Well I have 2 weeks worth of testing results to share. Week 1 had lots
of broken cells, trouble with test equipment sub standard results, and
poor weather. It's not like I am sure we will win every morning that I
wake up. And last week was really rough on that point.
Today all of that changed. I called in the team and shared all of
my uncertainties and pessimism with them. They pointed out a couple of
things. Loosing was not an option, and if proper test data is what we
need then let's buckle down and get that data. We spent the day testing
in gorgeous sun and 99+ degree weather. We determined that the mirrors
will deliver the goods all the way to the top. I still want a few
extras to deliver at the bottom but my worries about falling off short
of the mark have been completely eliminated. We smoke tested the solar
cells, hitting them with all that they would handle. And they came in
right at expectations, erasing all of the doubt I had gotten from last
week's low results. Plus if we dot all of the "i"s and cross all of
the "t"s we may get BETTER than expected output from the cells. That
means that my original math is at least valid and most of our original
budget is back.
I said that most of our budget was back. Well, I called up one of
our core supporters and she offered up the money to allow us to order
the rest of the cells on Monday. That puts us back on track with a
little margin to spare.
Like I said, Its a great day to be a Space Pirate.
Other news.
Kansas City Business Journal wants to take a picture of where the
magic happens and put it in the magazine under "Goat Locker" So it
looks like my garage is going to be even more famous.
Star magazine interviewed me for an article in the sunday insert
about robotics in Kansas City. Not specifically about the Space Pirates
but close.
With the Walt Bodine show that nearly rounds out the list of my
favorite news outlets in Kansas City. Now if I can just get something
on one of the evening TV news outlets.
Till next time,
Captain Brian Turner
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New Mexico, here we come!
We
have passed the bottom fundraising threshold and now have enough
Contributions, Sponsors, Assets(From 2006) and Pledges to finish the
climber and make it to the competition in New Mexico!
We
are now calling ourselves a "Participant". That means that we can buy
enough solar cells to make the climber function but not enough to
secure a win. We will still be working to raise more money to fill out
the solar cell budget. We can buy them in batches costing about $1,750.
Look at the attached graphic to see the fundraising goals.
Budget amount Competitiveness
$15,000 Land Lubber
$32,000 Participant
$37,000 Contender
$42,000 In-The-Money
$53,000 Dominating
Those
of you who have pledged, I would like to encourage you to send in your
contribution as we are ordering the parts and building as fast as the
money allows.
We
currently have the parts needed to test every aspect of this years
climber designs. In the next three weeks we should be testing
each component and be able to come up with solid performance
predictions. Our current predictions are based on specs and estimates.
In
case you have not heard the venue will not be in Las Vegas. It looks
like we will be at the fairgrounds that held the qualifications last
year. This is good news as we really liked the facilities there and
kinda know our way around Las Cruces.
Be
sure and check out the New York Times Magazine in this Sunday's paper
for the Centennial Challenges article. I think my messy garage will be
in there.
Brian Turner
Captain,
KC Space Pirates
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 The mirrors that later went onto our mirror frames and probably ended up breaking.
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 Our mirrors at the 2006 competition.
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 Our mirror frames.
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