2007 Space Elevator Games – (Entry 22)

It’s the morning of the 17th.  The weather is truly crappy, awful, pissy, sucky, rotten, nasty, etc., etc., etc.  It looks like it’s lightening up a bit to the North-northwest, but nothing I would count on.

In order to try and get the qualifications in, the rules have been relaxed.  Spaceward personnel and volunteers are going to try to rig up a forklift unit to qualify on.  This forklift unit can extend to about 30′ feet high.  The trolley mechanism, normally hanging from the top of the crane, will now be hanging from the top of the forklift unit.

For qualification, it will now no longer be necessary to beam power the climber; batteries or AC power are acceptable.  Spaceward wants to verify that a team can mount the climber on a ribbon in a timely manner, have it ascend upwards to hit the cutoff switch on the trolley, descend properly, and then be dismounted from the ribbon in a timely manner.  There will also be no speed requirements because of the very short run.  If a team can do this, it will be deemed “Qualified”.  Of course for the real race, the original rules stay in effect; ascending about 100 meters at an average speed of 2 meters / second, carrying payload, etc.  These revised rules are for qualifying only.

All of the teams here which have not yet qualified (E-T-C, UBC-Snowstar, USST, LaserMotive, McGill and Technology Tycoons) have said that they are ready to qualify today under the modified rules.  Spaceward personnel / volunteers are now busy modifying the trolley and supporting mechanisms to be suspended from the forklift rather than the crane.  Assuming they can make this work, these revised qualifications will start at noon today.  Of course I will be there, recording all…

The video is one I took when I arrived this morning.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l27fb_6Z-Vc[/youtube]

3 thoughts on “2007 Space Elevator Games – (Entry 22)

  1. Elizabeth

    You need a weather widget on your blog! Or at least a link to the forecast. Sorry it’s not cooperating.

  2. Pingback: LaserMotive » Blog Archive » (Semi- ?) Qualified

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