Elevator to space theory gets a lift
from: The Fresno Bee, Nov.8, 2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles---A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space---an idea spurred by science fiction novels.
The team's robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.
Powered by a ground-based laser pointed up at the robot's photo voltaic cells that converted the light into electricity, the LaserMotive machine completed one of its climbs in about three minutes and 48 seconds, good for the second-place money.
The three-day contest required competitors' vehicles to get to the top, with rewards possible for completing climbs at two levels of speed. LaserMotive could have claimed $2 million if its robot had climbed faster.
The contest is intended to encourage development of a theory that originated in the 1960s and was popularized by Arthur C. Clarke's 1979 novel "The Fountain of Paradise."
Space elevators are envisioned as a way to reach space without the risk and expense of rockets.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles---A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space---an idea spurred by science fiction novels.
The team's robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.
Powered by a ground-based laser pointed up at the robot's photo voltaic cells that converted the light into electricity, the LaserMotive machine completed one of its climbs in about three minutes and 48 seconds, good for the second-place money.
The three-day contest required competitors' vehicles to get to the top, with rewards possible for completing climbs at two levels of speed. LaserMotive could have claimed $2 million if its robot had climbed faster.
The contest is intended to encourage development of a theory that originated in the 1960s and was popularized by Arthur C. Clarke's 1979 novel "The Fountain of Paradise."
Space elevators are envisioned as a way to reach space without the risk and expense of rockets.