KC Space Pirates reach another milestone

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

“We just completed another round of testing with the TRUMPF laser.  Although not without problems the important tests were successful.

The most important test was the full range 1km power beam. This test was successful and even exceeded expectations.  Beaming useful amounts of power 1km is something that few have done. I can’t say yet exactly how much power we beamed, but enough to make our 5 meters per second goal.

A scientific milestone has been passed.

Brian Turner
Captain
KC Space Pirates”

5 m/s over a full kilometer would make for some GREAT footage…

12 thoughts on “KC Space Pirates reach another milestone

  1. Pingback: TRUMPF and Laser testing… - The Space Elevator Blog

  2. Pingback: The Space Elevator: Not Just Science Fiction at ThePumaBlog - Sustainability and Technology

  3. Robert U

    how would low mass atoms filling the tubes from ground to upper atmosphere effect the overall ribbon weight.

  4. Ken J

    Its reasonable to assume that such saturation would occur relatively quickly and be identified during the testing phases. Of course the mass vs. strength calculation is critical, but it is likely being accounted for already. The reality is that such added mass would reduce the strength to weight ratio below the theoretical maximum predicted since the “low mass atoms” would presumably not contribute to the strength of the material.

  5. mdboze

    This contest is flawed in the fact that it requires BEAMING power to achieve the goal.

    They should only state what they want to accomplish – NOT how to accomplish it. (i.e. beaming)

    As a 20+year engineer, I have a solution to ascend the space ribbon that is not confined to the space elevator beaming rules. There are other ways to solve this problem that do not involve beaming, bringing heavy fuel or storing mass amounts of energy.

  6. Ted Semon Post author

    Prize money for the contest is put up by NASA. They are interested in the wireless transmission of power (i.e., no cables, no batteries, etc.) to make a device do something useful.

    If you have another “…solution to ascend the space ribbon…”, believe me, we’re all ears. Contact me at ted [at] SpaceElevatorblog.com.

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