The KC Space Pirates is a team entered in the 2008 Space Elevator games climber competition. The competition is put on by the Spaceward Foundation

NASA has put up a total of two million dollars in prize money!!

The competition is, in summary, a vertical drag race straight up a 1 kilometer cable. We must climb the cable with no fuel or batteries. The climbers are unmanned, and may only be powered by beamed energy. We did well last year but fell short of the money. The competition is developing technology to make it possible for everyone to go to space.

For more information visit Spaceward.org or visit their FAQ pages to learn more about the competition and the space elevator in general.

Space Pirates '08

Dear fans, We are on our way! Well we have throughly studied the challenge for 2008 and although it is 10 times higher than last year we have a plan. The challenge is now 1 Km (5/8th Mile) high at 2 meters per second for $900,000. Plus they have added a bonus level of 5 meters per second and thrown in another 1.1 million for that. So with 2 million on the line and second place in 2007 under our belts we begin the work for 2008. We have concluded that to be competitive in 2008 we will need a laser. A scary big laser. The good news is that Trumpf Laser is excited about the competition and is donating the use of the laser nessessary to win this competition. The bad news is that making this happen is still not cheap. We need to get started immediately. We need to purchase a testing laser for about $3500, a video camera setup for about $1000 and put in the $1000 entry fee. So I am putting out an initial call for $5,500 and will be contacting supporters from last year. This will let my team members get started while we raise the rest of the funds. If your interested in supporting us this year please click on the "Contact" button at the top of this page and let us know or make a donation by clicking the PayPal "Donate" button.

Brian

Space Pirates news - Major new sponsor!

More good news.

We added another major sponsor. We are happy to announce that Barr Associates will be coating mirrors for us. The steering mirror is a critical part of our system and regular mirrors just can't cut it at 8 Kilowatts of power. Barr Associates has many years experience in high performance coatings. They will be delivering a mirror that is telescope quality and 99.99+% reflective. This mirror would have been the single biggest expense for us without their support. So we send them a hearty THANK YOU! and you will be seeing their logo proudly displayed on our materials.

http://barrassociates.com/

Less than good news.

We still are not making fast enough headway in the programming dept. And as usual we are starved for cash.

Other good news.

We have climbers buzzing along cables strung up in the garage, we have the optics system ready for another round of testing as we narrow it into the final configuration. Our tracking system keeps passing our tests with flying colors.

News about the competition.

The balloon concept has proven non pratical so the organiser has switched to a helicopter. The safety issues of the manned helicopter are being worked out now. Turns out helicopters have been used similar to this in the past.

I am happy about this as I consider the helicopter more predictable than the balloon. I think the safety issues will be answered. Although the lasers are powerful enough to be dangerous to a helicopter, practical power beaming configurations use the laser in a manner that is somewhat less potent.

The target venue is still meteor crater but we will be moving to the edge of the crater instead of the bottom. I think that would be an excellent spot.

Brian Turner

Design by RocketTheme - November 2005 JWTC