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propforce
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An interesting article from the LA Times.<br /><br />Space Elevator Visions Going Up <br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Space Elevator Visions Going Up <br />The idea may sound like a sci-fi fantasy, but NASA is hosting a global competition and offering $150,000 to the winning team<br />Los Angeles Times 10/19/2006 <br />Author: John Johnson Jr.<br />Copyright 2006 The Los Angeles Times <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- On a windy expanse of the Chihuahuan Desert, the gangly 22-pound contraption began to climb up a thin carbon-fiber belt hung from a crane.<br /><br />Directed toward the craft from the ground was an array of 135 mirrors that concentrated the New Mexico light to an intensity equal to 300 suns. The beam shined on the climber's high-efficiency solar cells. With a muffled whirring, it rose 35 feet.<br /><br />Only 22,000 miles to go.<br /><br />The solar-powered elevator car, dubbed the Jolly Roger, is one of a dozen prototypes from around the world for a device that could lift humans and cargo into geostationary orbit aboard a futuristic space elevator.<br /><br />It's an admittedly bizarre idea, but NASA has taken it seriously enough to host a global competition here this week, offering $150,000 to the team that can lift the most weight to the top of a 200-foot tether in the shortest time.<br /><br />Instead of carrying heavy fuel, the machines must get their energy beamed onboard from sources such as sunlight, microwaves or lasers. That energy is then converted to electricity to drive the crafts' motors.<br /><br />NASA is also backing a related contest to find a material strong enough to support an elevator whose top floor is marked "S" for "space."<br />:<br />:<br />:<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>