Elevator to the Top: Space Elevators Climbing Towards Reality

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Nov-06-2009

Elevator to the Top: Space Elevators Climbing Towards Reality

(topic overview)
CONTENTS:

NASA'''s Centennial Challenges program and the Spaceward Foundation kicked off the Space Elevator Games in the Mojave Desert on Wednesday. (More...)
The Kansas City Space Pirates team got within 50 m of the top, but not fast enough to be in the money, and a team from the University of Saskatchewan has yet to compete at all. (More...)
"Right now, if you use the strongest material in the world, the weight of the tether would be so much that it would actually snap," said Semon, a retired software engineer. (More...)
LaserMotive became the first team in competition history to qualify for the $900,000 second prize. (More...)
Ben Shelef, CEO of the contest-sponsoring Spaceward Foundation, said the Pirates had a minor laser tracking problem but the real problem appeared to be in the mechanical system. (More...)
A climb faster than 3 minutes and 20 seconds is needed to win the 5 meter per second prize for $1.1 million. (More...)
LaserMotive's vehicle zipped up to the top in just over four minutes and immediately repeated the feat, qualifying for at least a $900,000 second-place prize. (More...)
The basic concept consists of a cable anchored to the Earth's surface, reaching into space. (More...)
Maybe the whiz kids can come up with some sort of anti-gravity type system (I'm serious) powered by a laser, which could drive something back and forth to the solar space ship. (More...)
"At the top, you'd probably want amenities -- hotels, restaurants. (More...)

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NASA'''s Centennial Challenges program and the Spaceward Foundation kicked off the Space Elevator Games in the Mojave Desert on Wednesday. Teams of engineers have their eye on the $2 million prize to be awarded to the first group to climb just over half a mile of a cable suspended from a helicopter near NASA'''s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards. Three teams have qualified for this year'''s event, which will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. [1] LaserMotive's photovoltaic-powered machine became the first in the three-year history of NASA's space elevator contest to climb a 900m-long ribbon, securing a prize of $US900,000. They fell short of the $US2 million grand prize. For that, they would have had to ascend the ribbon with an average speed of 18km/h. They didn't quite reach that goal but it appears that we are finally making real progress on a concept first proposed in 1895. What's more, the ground laser that was used to charge the photovoltaic cells used half the power than their previous model with far better results. This year's contest has not concluded, and there is the possibility that another team could equal or surpass LaserMotive's results.[2] For that, they would have had to ascend the ribbon with an average speed of 11 mph. They didn't quite reach that goal but it appears that we are finally making real progress on a concept first proposed in 1895. What's more, the ground laser that was used to charge the photovoltaic cells used half the power than their previous model with far better results. This year's contest has not concluded, and there is the possibility that another team could equal or surpass LaserMotive's results, but at the very least there is reason to believe that the idea of an elevator that reaches to space might not be so far fetched after all. Send an email to Sean Fallon, the author of this post, at sean@gizmodo.com.[3]

The power supply for the climbers remains on the ground, which offers a challenge to team members to create a source of wireless power. In previous competitions, teams have used solar power or spotlights, but each of this year'''s teams will be using lasers. '''Practical systems employing power beaming would have a wide range of applications from lunar rovers and space propulsion systems to airships above the Earth,''' NASA said on its Web site. '''Another future application of power beaming would be the space elevator concept and many of the competitors are advocates for this technology.'''[1] The feat was the best performance yet of a miniature space elevator prototype, though still a long shot away from what would be needed to carry humans to Earth orbit, as proponents envision. The competition, called the Power Beaming Challenge, is being held this week at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert. It requires competitors to beam power from a remote source to propell their vehicles upward.[4] ''Between the need for''extraordinarily high strength tethers, the construction of the climber with a way to power the climber over the 22,000 miles to geostationary orbit from the equator, and the''construction of the anchor point''itself, the Space Elevator has often seemed far off on the horizon. ''Now, this week, a competition at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in the desert in California is bringing the concept a Space Elevator closer to reality.[5]

Team leader David Bashford, right, prepares the LaserMotive robotic climber during the $2 million Space Elevator Games at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009.[6] Photovoltaic panels, which convert laser light into electrical energy similar to solar panels, are seen on the bottom of the LaserMotive entry in the $2 million Space Elevator Games at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009.[7] LaserMotive of Seattle qualified for at least $900,000 in the $2 million NASA-backed Space Elevator Games, which began Wednesday at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base.[6]

