Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Space Elevator Closer

Cool stuff.

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.

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.

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.

(6) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2311 hrs
Technology

  1. That robot is amazing. This shows that humans can really create fantasy into reality. This is a very big development in human inventions and intelligence.

    Posted by Pay off debt on November 05, 2009 at 0524 hrs


  2. I’m not impressed-Our Levy went up faster and higher.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 05, 2009 at 1010 hrs


  3. Move along nothing to see here.  If some government alphabet soup agency didn’t do it then it didn’t happen.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 05, 2009 at 1329 hrs


  4. Wow, could there be any subject that doesn’t elicit comments about the tax levy?
    Very cool - I want a robot to rake my lawn.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 05, 2009 at 1553 hrs


  5. Very cool - I want a robot to rake my lawn.

    I believe iRobot is working on one that will mow your lawn.  Perhaps it will bag the clippings to eliminate that pesky ‘raking’ chore.

    Posted by Brian Dunbar on November 05, 2009 at 1627 hrs


  6. The space elevator will be the grand prize.  But the immediate applications for power beaming are fascinating.

    Posted by Brian Dunbar on November 05, 2009 at 1629 hrs


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