marty is our version of the “Cable Guy” – he’s the one who, today anyway, runs the crane handling the qualifying tether.  Here he is, sitting in the crane’s cab.

 

 

1 Day and Counting (Part 3) – 6 Teams now Qualified !

Six teams are now qualified for the Climber Competition.  They are the Kansas City Space Pirates, TurboCrawler, LiteWon, Snowstar, MClimber and USST.  More may make it tonight.

Below are some more pictures of today’s qualifying efforts.  As always, click on the thumbnail to view a larger version.

The crane holding the Test tether.

 

 

 

 

 

SpaceMiners voltaic cell array (including 4 cells that burned out during the initial qualification try and are now in the process of being replaced).

 

 

Two members of the SpaceMiners team with their Climber’s voltaic cell array.  On the left is Mark Rice and on the right is Paul Polanovich.

 

 

 

 

1 Day and Counting (Part 2) !

Punkworks has yet to attempt a qualification run, but they are nearly ready to try one tonight.  Below are a couple of thumbnails of Punkworks Team Members.  Click on the thumbnails to view a larger version of the picture.

Kevin Estrabillo showing that famous exuberant enthusiasm that Canadians are famous for 🙂

 

 

Allen Atamer, Aman Dhanoa and another Punkworks team-member (I’ll get the name and then update this) discussing strategy.

 

 

1 Day and Counting (Part 1) !

Here are some pictures from today taken at the Las Cruces International Airport, where the actual competition is going to be held.  There is a lot of last minute being done, but it is coming together.  With all of the picture thumbnails, click on them to get a larger version.

The crane which will be used to hoist the 50 meter (165 feet) tether which will be the “race track” for the Climber competition.

 

 

Another view of the Competition Crane.

 

 

 

T-shirt worn by one of the Crane crew members.

 

 

 

Billboard / Welcoming sign for the Space Elevator Games.

 

 

 

2 Days and Counting (Part 5) !

Final post for today from the competition.  As always, click on the picture thumbnails to see a larger version.  For the audio clip, double-click on the arrow next to the speaker icon to hear a short narration of what the picture is about.

Ben Shelef congratulating the University of Michigan team for qualifying.

 

 

 

Climber Weigh-in trellis (narration by Ken Davidian).

[audio: ClimberWeighInTrellis.mp3]

 

 

More tomorrow !

2 Days and Counting (Part 4) !

We’re still holding at only 4 teams qualifying for the competition so far.  More attempts are being made tonight.  In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from the Qualification runs.  Click on the thumbnails for a larger version of the picture.

University of Michigan’s MClimber on the Tether.

 

 

 

TurboCrawler (German Team) getting ready.

 

 

 

 

TurboCrawler on the Tether.

 

 

 

 

2 Days and Counting (Part 3) – Four teams now qualified !

 

Four teams have now qualified to run in Friday’s and Saturday’s Space Elevator Games Competition.  They are the Kansas City Space Pirates, TurboCrawler (the German Team), MClimber (from the University of Michigan) and LiteWon (from Westmont High School in Pasadena, California).  More are sure to make it today and tomorrow.

Below are a couple of pictures from the LiteWon entry.  Click on the thumbnails for a larger version.

LiteWon entry adding Solar Panels.

 

 

 

 

LiteWon on the ribbon.

 

 

 

 

Update: October 19th – Joe Carolan corrects me by commenting that Lite Won is from Campbell, not Pasadena, California.  My apologies for the error and thank you for the correction, Joe.

3 Days and Counting (Part 3) – First Qualification attempt !

The Kansas City Space Pirates were the first team to attempt to qualify their Climber for the 2006 Space Elevator Games.  Unfortunately, while their climber did make it to the top and within the allotted time, it failed to descend properly and had to be hauled down.  Nevertheless, the fact that they made it to the top is quite encouraging.  I talked to their team captain, Brian Turner, and he told me that they knew what the problem was, were in the process of fixing it, would be ready to make another attempt in the morning, and still hoped to be first to qualify.  Below is a thumbnail version of a picture of their climber sitting at the top of the test tether.  Click on it to get a larger version and double-click on the arrow next to the speaker icon to hear my brief interview with him as he discusses their results.

Sitting at the top of the tether…

[audio:BrianTurnerInterview20061017.mp3]

 

 

 

Below are pictures taken during preparations for their attempt.  Again, click on the picture for a larger version of it and double-click on the arrow icon next to the speaker to hear a brief narration of what is going on.

Part of the KC Space Pirates reflector array (narration by Ken Davidian).

[audio:KCSpacePiratesReflectors1.mp3]

 

 

Preparation for Qualifying Run (narration by Ken Davidian).

[audio:KCSpacePiratesPrep4QualifyingRun.mp3]

 

 

Getting ready (narration by Ken Davidian).

[audio:KCSpacePiratesGettingReady1.mp3]

 

 

 

3 Days and Counting (Part 2) !

More pics and info from “Camp Las Cruces”.  Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture.  Double-click on the arrow next to the speaker icon to hear a short audio clip describing what’s going on.

Work going on at Climber Row (narration by Ken Davidian).

[audio:ClimberAssemblyHall1.mp3]

 

 

TurboCrawler Solar Array.

 

 

 

 

3 Days and Counting (Part 1) !

More pics and info from “Camp Las Cruces”.  Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture.  Double-click on the arrow next to the speaker icon to hear a short audio clip describing what’s going on.

From last night, Team TurboCrawler huddled around their BBQ…

 

 

 

USST Laser Tunnel (narrated by Barry Chan).