Three teams overcame challenges to reach the finals of the $2 million 2009 Space Elevator Power Beaming Games now scheduled for the week of Nov. 2 at Dryden Flight Research Center.[8] Not to mention the vehicle to climb it. That's where the Space Elevator Games come in. Today offers a second chance for more climbers to compete, and any team that can power their entrant for an average speed of 11 mph (18 kph) will qualify for a portion of the total $2 million prize purse on offer.[4] The Kansas City Space Pirates, University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team (USST) and Seattle-based Lasermotive will attempt to send laser-powered vehicles up a one-kilometer cable suspended vertically from a hovering helicopter. To be eligible for the $2 million prize, this year the vehicles must rise up the cable at an average speed of five meters per second. A fourth team, NSS, withdrew when they ran short of time and money to prepare for the games.[8] At least one team has qualified for part of a $2 million prize up for grabs in this year's Space Elevator Games, a NASA-sponsored contest to build machines that can climb a cable in the sky ' precursors for a futuristic transit system to space.[4] BREAKING NEWS: LaserMotive successfully qualified for the $900,000 prize! Their official speed was 3.72 m/s. Though its unlikely that anyone will be pressing the elevator button labeled Space on one of the competitors vehicles this year at the 2009 Space Elevator Games, there is hope that a winner will walk away with the $1.1 million prize.[9] The robot, built by LaserMotive of Seattle, whizzed up 2,953 feet (nearly 1 kilometer) in about four minutes, which qualifies the team for at least $900,000 of the $2 million in prizes offered in the NASA-backed Space Elevator Games.[10] LaserMotive's photovoltaic-powered machine became the first in the 3-year history of NASA's space elevator contest to climb a 2,953-foot-long ribbon, securing a prize of $900,000. They fell short of the $2 million grand prize.[3]

MOJAVE, Calif. -- A robot powered by a ground-based laser beam climbed a long cable dangling from a helicopter on Wednesday to qualify for prize money in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the science fiction concept of space elevators.[11] AP's earlier story is below. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — A laser-powered robot failed to complete its climb up a long cable dangling from a helicopter Wednesday in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the science fiction concept of space elevators.[6]

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — A laser-powered machine has zipped thousands of feet up a cable dangling from a helicopter in a competition to develop space elevator technology.[6]

To win the competition, a vehicle has to climb all the way up the kilometre-long cable, travelling at an average speed of five meters (16 feet) per second. Before this year, there had been no winners. Space elevators have been a popular staple in science fiction ever since Arthur C Clarke's 1979 novel The Fountains of Paradise, although they were first posited in the 1960s.[12] According to a Dryden spokesperson, "The Space Elevator is a proposed space-access system that could transform access to space, replacing rockets with electrical vehicles that scale a stationary cable from Earth to space. "Now in its fourth year, the Space Elevator Games competition has grown more sophisticated each year, although competitors have yet to win any prize money."[8] Rather than having to build subsequent rockets that all have to escape the Earth's gravity with massive engines, we could simply ferry parts up the elevator bit by bit, and assemble a craft in space, which would presumably require far less power to travel around in a vacuum. Surprisingly, progress on this idea is actually being made. The Spaceward Foundation is dedicated to building a space elevator and is now holding their Power Beaming opnbrktClimberclsbrkt Competition to see if anyone could make the actual elevator part of it. (The cable's a whole 'nother story.)[13] The competition, part of'' The Space Elevator Games seeks to award prizes that are funded by NASA, as part of the Centennial Challenges, and The Spaceward Foundation, for the development of technologies needed to build a Space Elevator. The competition taking place this week is pitting prototype climber elements.[5] To recap: the Space Elevator Games is a competition supported by the Spaceward Foundation with cash prizes donated by NASA. It'''s all about making a space elevator to go into space.[14]

The Kansas City Space Pirates team got within 50 m of the top, but not fast enough to be in the money, and a team from the University of Saskatchewan has yet to compete at all. LaserMotive can apparently take another crack as well, and over on Twitter, Mary Kay Kare says that Jordin has some ideas of how to speed their climber up, and go for the grand prize. This is a long, long way from an actual space elevator, of course-- working out the power beaming is arguably less of a challenge than finding a material to build the thing out of, which nobody has come close to doing. It's cool to see, and a reminder that while rockets are flashier, there's work going on on other ways to get stuff into space in an economical manner. [15] Heres a breakdown of what happened so far today: The Kansas City Space Pirates gave it three tries. In the first attempt, their elevator failed to take off. After fixing the problem, they were able to get the craft to move, but it then stopped. During the third, it started to climb the ribbon but they were unable to keep the laser locked on the elevator to power it, and it wasnt able to climb the 1km to the top of the ribbon and brought back down. LaserMotive had much better luck, despite a no-go on their initial attempt. Their elevator was lifted to the start by the helicopter, but failed to move despite repeated lasing attempts.[9] The Kansas City, Mo., Space Pirates team was first off the ground after hours of testing the cable system, refueling the helicopter and waiting to fire up the laser so it doesn't interfere with satellites. Its climber, a flat machine several feet square, initially failed to respond to laser power and was lowered, examined and sent back up.[6] The Kansas City Space Pirates went first with a machine that initially balked but eventually began climbing. Its speed was too slow to qualify for any prizes but it got within about 160 feet (48 metres) of the top before the laser had to be shut down for satellite protection.[16]

