Tehachapi News

Elevator to space? Hopefuls experiment with dream at NASA

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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- What was once considered the stuff of science fiction may soon become reality.

Scientists and engineers are working to develop a space elevator which would replace rockets with electrical vehicles that would travel a 100,000-kilometer stationary cable from Earth to space.

To demonstrate the space elevator concept, the Spaceward Foundation is sponsoring the Space Elevator Power Beaming Challenge at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center.

Six teams will compete for a grand prize of $2 million. The date of the competition has been moved to sometime in late July or early August, according to NASA. On June 19, team members completed a week of "dry run" testing in preparation for the contest.

For the challenge, each team will race a laser-powered vehicle, most weighing under 10 pounds, up a 1 kilometer vertical steel cable hanging from a helicopter.

To be eligible for the prize, a team's vehicle will have to travel at an average speed of 5 meters per second.

If a team's vehicle goes 2 meters per second, it will be eligible for $1 million. The prize money can be divided among multiple teams if they qualify.

This will be the fourth challenge to take place since 2004. However, no prize money has been awarded as no team has met the qualifications.

All the prize money is financed by NASA's Centennial Challenges program, which promotes technical innovation through various competitions.

The six teams practicing Friday used different methods to test their equipment. For example, the Kansas City Space Pirates sent a test vehicle named "Skipper" on a laser-powered radio-control car out 500 meters on the east side of Rogers Dry Lake.

Andrew Lyjak, team manager for the University of Michigan MClimber team, said this year's competition was more intense than when he competed in 2006. At that challenge, the vehicle had to travel 50 meters instead of 1 kilometer, and they're working with a more highly powered laser, he said.

Matthew Abrams of the National Space Society team, who also competed in 2006, said "it's a fairly friendly competition. We're all just trying to get to space."

Abrams said while winning the prize money was important, he thought it was "cool to work on that path" toward developing a space elevator.

Ted Semon, spokesman for the Spaceward Foundation, said with a space elevator, several tons a day could be sent between Earth and space.

"We have a 'build it and they will come' philosophy," he said, comparing the space elevator to a railroad.

"It's a beautiful concept," Abrams said. "I would love to see some cheap way to get to space."