[audio:USSTLaserTunnel.mp3]

 

 

Punkworks Prototype microwave source (narrated by Kevin Estrabillo).

[audio:PunkworksPrototypeMicrowave.mp3]

 

 

4 Days and Counting (Part 4) !

More pictures and clips from “Camp Las Cruces”.  For each picture, click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of it.  Double-click on the arrow next to the speaker icon to hear a short audio clip describing what’s going on.

The Lonely Tether Machine (Ken Davidian narrating).

[audio:LonelyTetherMachine.mp3]

 

 

Punkworks 3 meter dish (Kevin Estrabillo narrating). 

[audio:PunkworksDish.mp3]

 

 

TurboCrawler under construction (Lutz Klueber narrating).

[audio:TurboCrawlerUnderConstruction.mp3]

 

 

All for today – more tomorrow!

Incredible new Space Elevator Videos

Les Julien has just posted 4 incredible (there’s no other word for these) videos to YouTube.  You can find them (The Space Elevator Part 1, 2, 3 and 4) here, here, here and here.  After watching these, all I can say is “Wow!!!”

His effort and his attention to detail are astonishing.  The total running time for these videos is over half an hour.  Some may quarrel with the science / solutions he’s depicted (his space elevator is anchored on an island, for instance), but no one will quarrel with the overall effort.

I’ll be contacting him to find out how he’s accomplished this feat, but in the meantime, check them out.  They truly are remarkable.

One small bet.  This guy’s an Aussie.  No one else would compare the physics of a Space Elevator to the swinging of a “Billiy Can”.

Space Elevator CD released

About a month ago, I had posted about a Space-Elevator themed CD which was about to be released.  It’s out now and I received the one I ordered a few days ago.  I’ve now had a chance to listen to it and have really enjoyed it.  The CD’s artists, Dale Kay and Wes Antczak, should be very proud of their accomplishment.  I hope they sell a ton of these.

The music is, as they mention on a sticker put on the CD cover, “In the tradition of Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre and Synergy!”  You can go to the InquisitorBetrayer web site or Dale’s MySpace web site or CD Baby to listen to samples of the various tracks or to purchase the CD.  You can also purchase single tracks or the CD at Music Forte.

The cover is designed by Paul Whitehead – album cover art afficionado’s will know who he is (click on the cover graphic to see a larger version).

So, now we have something to listen to while we’re “Going Up” and have solved the problem posed here.

Space Elevator model at the First Lego League Competition

According to the First Lego League website, “The FIRST LEGO League (FLL), considered the “little league” of the FIRST Robotics Competition, is the result of a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Group. FLL extends the FIRST concept of inspiring and celebrating science and technology to children aged 9 through 14, using real-world context and hands-on experimentation.”

One of the entrants built a model of a Space Elevator.  The photos are located on Flickr and can be found here, here and here.

Bradley Edwards and the Space Elevator part of DaVinci exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry

Where did the summer go?  In May, I had posted that as part of an exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry honoring Leonardo da Vinci, ideas from “Modern-day Leonardo’s” were on display.  One of them is Bradley Edwards and the Space Elevator.

I finally made it to the exhibit today and it was very worthwhile.  The da Vinci exhibit itself is very interesting – he truly was a remarkable man.  But I enjoyed the people and ideas being displayed in the “Modern-day Leonardo’s” even more.  In addition to static displays, there was also a video display.  For the Space Elevator portion of the video display, they played the Alan Choi video.  The exhibit runs through Labor Day.  Admission to the Museum and the daVinci exhibit is $21.00 for an adult and $16.00 for a child.

Below are some pictures from the exhibit (Click on the thumbnail for a full-scale version).

             

Space Elevator music CD on the way

Over at InquisitorBetrayer.com, Dale is coordinating the finishing touches on a CD containing tracks inspired by the Space Elevator.  The music is finished; they are just waiting for the CD artwork.  The artwork is being done by Paul Whitehead so it promises to be very unique.

At InquisitorBetrayer.com, you can listen to samples of each track.  And, at MusicForte, you can purchase individual tracks for 60 cents each (note that you have to register at this site – registration is free).  Once the CD is ready, I’ll post an update as to where it can be purchased.

A new climber?

Once a Space Elevator goes into operation, there will be lifters traveling both up and down the ribbon.  If we don’t want to have them travel in an asynchronous manner, we’ll have to figure out some way to have lifters pass each other (one going up and the other going down) while both are on the ribbon.  Lifters designed now cannot do this – they clamp to the ribbon, enveloping both sides of it (or all four sides of it, if you want to count the ribbon edges).  I’ve toyed with the idea of suggesting this as one of the challenges to be met in future Space Elevator games; i.e. you have to have two lifters on the tether simultaneously, one going up and one going down, and they have to be able to pass each other without causing problems.

Today I came across a video of another kind of climber, one that could, perhaps, crawl up on just one side of the ribbon.  You can find a video of it in action here.  It’s battery powered (I think), and doesn’t seem to be designed to carry anything, but it’s a step in the right direction.  Funding for this is being provided by DARPA.

Liftport May, 2006 Art Newsletter released

In the latest issue, Liftport’s chief artist, Mr. Nyein Aung, shares with us his latest Space Elevator related drawings.  He also informs us that he is going back to college and so will be interning at LiftPort only part time in the future.  I hope it doesn’t cut down on his creativity too much – I really enjoy his drawings.

Also, Joe Julian informs us that LiftPort is developing a “coffee table picture book” and is looking for artists to contribute to it.  If you’re interested and talented, contact him at LiftPort.  The newsletter can be found here.