The Kansas City, Mo., Space Pirates went first. Their vehicle was too slow to qualify for a prize but apparently was only about 160 feet short of the top when it had to stop.[6]

''There are two other teams competing, The Kansas City Space Pirates and The University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team, and there is still a first prize of $1.1 million out there for climbing the kilometer at an average rate of 5 meters per second. These are the kind of early developments that could lead to a revolution in space travel as well as spark the imagination of the next generation.[5] A lesser prize is available for vehicles that climb at 2 meters per second. The rules allow one team to collect all $2 million or for sums to be shared among all three teams depending on their achievements. While the concept of an elevator to space may seem too fanciful, Andrew Williams, 26, a mechanical engineer on the Saskatchewan team, said he has no doubts it will come about. "Once we put our minds to something it's just a matter of time for us to achieve it," he said.[11] "We shine the laser on it and then the solar panel underneath that will convert it to electricity and it drives the motor and then that motor has wheels and it grabs a hold of the cable and just runs as fast as it can to the top,' said Beland. If any of the three teams can do it in the given time window, it means they could walk away with up to $2 million. Ted Semon with the Spaceward Foundation who is hosting the event said, "If they can travel this 900 meter cable at an average of 2 meters per second or greater, they qualify for the lower prize which is $900,000. If they can travel at five meters per second they qualify for the $2 million prize."[11] As part of a $2 million compeition, a laser-powered robot has successfully climbed a cable nearly a kilometre long dangling from a helicopter. The long-term goal is to create a cheap way of getting objects into orbit by simply lifting them to orbit with an elevator climbing a fixed cable. The device, created by LaserMotive, made it to the top in a little over four minutes, half the time of the previous record holder, winning its inventors a $900,000 prize. "The entire team is exceedingly satisfied that our system performed this well today," says the company, which is hoping to improve on its speed today.[17] The team from LaserMotive, including certified rocket scientist and friend of the blog Jordin Kare, successfully powered a robot up a 900m cable using diode laser arrays to send power to solar panels on the robot. They managed an average speed of 3.73 m/s, which doesn't get them the full $2 million prize, but qualified them for the $900,000 prize for an average speed above 2 m/s.[15] LaserMotive set a new record for the competition, and became the first team to ever reach the top of the ribbon. They had to settle for the $900,000 second prize, as securing the $2 million first prize requires not only reaching the top of the ribbon, but doing so at an average speed of 11 miles per hour.[18] Guess what, someone managed to win a prize! Yes, on the first day of the competition LaserMotive, a team from Seattle, managed to beam a laser at the underside of a platform which powered it so that it could scoot up a 900m long piece of cable in the allotted time required to be eligible for a prize - 4 minutes, 2 seconds. This qualifies the team for the portion of the prize put aside for being able to travel faster than 2 metres per second, which could be up to $900,000 according to reports.[14]

The games are part of NASAs Centennial Challenges program, which awards monetary prizes in the attempt to spur new technologies. This is a busy week for the program; as we covered earlier today, the Northrop Grumman Lunar X-prize announced two winners, and is part of the Centennial Challenge program. To win the $1.1 million prize, one of the teams must propel their vehicle 1 km (.6 miles) into the sky at an average of at least 5 m/s (16.4ft/s). A second place prize of $900,000 will be awarded to any team that can go the 1km at an average of 2m/s (6.6 ft/s). The games this year will run from November 4th-6th, with each team getting the chance to launch their laser powered vehicles during a pre-determined 45-minute window for each day of the competition.[9] Three teams are taking part in the Games at the Nasa Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The Seattle-based team LaserMotive managed to send their robotic lift, powered by laser beams, up a kilometre opnbrkt1093-yardclsbrkt-high cable suspended from a helicopter in less than four minutes to claim at least a share of the $2 million (£1.2 million) prize.[12]

Electrically powered vehicles would run up and down a cable anchored to a ground structure and extending thousands of miles up to a mass in geosynchronous orbit ''' the kind of orbit communications satellites are placed in to stay over a fixed spot on the Earth. The LaserMotive vehicle that climbed up the cable (held by a hovering helicopter) was powered by a system that resembles an upside-down solar power mechanism. Laser beams on the ground were fired up at the ascending craft and hit its photovoltaic cellslike those used in solar panelsin a process known as "power beaming." LaserMotive will have a chance to improve its vehicle's speed at another trial today, and other teams will also be vying for prizes.[10] Electrical vehicles use the cable in the same way as a lift in a lift shaft, clamping on and climbing it. They are powered by laser beams on the ground firing at photovoltaic cells on the vehicles - like those used in solar panels - in a process called "power beaming". This is the fourth annual Space Elevator Games.[12] The Space Elevator Games will have scientists using roobots to climb miles upon miles into the sky. The whole idea behind this is to basically, someday, build an elevator that will take you right up to space. This is being done now with the help of a cable held by a helicopter, and a robotic machine that uses laser beams for lower. This could prove to be wildly helpful in the decades to come, as it would be far cheaper than actually having to take a rocket up to space.[19] For the next couple of days Space Elevator Games will see robotic machines climbing a 1km high cable (held by a helicopter) and will be powered by laser beams. If this can be achieved, the technology could develop into a fully fledged Space Elevator like that in Arthur C. Clarke's "The Fountains of Paradise."[20]

