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Seattle space elevator team wins NASA's $900,000

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LaserMotive, an industry team from Seattle backed by Boeing and northwest tech companies, won the $900,000 prize for its performance in the final round of the NASA space elevator power beaming challenge at Dryden Flight Research Center.

The team received the award Nov. 6 at Dryden following three days of competition against two other teams.

“The achievement is considerable,” said space elevator advocate and astrophysicist Bryan Laubscher after LaserMotive's successful runs on Nov. 4 that other competitors were unable to beat.

After years of work on the concept, Laubscher and fellow space elevator advocates Ted Semon and Ben Shelef of the Spaceward Foundation were delighted to see their theory and dream take another step forward.

The concept involves sending a lightweight carrier 900 meters up a thin steel cable. The source of power is a laser beam sent from a source on the ground. The beam hits solar cells, which turn the laser's energy into electricity that turns wheels to pull the carrier up.

The cable was suspended by a helicopter, which required pinpoint accuracy lest the laser blast its way through the aircraft on its way into space.

The teams had at their disposal the awesome resources of Challenge sponsor NASA, including access to the usually off-limits Rogers Dry Lake bed, use of the NASA filming crew ,and the services of a mysterious agency that established windows of availability by tracking satellites passing overhead. The laser beams had to be turned off when a satellite passed overhead, as the beams can illuminate - but not damage - the vehicles, possibly confusing the country who owns the spacecraft.

Wednesday at Dryden the LaserMotive team powered its gangly climbing contraption up the steel cable at 3.72 meters per second, more than enough to meet the goal of more than two meters per second but not enough to meet the challenge goal of five meters per second and a $2 million prize.

The LaserMotive climber was running so strongly that it bounced off the rubber ball stopper at the top, dropped down and rose up to bounce off it again.

The team's carrier, nicknamed “Otis,” consists of a base of staggered solar cells, skateboard wheels modified for climbing, lithium batteries and two cheap pink cameras attached to record the action above and below -- the video has been posted on YouTube, search for LaserMotive.

While the Spaceward Foundation's goal with the space elevator concept is to develop a practical way to reach space and beyond, LaserMotive plans to use its technology for more immediate commercial applications.

“It's time to start working as an application,” said LaserMotive team leader Thomas Nugent. “For us it is more about lasers and beaming than space elevator.”

The technology can be used “any place there are no wires,” said Jordin Kare, chief scientist and “laser wrangler” for LaserMotive.

The technology, he said, could be used to power a rover on the moon, airplanes that never land and to provide emergency power.

The power beaming contest was one of six high-stakes Centennial Challenges set forth by NASA to tap into the creativity and innovation of the private sector.

Three teams competed in the final rounds: the “student” team from Canada, the University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team; the “robotic hobby” team of Kansas City Space Pirates and the “industry” team of LaserMotive.

All the teams, including the National Space Society that qualified but dropped out with financial troubles before the final competition, had been in development for several years.

The companion challenge to the power beaming contest is the race to create a strong enough cable that will extend from earth to a geosynchronous orbit 30,000 kilometers high. The cable will likely be carbon nanotube, which scientists are working on around the world but is proving elusive.