October 6, 2005 Source: University of British Columbia:
http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2005/mr-05-120.html UBC Students Build Space Elevator for NASA Competition "Beam me up, Scotty!" isn’t just a science fiction fantasy, at least not according to a group of UBC engineering physics students, who have built a space elevator capable of lifting objects 200 feet (60 metres) straight up into the air, using nothing but a high-wattage spotlight as fuel. One of seven international finalists in the NASA-funded Elevator 2010 competition, the UBC team will depart for Mountain View, Calif. next week with their creation. The top three teams that meet the minimum requirements at the Oct. 21 competition will receive cash prizes of US$50,000, $20,000 and $10,000. Steve Jones, a fifth-year Engineering Physics student and captain of the 20-member team, says space elevators will eventually allow scientists to transport equipment into orbit, some 36,000 kilometres from earth, without costly space shuttles. "Most of the space shuttle’s weight is the fuel it must carry in order to propel itself into space," says Jones. "Beam power allows energy to be transferred remotely and directly fuel the climber as it elevates into the air." The competition, funded by a $400,000 partnership with NASA, challenges university students and researchers to design and build "climbers" -- or robots that can elevate along a 10-centimetre-wide ribbon -- that weigh no more than 50 kilograms (kg). Carrying their own photo-voltaic panels that transform solar energy from a 10,000 Watt searchlight (beam power), the climbers must reach a minimum speed of one metre per second. The UBC team has designed a 7kg-robot capable of lifting a 3kg-payload, almost half its own weight. NB: Jones and his teammates are available to demonstrate the space elevator between now and Mon., Oct. 10 at UBC. For more information on the competition, visit www.elevator2010.org. Photos of the space elevator are available at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/download/. -30-
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