A laser-powered machine has zipped hundreds of metres up a cable dangling from a helicopter in a competition to develop space elevator technology.[21]

Electricity would be supplied through a concept known as "power beaming," ground-based lasers pointing up to photo voltaic cells on the bottom of the climbing vehicle — something like an upside-down solar power system. The space elevator competition has not produced a winner in its previous three years, but has become increasingly difficult.[6] Nextbigfuture has been tracking the space elevator games and development work towards space elevators. This years competition is to see if competitors can surpass about 5% of the power density capability needed for the climber component of a space elevator. The power density of the climber is directly proportional to its speed (mgv/m), and so a 5 m/s speed in 1 g gravity corresponds to 50 Watt/kg, or about 5% of a real Space Elevator climber.[22] For a Carbon Nanotube tether that is 30 MYuri strong, and a characteristic time constant (CTC) of 1 year the Feasibility Condition requires that the climbers will have a power density of at least 1.0 kiloWatt/kg. It is easy to show that when moving straight up, the power density of the climber is directly proportional to its speed (mgv/m), and so a 5 m/s speed in 1 g gravity corresponds to 50 Watt/kg, or about 5% of a real commercial scale Space Elevator climber.[23]

''A kilometer climb up a tether at a good clip with a remote power source beaming power to the climber is an important step forward. ''This is exactly the kind of jump needed to bring Space Elevators from the world of scientific and engineering papers, as well as science fiction, to the reality of our space fairing world.[5]

While NASA is interested in the wireless power transmission, Spaceward hopes to learn more about the possibility of a space elevator that could one day replace rockets as a cheaper alternative of going to space. For the teams, who have put thousands of man hours into the challenge, they're most interested in taking home that $2 million.[11] It's not getting as much press as the "X Prize" for private rocket launches, but NASA has quietly been running a contest for work toward a "space elevator," offering up to $2 million for a scheme to transmit power to a small robot climbing a 1km cable.[15] NASA is betting a $2 million prize may produce a new generation of space craft. Instead of a using rockets though, their betting on a Space Elevator.[24]

"Space elevator-related research is valid, but there are hurdles to overcome," said David Smitherman, a space architect at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. This week in the Mojave Desert, three teams of engineers are competing for $2 million offered up by NASA for anyone who can build a prototype of an elevator able to crawl up a kilometer-high tether while hauling a heavy payload.[25] EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Rocketing into space? Some think an elevator might be the way to go. That's the future goal of this week's $2 million Space Elevator Games in the Mojave Desert.[26] A laser-powered lift has won the Space Elevator Games in the Californian Mojave Desert, paving the way for similar machines to carry people and cargo into orbit.[12]

While the Space Elevator Games rely on a model using cables and power beams, another scientific concept has found a way around the cable conundrum.[27] Theoretically, space elevators are a way to reach space without using rockets. They would use a cable stretched between the Earth's surface and a platform in geosynchronous orbit.[6] Instead of using expensive, risky rockets to escape the surly bonds of Earth, the space elevator would use a massive space station in geosynchronous orbit on the end of a cable thousands of miles long.[12]

According to NASA research, the space elevator cable would need to be about 22,000 miles long. That's how far away a satellite must be to maintain orbit above a fixed spot on the Earth's equator.[25]

Years ago the futurist, inventor and sci-fi author Sir Arthur C. Clarke had a brilliant idea: Instead of launching rockets to get up into orbit, why not build a "space elevator?" The idea was that a space station would be tethered to the Earth by an extremely long, straight cable.[13]

The device, a square of photo voltaic panels about 2 feet by 2 feet (0.6 metres by 0.6 metres) and topped by a motor structure and thin triangle frame, had failed to respond to the laser three times before it was lowered, inspected and then hoisted back up by the helicopter for the successful tries. LaserMotive's two principals, Jordin Kare and Thomas Nugent, said they were relieved after two years of work. They said their real goal is to develop a business based on the idea of beaming power, not the futuristic idea of accessing space via an elevator climbing a cable. "We both are pretty sceptical of its near-term prospects," Mr Kare said of an elevator.[16] For each test, a helicopter brings the elevator up the cable to a fixed starting point. The team is then given a go to calibrate their laser, and start beaming power to the craft.[9]

