Laser light. Where a killowatt equals roughly 1.3 horsepower, or about a quarter the thrust of a modern push lawn mower. What for? Preparing for the power beaming competition in the 2007 Space Elevator games. Beam transport for a space elevator. It ain’t rocket science.
Via the Space Elevator Blog
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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space
Tagged Lasermotive, space elevator, Space Elevator Blog
I’d read Instapundit’s remarks on John Scalzi’s sci-fi novel "Old Man’s War," and so decided to give it a try. Years since I read science fiction. The book lives up to its billing, although I wonder about the apparent put-down of the space elevator as impossible without advanced technology, which was unexplained, other than to say it was even beyond the already understood need for improvements in materials for the cables… Anyhow, that’s a quibble when the rest of the book is pretty enthralling, the ideas believable, and the love story at its heart quite compelling.
More good, if a few trifle far-fetched, reasons to return to the moon, by former moon astronaut Buzz Aldrin who recalls looking back from its surface in 1969 to "…the cloudy blue ball that should only be mankind’s starter home." The plan is to put the base at the moon’s south pole, where there is some evidence of water ice and more shelter from the sun, and rotate astronaut teams in and out every six months. Top of the far-fetched list, it seems to me, is beaming solar energy home, but the argument’s at least as interesting as the space elevator. /NASA
Via Instapundit
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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space
Tagged Buzz Aldrin, Moon base, NASA, solar energy, space elevator
I’m a month late getting this up (so to speak) but it’s worth a look: NOVA ScienceNOW’s Jan. 9 video report on the space elevator concept and last year’s New Mexico challenge. It’s more gee whiz than science, but you’ll come away from the 12-minute show with a pretty clear understanding of the idea. After that try the Spaceward Foundation’s new comprehensive FAQ on the research challenges.
Black Line Ascension, a new New York space elevator LLC endeavor, has a new web site with a cool animation of what a working elevator would look like and what it could do for travel to moon, Mars and beyond… Worth a peek.
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Posted in Space
Tagged Black Line Ascension, space elevator
The Jack-and-the-beanstalk technology–it ain’t rocket science–looks to advance by the so-far-unscheduled-but-planned games next fall, according to email from the Spaceward Foundation:
"In 2007, we expect to have real racing going on, with multiple teams achieving the minimum required speed and competing on the amount of payload [Jack] they carry. We’re also considering, if we can raise the funds for it, a two ribbon, no payload, head-to-head race. This will not carry the $500,000 prize purse (since speed alone is not the ultimate requirement) but will provide another opportunity for bragging rights and photo-ops.
"In tether [Beanstalk] land, we don’t have grand announcements or plans, except for that oh-so-good feeling that we will probably give away the prize money this year. While the tether competition is not quite as spectacular as the power beaming competition, we all know what awarding the prize money here means – we have placed the bar so that it will take a new tether material technology to claim the prize."
As always, worth a look.
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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space
Tagged 2007 Space Elevator Games, space elevator, Spaceward Foundation
The official results of the Space Elevator Games are in.
"…the competition was obviously a huge success. It was the first full-form competition, and we already had 7 major universities participate, three professional engineering teams, and one aerospace company. We’ve had very good press coverage, and a spectator crowd of 20,000 people."
The climber definitely has improved. The beanstalk still needs work. Next year’s prizes will be increased to $500,000.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 