2007 Space Elevator Games – (Entry 13)

The picture is a closeup of a portion of the USST climber.  The two tubes on either side, I am told, are to carry payload.  In addition to having to climb 2 meters / second in order to qualify for prize money, the amount of payload being carried on a qualifying run is one of the elements in the formula to determine the winner.  Click on the thumbnail for a larger version of the picture.

Here are a couple of USST-related videos taken today.

The first is their climber (minus the collectors).  The USST Team members in the video told me that this is the real climber, not a mock-up or backup.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Uxp6LAwC4[/youtube]

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This second video is of two USST team members preparing some water to be used in cooling their laser.  They are filtering and de-ionizing ordinary tap water to suit their purpose.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R61hIEO1h2w[/youtube]