"Right now, if you use the strongest material in the world, the weight of the tether would be so much that it would actually snap," said Semon, a retired software engineer. He said the super-light material would probably need to be about 25 times stronger than what's now commercially available. In a separate competition, his group offers a prize to any team that can build a tether that's at least twice as strong as what's currently on the market. Another issue, scientists say, is how to keep the cable, or the elevator itself, from getting clobbered by meteorites or space junk floating around in space. [25] Since 2005 there has been an (almost) annual competition for teams demonstrating some of the integral parts of a space elevator. These include: a tether strong, thin and light enough to reach many hundreds of kilomteres into space and not snap; a climber to clamber up the tether; a way of powering the climber from the ground.[14] The Space Elevator Games are a NASA-backed competition to find the best way to send a robotic platform into space while still tethered to the Earth.[27]

"Look at the cost and efficiency of a bridge versus a ferry on Earth and then look at the cost and inefficiency of the rocket ferries we use today and you will see why so many people are looking for a 'bridge' solution like the space elevator." Microsoft is among the sponsors an annual space elevator conference, and teams in Japan and Russia are among those working to turn the theory into reality -- even if they all admit they have a long way to go.[25] The concept of a space elevator - once the realm of science fiction - is now being seriously considered by experts. It doesn't rely on rocket power, which is mostly used to leave the Earth's atmosphere, and could help transport cargo.[27]

''In 1945, Clarke suggested the concept of utilizing geostationary satellites for communications, now a mainstay of our modern world. ''Another technology, described in his novel " The Fountains of Paradise ", is the Space Elevator. ''The concept was not new when Clarke used the construction of a Space Elevator as central element of his novel, but Clarke's novel brought the concept to a larger audience.[5] This concept image from NASA shows what a space elevator and transfer station could look like.[25] The Great Beyond: Space Elevator repair man has arrived. After years of disappointment (for me, anyway ) the Space Elevator Games has got a winner! Yes, NASA will have to open its purse and pay up.[14] First proposed in 1895, and popularized by the Arthur C. Clarke book The Fountains of Paradise, space elevators have a rich history in the culture of space travel. Unfortunately, the history of their engineering success is far less impressive. If the results from this week's Space Elevator Games are any indication, that might be about to change.[18] Theorized in the 1960s and then popularized by Arthur C. Clarke's 1979 novel "The Fountains of Paradise," space elevators are envisioned as a way to gain access to space without the risk and expense of rockets.[26]

"Space elevator research is important because it is a way to build a bridge to space instead of ferrying everything by rocket," said Smitherman, who has conducted research and published findings on the effort.[25]

The competition has launched in the Mojave Desert and has teams trying to basically come up with a way to build an elevator that will take you to space.[19] A competition has just launched in the Mojave Desert for teams planning to build an elevator to space''' yes you read that correctly.[20]

The Space Elevator Challenge, or Elevator:2010, is a competition for the purpose of developing space elevator and space elevator-related technologies.[28] Washington (dbTechno) - The space elevator race is on yet again as the competition has those taking part truly reaching for the sky.[19]

A laser-powered robot took a climb up a cable in the Mohave Desert in Wednesday, and pushed ahead the sci-fi inspired notion of a space elevator capable of lifting astronauts, cargo, and even tourists up into orbit.[10] At that rate they would get to geostationary orbit in 114.2 days. Let's face if they build the space elevator traveling up the tether at the 700 mph, just under the speed of sound at 1 atm, moving up the tether would mean it would still take you 32 hours to get to geostationary orbit.[10] Today's materials perform at 2.5 3 MYuri (GPa-cc/g) at best when built as tethers suitable for the tests. The Space Elevator will function a lot better with a ~35 MYuri material, but this is the bare minimum that we need. Keep in mind that successive 50% improvements in material strength are very large steps, but that we already know that CNT molecules are measured at ~50 MYuri, and fabricated CNT micro-bundles have been produced by several labs at 10 MYuri, so this challenge is not impossible.[23]

Space elevators pose an engineering problem, experts say, as the theoretical model relies on a tethering cable that needs to be 150 times stronger than steel.[27] Most models for an elevator into space involve attaching a cable from a satellite, space station or other counterweight to a base on Earth's surface.[25] A ship could climb along a fixed structure, like a beam or cable, suspended in space by a permanent geostationary satellite 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above Earth.[4] The highly technical contest brought teams from Missouri, Alaska and Seattle to Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert, most familiar to the public as a space shuttle landing site. The contest requires their machines to climb 2,953 feet (nearly 1 kilometer) up a cable slung beneath a helicopter hovering nearly a mile high.[6]

A company named LaserMotive built a contraption that has thus far performed the best, scaling a cable nearly a kilometer high (held up there by a helicopter) at nearly 4 meters per second, placing it in the $900,000 prize money range. (The winner gets a cool $1.1 million.) Space geeks can keep abreast of this stuff here.[13] ''Yesterday, the group LaserMotive, successfully ran a climber up 1 kilometer of test cable at an average rate of just over 2 meters per second, qualifying for the 2nd place prize of $900,000.[5]

