It’s Sunday. I arrived in town last night. 3 teams arrived at the competition site yesterday (Kansas City Space Pirates, USST and UBC-Snowstar). E-T-C arrived a little while ago, so we now have 4 teams on site. We are expecting 4 more; “McGillWorks” (a partnership between the McGill team and Punkworks), Centaurus, LaserMotive and the the Technology Tycoons (formerly LiteWon).
So we should have 8 teams competing in the Climber / Power-Beaming competition. 2 will be laser powered (LaserMotive and USST), two will be Microwave powered (McGillWorks and Centaurus), 3 will be solar-powered (Technology Tycoons, Kansas City Space Pirates and UBC-Snowstar) and one will be spotlight powered (E-T-C). In addition, I’m told that Centaurus may also compete as a solar-powered team.
We also have two tether teams coming; Astroaraneae (last year’s champion) and MIT. I imagine we won’t be seeing them until later in the week. If they show up earlier, I’ll be sure and blog about it.
So, lots of options – lots of technology on display.
The venue is wonderful, far better than we had last year. The two buildings being used for “Climber Row” and the Light Racer games are large, solid structures with very high ceilings. Lots of windows, lots of power outlets, lots of Internet outlets. In addition, we’ll have an “Office building” for the press and for Spaceward and for team meetings.
Right now the weather is beautiful, about 70 degrees with a blue sky. The mountains in the background make a wonderful backdrop. I hope it doesn’t rain, though. There are a lot of dirt and grass areas and things could get muddy if they do.
So, if you haven’t decided whether or not you want to come, I urge you to do so – it should be a great show. We have lots of sophisticated technology and teams. The video (the first of many videos and pictures to be posted by yours truly) is a panoramic view of the competition area.
We’re open to the public for the finals; October 19th, 20th and 21st. Come one, come all – it’s the 2007 Space Elevator Games!!!
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