Daily Archives: October 13, 2007

Videos from the Kansas City Space Pirates

Brian sent me links to these videos a couple of days ago – just getting around to posting them now.  The first video shows things now going so well.  However, the second video is his qualifying run. They’ve certainly changed their design from last year.  This year’s model more resembles the “kites” that several teams had last year (UBC-Snowstar and TurboCrawler, among others).  We’ll see how it handles in the winds of Utah…

Testing going badly

Qualifying

The picture is a screen shot I took off of the Qualifying video.  Click on it for a larger version.

Finally, Brian points out an article he wrote on Heliobeaming.   There are enough formulas in the article to satisfy most hard-core geeks 🙂

Still more team news…

I received this word from the McGill Space Elevator Team:

Ted, You can take the ‘possibly in conjunction’ out on your blurp about us: we’re definitely using Punkwork’s beam source and rectenna after a stint with our PV array.

See you in Salt Lake.

Cyrus

A few days ago, Allen Atamer posted some pictures of this new configuration on his Facebook page.  As always, click on them to view a larger version.



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This is exciting news – our first confirmed Microwave Team! We’ll see how they stack up to the two laser-powered teams (USST and LaserMotive) and two the solar powered teams (KC Space Pirates and Snowstar).  Competition is a wonderful thing, yes indeed…

More team news…

I received this email from Brian Turner, captain and fearless leader of the Kansas City Space Pirates:

The trailers are packed and we should leave in just a few hours. There are 4 other teams that are definitely coming, 9 that have dropped out, and 8 unknowns. That makes me feel pretty good about our chances. It is harder to send out these messages on the road so I wanted to point you all to the best source of timely information.

The Space Elevator Blog

Ted Semon posts most days, and promised to post several times a day during the comp. There is supposed to be a video feed of the competition. I figure the Space Elevator blog will post it’s location.

Brian

Thanks for the kind words Brian – I try !

And, this late word from Arthur Shay of Team Zero G:

Hi Ted,

I’m disappointed to say we were not able to complete our entry in time for this years climb. We tried until the last minute but as the deadline for the climb video ticked by our fate was sealed. The good news is I am still coming on the 18th to represent my team and displaying our climber (minus transmitter) on climber row. I think there is much to be learned by attending. I hope to static test our climbers ribbon mounting system against the full tension of the real ribbon, and perhaps win some recognition for design innovations and Space Elevator program presentation. Who knows maybe even pickup a few new team member, and if lucky some pointers from the other teams. If nothing else I can show my support for the Space Elevator and the teams that were able to finish in time. I don’t know if it is true. But I have heard that sometimes sponsorship angels attend these events, “wink wink know what I mean A”, we could all use a little of that! I am looking forward to meeting you at the venue.

Cordially,

Arthur Shay
Team leader
Team Zero G

So, that makes 5 teams definitely in, 10 teams definitely out, with 7 more to be heard from (see my previous post on this)…