A lesser prize is available for vehicles that climb at 2 meters per second. The rules allow one team to collect all $2 million or for sums to be shared among all three teams depending on their achievements.[6] Funded by NASA and the Spaceward Foundation, the yearly contest offers a $2 million first prize to any group whose machine can quickly climb a kilometer-long ribbon tethered to a helicopter, while receiving power remotely from the ground.[18] The company LaserMotive, which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, was competing in a $2 million "Power Beaming" competition sponsored by NASA and the Spaceward Foundation.[28] NASA has backed the $US2 million ($2.19 million) competition, run by the non-profit Spaceward Foundation, since 2004. It has run in conjunction with the X-Prize challenge, another NASA-backed competition to find cheap viable rockets for moon landings.[27]

The competition is sponsored by the Spaceward Foundation and NASA's Centennial Challenges program aimed to spur development in space exploration.[4]

The competition organizer is the Spaceward Foundation with financial support from NASA.[8]

NASA and the SpaceWard Foundation have stumped up $2m prize money, though to be in with a chance the robots must reach the top and travel at speeds of 5 metres per second.[20] NASA and the SpaceWard Foundation are offering $2 million in prize money. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.[19]

While $2 million is a lot of money, NASA said it will be money well spent. The same technology the teams are using for the challenge could be used in the future by NASA here on earth and even beyond.[11] In order for the full $2 million to remain in NASA's kitty, "all three teams would have to strike out," Shelef said.[22]

LaserMotive became the first team in competition history to qualify for the $900,000 second prize. [18] No team had managed to win any of the prize money in the first three competitions. Then last year difficulties finding a venue meant that the games were postponed until various times throughout this year.[14] Encouragingly, the laser that powered the ascent utilized half the energy of LaserMotive's previous laser, and to far better results. At this rate, next year's team might actually have a chance to bring home the gold. The competition continues today, and if another team matches LaserMotive's achievement, they might have to split the prize money.[18] USST is a highly organized university student team. It is the most experienced team in the competition, having participated in all the challenges since 2005. Lasermotive, in its second year of competition, comes from Seattle with a hefty list of industry sponsors, including Boeing.[8]

Finally getting ready - hope for our first competition climb in 10-15 minutes. There is some issue - they're bringing the climber down to look at it. KC Space Pirates done for the day - no "in the money" climb for them today unfortunately. Breaking for lunch - LaserMotive first up this afternoon.[22] Another team, the Kansas City Space Pirates, managed to get their machine to within 50 meters of the top, but were too slow to take the prize.[12] If neither the University of Saskatchewan or the Kansas City Space Pirates can beat that time over the next few days then Laser Motive will win the prize.[23]

An attempt by the Kansas City Space Pirates on Wednesday fell short of the speed requirement.[4] The Kansas City, Mo.,-based Kansas City Space Pirates are robotic club hobbyists with a top-notch panel of consultants.[8]

Ben Shelef, CEO of the contest-sponsoring Spaceward Foundation, said the Pirates had a minor laser tracking problem but the real problem appeared to be in the mechanical system. As the afternoon grew late, the University of Saskatchewan's Space Design Team had to put off its attempts until Thursday. [11] On the third try it began moving steadily, but then trouble developed as the laser could not stay locked on the machine. It failed to climb all the way up before the laser had to be shut off to protect satellites, said Ted Semons of the sponsoring Spaceward Foundation.[6]

In a major test of the concept, robotic machines powered by laser beams will try to climb a cable suspended from a helicopter hovering more than a half-mile (one kilometer) high.[26] The challenge: a teams climber has to climb a cable up one kilometer that's suspended from a helicopter with only the help of a laser.[11] The challenge is for the platform to climb the cable, stretched between the ground and a helicopter in the sky, at a rate of 5m per second. No-one has completed this challenge for the past three years.[27] The vehicles must climb a cable six-tenths of a mile into the sky and move at an average speed of 16.4 feet (five meters) per second.[26] The vehicles must climb at an average speed of 16.4 feet (5 meters) per second, or about 11 miles (18 kilometers) per hour, to qualify for the top prize.[6]

Event sponsors hope to see a team successfully send a vehicle up the suspended cable at an average speed of 16.4 feet per second.[1] The vehicles must move at an average speed of 16.4 feet per second to qualify.[24]

A climb faster than 3 minutes and 20 seconds is needed to win the 5 meter per second prize for $1.1 million. [23] First climb was 4 minutes, 2 seconds - officially. They qualified for the $900K prize.[23]

