Will be driving up to Washington State tomorrow to see my folks and will probably be off line for a couple of days. Give you time to think about what you would like to look up and see.
- LRK -

John Reed sent a link about the NASA Challenge Competitions, which includes a Teather Challenge.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/apr/HQ_06189_Centennial.html
Michael Braukus/Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington
(202) 358-1979/1753

April 18, 2006
RELEASE: 06-189

Five NASA Centennial Challenges Competitions Open For Registration

NASA announced Tuesday the opening of team registration for five Centennial Challenges prize competitions with cash prizes totaling more than $1 million.

Teams from industry, academia, and the public may formally begin their participation by contacting NASA's collaborator, or allied organization, responsible for administering each competition. The prize competitions and allied organizations that are accepting team registrations are:

- Astronaut Glove Challenge, administered by Volanz Aerospace/Spaceflight America with a total prize value of $250,000.
- Beam Power Challenge, administered by the Spaceward Foundation as part of the annual Space Elevator Games with a total prize value of $200,000.
- Lunar Regolith Excavation Challenge, administered by the California Space Education & Workforce Institute with a total prize value of $250,000.
- MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen) Challenge, administered by the Florida Space Research Institute with a total prize value of $250,000.
- Tether Challenge, administered by the Spaceward Foundation as part of the annual Space Elevator Games with a total prize value of $200,000.

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If a space elevator is developed you will have something to look at.

In the mean time, thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -


Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

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John Reed sent this link about NASA’s challenge grants. - LRK -
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You probably already know about these challenge grants, but I thought it was interesting that 2 of them went to the space elevator folks--not long ago, that was considered seriously "out there" science fiction...

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/apr/HQ_06189_Centennial.html


Also, kudos to the folks at the Cassini web site, I sent them a question regarding parking the probe in orbit around Titan or Enceladus once the primary mission was over...I asked about delta-v and slingshot maneuvers around other moons to help...their reply was prompt and informative--their P/R has been exceptional throughout the mission, and should be used as a model for getting the public involved in future missions--they even won a Webby!

J

...in deepest, darkest, SE GA

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http://www.spaceelevator.com/
The Space Elevator Reference brought to you by SpaceRef Scientific, engineering, economic and policy challenges inherent in constructing the solar systems first space elevator.
www.spaceelevator.com/ - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

The Space Elevator Reference

Fiction or reality? With recent advancements in technology many people now believe it is possible to build a space elevator. This site will serve as a reference tool for those interested in exchanging ideas on the scientific, engineering, economic and policy challenges inherent in constructing the solar system's first space elevator.

Marc Boucher, editor.

What is a Space Elevator?

A space elevator is a physical connection from the surface of the Earth, or another planetary body such as Mars, to a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO - In the case of Earth) above the Earth at roughly 35,786 km in altitude.

It is hoped that someday a space elevator would be utilized as a transportation and utility system for moving people, payloads, power, and gases between the surface of the Earth and space. It makes the physical connection from Earth to space in the same way a bridge connects two cities across a body of water. (Source: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Advanced Space Infrastructure Workshop on Geostationary Orbiting Tether Space Elevator Concepts, slightly modified)

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http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html

The Space Elevator Comes Closer to Reality By Leonard David Senior Space Writer
posted: 07:00 am ET
27 March 2002

SPACE.com -- The Space Elevator Comes Closer to Reality Forget the roar of rocketry and those bone jarring liftoffs, the elevator would be a smooth 62000-mile (100000-kilometer) ride up a long cable.
www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html - 37k - Cached - Similar pages

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http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm

The Audacious Space Elevator
NASA Science News: Two orbiting NASA satellites are giving scientists an unprecented view of what goes on beneath the obscuring cloudtops of great swirling ...
science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

Space elevator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A space elevator is a hypothetical structure designed to transport material from a planet's surface into space. Many different types of space elevator structures have been proposed. They all share the goal of replacing rocket propulsion with the traversal of a fixed structure via a mechanism not unlike an elevator, hence its name, in order to move material into or beyond orbit. Space elevators have also sometimes been referred to as beanstalks, space bridges, space lifts, space ladders or orbital towers.

