The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) today announced the Artsutanov and Pearson awards; prizes intended to foster research into Space Elevator related topics.<\/p>\n
The Press Release announcing these awards, sent out today, is copied below, in full:<\/p>\n
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The International Space Elevator Consortium Announces the Pearson and Artsutanov Space Elevator Prizes<\/strong><\/p>\n Mountain View, Calif. (March 3, 2010) — The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC), an independent group designed to promote standards and foster research relating to the construction of an Elevator to Space, has announced its first annual set of prizes, named after the co-inventors of the modern-day concept of the Space Elevator, Jerome Pearson and Yuri Artsutanov.<\/p>\n Formed in 2008 by a coalition of leaders in the Space Elevator movement, ISEC has established these prizes to encourage research into Space Elevator related technologies and concepts to help further ISEC’s mission of promoting “the development, construction and operation of a space elevator as a revolutionary and efficient way to space for all humanity<\/em>“.<\/p>\n Ted Semon, the president of ISEC states; “We are thrilled to be able to offer these awards, named after the co-inventors of the modern-day concept of the Space Elevator.\u00a0 The Space Elevator, a ‘carbon railway’ to the solar system and beyond, is the right way to open up space to all humanity.\u00a0 With research into carbon nanotubes proceeding at an ever-accelerating rate, we think that it is only a matter of a few years before the material necessary to build a space elevator will be available.\u00a0 The time is now to begin serious planning for this most magnificent concept.<\/em>”<\/p>\n Each year, ISEC selects a focal theme for its activities.\u00a0 For 2010, this theme is “Space Debris Mitigation<\/em>“.\u00a0 One of the major hurdles that must be overcome in order to successfully build and operate a Space Elevator is avoiding space debris and satellites in orbit.\u00a0 While much research has been done on this topic, the goal for most existing research has been mitigating the problem of space debris in relation to satellites, the ISS, the Shuttle, etc.<\/p>\n The Pearson prize will be awarded for that paper which best addresses the topic of Space Debris Mitigation in relation to a Space Elevator and is open to all college undergraduate students currently enrolled in a two or four-year undergraduate curriculum.<\/p>\n The Artsutanov prize will be awarded for the best paper on any other Space Elevator-related topic and is open to everyone.<\/p>\n The winning paper of the Pearson prize will be awarded $1,500 while the winning paper of the Artsutanov prize will be awarded $2,500.\u00a0 Both winners will be invited to the 2010 Space Elevator conference (held this coming August in Redmond, Washington) to present their papers.\u00a0 Their papers will also be published in the ISEC Journal.\u00a0 In addition to awarding the prize money, ISEC will pay for airfare and hotel accommodations for the prize-winners (maximum of one per paper if multiple authors).<\/p>\n Contest details can be found on the ISEC website (www.isec.info<\/a>).<\/p>\n For more details, please contact ISEC President Ted Semon (ted [at] isec.info), Prize Chair Peter Swan (peter [at] isec.info) or ISEC Technical Pillar Lead Ben Shelef (ben [at] isec.info).<\/p>\n Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., a leading technology center, the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) is a non-profit organization devoted to the research and construction of an Elevator to Space.\u00a0 Founding members of ISEC include the Spaceward Foundation, the Space Elevator Reference, the Space Elevator Blog, EuroSpaceward and the Japan Space Elevator Association.\u00a0\u00a0 For more information please visit www.isec.info<\/a>.<\/p>\n Press Inquiries:<\/p>\n Ted Semon Belinda Young ================================<\/p>\n A copy of the Press Release, in PDF format, can be found here<\/a>.\u00a0 I encourage all of you to send this to any email lists, websites, news organizations, etc. that you might have contact with.\u00a0 The more we can spread the news of this competition, the better.<\/p>\n
\nISEC
\n1-630-240-4797
\nted [at] isec.com<\/p>\n
\nBYPR
\n1-206-932-3145
\nbyoung [at] bypr.com<\/p>\n