After bringing it down for a tweak or two, the elevator was again placed at the start. It took off, making the first 300m (985ft) in a little under a minute, which met the 5m/s goal. The speed tapered off towards the top, but they bumped up against the 1km mark at approximately 4 minutes, making them the first to successfully claim the minimum 2km/s prize! While watching the live feed of this fantastic feat, I overheard a transmission from LaserMotive saying, This is LaserMotive requesting permission to breathe.[9] The station would be held in place by the centrifugal force of the earth's rotation, and an elevator could ferry supplies up the cable, inching skywards the same way tourists get to the top of the Empire State (except the distance would be a bit longer, around 62,000 miles). Sure we might need a rocket to get the thing up there in the first place, but consider how ingenious this is.[13] {"comments":,"media":{"isPublicTaggingAllowed":false,"uploadToAkamai":"","categories":"","pathToMedia":"390259_69128297","adminTags":"cid_69128297,ct_article,sid_390259,sid_390979,sid_523222,sid_523232,sid_523247","uploadedByPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg?t=1248875781749","views":165,"uploadedByName":"nbc_editor","isAdultContent":false,"updatedAt":"6 Nov 2009 00:22:45 GMT","country":"","pathToPreview48X48":"user/defaultAudio_48x48_D.jpg","inappropriateFlagCount":0,"isRatedByMe":"F","tags":"bored,furious,intrigued,thrilled","originalFileFormat":"","isFavorite":"F","userId":7918858,"name":"Forget the Rocket, Take the Elevator","description":"Rocketing into space? Some think an elevator might be the way to go."[24] Where does this space junk come from? could it be debris from sloppy space missions who just jettisoned unwanted parts? I know we'll all miss the hair-on-fire get to space in 45 seconds experience but with the predictable nature of these elevators, they can just start 113 days earlier and still get there on time. Of course, the 114 day one way cycle limits the capacity to about 1 trip a year so we'll have to build 50 of them if we want to do any serious damage.[10] Now, 30 years after "2001" author Arthur C. Clarke wrote about an elevator that rises into outer space, serious research is happening all over the world in an effort to make the far-fetched-sounding idea a reality.[25] Famously proposed by Arthur C Clarke, a space elevator is a little closer to reality.[17] NASA has even reportedly considered the ocean off Western Australia as a launch site for a space elevator.[27] If a space elevator could one day be attached to a mass in geosynchronous orbit, it would offer much cheaper space travel than rockets''' and give Starbucks somewhere else to open a branch.[20] "Our goal is to generate enough interest in the project, so that within five years the Space Elevator basic building blocks can be demonstrated as feasible, and full-scale design and construction can begin," it says.[17] There should also be a Space Elevator Games Console with a message and video feed but that does not appear to be working either is now working.[22] The space elevator theory promises to make space access cheaper by leaving the fuel on Earth.[24] The inspiration for researchers to pursue a space elevator started, as many scientific advances have, in the fantastical world of science fiction. In Clarke's 1979 novel "The Fountains of Paradise," he writes about a scientist battling technological, political and ethical difficulties involved in creating a space elevator.[25] Funded by a space agency program to explore bold technology, the contest is a step toward bringing the idea of a space elevator out of the realm of science fiction and into reality.[26]

The space elevator and a number of other equally adventurous concepts are as appealing as they are "out there", but my personal favorite these days is the mass-driver or one of its varaitions.[15] As for a space elevator I just don't know if that would ever work, the atmosphere is too volatile and what about the magnasphere the electrical discharge would be dangerous.[27] For an exciting idea about what terrorists could do with a space elevator, read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series.[27]

The benefits of a fully realized elevator would make carrying people and goods into space cheaper, easier and safer than with rocket launches, proponents say, opening up a host of possibilities.[25]

Each competitor uses a strong laser - or "power beam" - to send energy to a solar panel on the elevator platform, giving it enough juice to climb a 1km cable.[27] Mostly solar cells that absorb the laser light that power a motor that climbs the cable.[23]

The LaserMotive system uses a high-power laser array to shine ultra-intense infrared light onto high-efficiency solar cells, converting the light into electric power which then drives a motor.[17] The power for the robot came from an infrared laser beam that is aimed at high-efficiency solar cells, with an area of about four square feet, positioned at the base of the robot.[28] A laser beam is aimed at solar cells on the base of the vehicle which power on-board motors.[29]

Three different teams will compete to see if any can send a laser powered vehicle up a thin but strong ribbon 1km (.6 miles) into the sky. This is the 5th year of the games, which started in 2005.[9]

Quine acknowledged that the prototype is just a first step toward realizing the elevator and that several more prototypes are needed to fine-tune details. He estimated that the cost of the basic tower would be about $2 billion -- the equivalent of a massive skyscraper in places like New York -- and that the technology to build it could be ready in less than 10 years. He said a more advanced -- and expensive -- elevator tower could be built to go higher into the stratosphere.[25] My understanding is that with proven technology the so called super-gun may be the least costly way to launch to orbit on a $per ton basis. It is essentially just a really big gun with multiple breaches and valves to allow additional boost charges to act on the projectile as it moves down a very long barrel.[15]

Earth based energy is a lot cheaper than space based solar beamed energy because you don't have to send all that mass to orbit, just something to reflect it back down to the surface. Earth based is safer because there would be someone on the surface to pull the plug, space based energy wouldn't have someone up there all the time with the solar arrays 23, 000 miles above the earth if it decides to move away from its intended target.[10] There is also the case about space debris crashing into the tether. Beamed energy can be a good thing because they can propel sails close to the speed of light towards the stars, get us to mars and the outer solar system in a timely manner and provide electricity to anywhere on earth using non renewable or renewable energy.[10]

''A''satellite''at geostationary orbit is anchored to the Earth at the equator by a long tether. ''This tether is then used to move payloads up and down the Elevator without the use of expensive chemical propellants or single-use launch''vehicles.[5] A series of platforms or pods, supported by the elevator, would be used to launch payloads into Earth's orbit.[25]

Electrically powered vehicles would run up and down a cable anchored to a ground structure and extending thousands of miles up to a mass in geosynchronous orbit — the kind of orbit communications satellites are placed in to stay over a fixed spot on the Earth.[6] The day's competition began late after hours of testing the cable system, refuelling the helicopter and waits for specific time windows in which the lasers can be fired without harming satellites passing overhead.[16] The University of British Columbia entry makes its way skyward during NASA's first Centennial Challenge competition in 2005, which challenged competitors to build robots capable of climbing a ribbon using beamed energy.[4] "We haven't had any winners yet, but we truly do expect to have at least one winner, probably more," said Ted Semon, spokesman for The Spaceward Foundation, which has run the competition for the past several years.[25]

LaserMotive's vehicle zipped up to the top in just over four minutes and immediately repeated the feat, qualifying for at least a $900,000 second-place prize. [24] The other teams scheduled to compete later Wednesday were the University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team, known as USST, and LaserMotive of Seattle.[6] The third team, the University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team, known as USST, are still to compete, and the Space Pirates also get to try again on Friday.[12] Looks like the action will resume about 2:00pm, Pacific time, perhaps a bit earlier. KC Space Pirates done for the day - they'll try again tomorrow.[22]

Everything works in your favor of being able to put more inwards force on it. you just need to be careful and exert the right amount of force at all times so it doesn't fly out into space. Sadly, this article on a scientific achievement ends with a statement about the supernatural, " I hope somewhere, out there, Sir Arthur C. Clarke is smiling."[5]

LASER-powered elevators are being tested in the Mojave Desert this week as part of a new space race.[27] A laser-powered robot, which could signal the future of space travel, has climbed a wire dangling from a helicopter almost a kilometre above the Mojave Desert in California.[29]

The basic concept consists of a cable anchored to the Earth's surface, reaching into space. [24] The contest is based on the hope that space travel could one day be possible through the use of cables suspended from a space unit in geosynchronous orbit.[1] The bit where the elevator cable wraps itself around the planet's equator is one of the most exciting parts of an otherwise epic but slightly dry tale. You can just use a really large cannon to shoot it out of the atmosphere ok so its good for materials and it has been tested before and it works.[27] Scientists say inertia would keep the cable tight enough to allow an elevator to climb it.[25]

USST will not launch today, as there are no more open windows where satellites overhead will not be accidentally hit by the intense lasers used as power sources for the elevators. They will go tomorrow, November 5th, at 7am PST. Be sure to check back with us at Universe Today for more coverage, or head over to the official site for live streaming.[9] One would guess that the elevator would "steal" massive amounts of energy from the anchor satellite as it ascends, and store it as potential energy in the elevator - Which, discounting effeciency gains, would equal the energy that a rocket would require to lift the same payload+elevator to the same orbit.[5]

Many think it would be private enterprise, not a government, that would spring for the earliest versions of the elevator. Professor Brendan Quine and his team at York University in Toronto, Canada, think they have the answers to at least some of those problems. They've built a three-story high prototype of an elevator tower that would rise roughly 13 miles (20 kilometers) -- high enough to escape most of the earth's atmosphere.[25] In previous Power Beaming Challenges in 2005, 2006 and 2007, no team has been awarded the grand prize.[1] Three teams are competing for the prize Wednesday and Thursday on the dry lakebed near NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards.[24]

An entry by the Washington state-based team LaserMotive climbed a 3,000-foot (900-meter) tether suspended by a helicopter at a speed of about 8 mph (13 kph).[4]

Maybe the whiz kids can come up with some sort of anti-gravity type system (I'm serious) powered by a laser, which could drive something back and forth to the solar space ship. [10] "But for a tourist, you can see basically the same things an astronaut sees -- the blackness of space, the horizon of the Earth." In the stratosphere, the tower also could potentially be used to launch rockets, he said.[25]

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