The most common proposal is a tether, usually in the form of a cable or ribbon, that spans from the surface to a point beyond geosynchronous orbit.
As the planet rotates, the inertia at the end of the tether counteracts gravity and keeps the tether taut. Vehicles can then climb the tether and escape the planet's gravity without the use of rockets. Such a structure could eventually permit delivery of great quantities of cargo and people to orbit, and at costs only a fraction of those associated with current means.

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http://www.liftport.com/

LiftPort - The Space Elevator Company
The LiftPort Group (LPG) is dedicated to building a mass transportation system to open up access to the inner solar system (LEO, GEO, the Moon, Mars, and asteroids). The Space Elevator will be at the heart of this revolutionary transportation service. By opening up broad-based access to Earth orbits and the inner solar system, LPG will help bring about the creation of entire new markets. Based in space commerce, these new markets can only become viable through safe, inexpensive, routine access to the inner solar system. In short, we at LiftPort Group believe that development of the space elevator is a crucial step in the future of Earth and space.

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http://www.elevator2010.org/site/index.html

The Space Elevator - Elevator:2010
November 15: Spaceward announces details for 2006 Space Elevator Games.
(rulebooks); October 21-23: First annual Space Elevator games held by Spaceward at ...
www.elevator2010.org/ - 16k - Cached - Similar pages

Climbing The Sky

The dream of a Space Elevator is a monumental one. A vision that will not only further space exploration and knowledge, but has the potential to shape the existential future of the human race for centuries to come.

For the first time since it was initially conceived, this dream is now within our reach.

Elevator 2010 has joined the massive construction effort, adding energy, resources and new initiatives to the ever-growing number of organizations, companies, websites and enthusiasts focused on the technical, political and economic development of the Space Elevator.

We firmly believe that the set of technologies that underlie the infinite promise of the Space Elevator can be demonstrated, or proven infeasible, within a 5 year time-frame.

And hence our name. Elevator:2010. we promise to get an answer for you by then.

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http://www.isr.us/SEHome.asp

Institute for Scientific Research, Inc. - Space Elevator Technical details, meetings, images, and FAQs about building a space elevator.
www.isr.us/SEHome.asp - 27k - Cached - Similar pages

The Space Elevator: 3rd Annual International Conference
The-Space-Elevator@isr.us.
http://www.isr.us/Spaceelevatorconference/

A space elevator is a revolutionary concept of getting from Earth into space, a ribbon with one end attached to Earth on a floating platform located at the equator and the other end in space beyond geosynchronous orbit (35,800 km altitude).

The space elevator would ferry satellites, spaceships, and pieces of space stations into space using electric lifts clamped to the ribbon, serving as a means for commerce, scientific advancement, and exploration.

The discovery of carbon nanotubes and the ongoing development to implement them into a composite is the key to space elevator viability being achieved in the coming years.

ISR is researching a space elevator capable of lifting 5-ton payloads every day to all Earth orbits, the Moon, Mars, Venus or the asteroids. The first space elevator would reduce lift costs immediately. Additional and larger elevators, built utilizing the first one, would allow large-scale manned and commercial activities in space and reduce lift costs even further.

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-elevator.htm

When the Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off on April 12, 1981, from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to begin the first space shuttle mission, the dream of a reusable spacecraft was realized. Since then, NASA has launched more than 100 missions, but the price tag of space missions has changed little.
Whether it is the space shuttle or the non-reusable Russian spacecraft, the cost of a launch is approximately $10,000 per pound ($22,000 per kg).

While the space shuttle is reusable, missions are still very infrequent and expensive, with each launch costing an estimated half a billion dollars. A new space transportation system being developed could make travel to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) a daily event and transform the global economy.

science.howstuffworks.com/space-elevator.htm - 36k - Cached - Similar pages

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http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,57536,00.html

Wired News: To the Moon in a Space Elevator?
By Steve Kettmann Steve Kettmann | Also by this reporter 02:00 AM Feb, 04, 2003 EST

The Columbia disaster could spur faster development of a radically different approach to reaching outer space: the space elevator.

Long imagined by science-fiction writers but seen by others as hopelessly far-fetched, the space-elevator concept has advanced dramatically in recent years along with leaps forward in the design of carbon nanotubes. Using the lightweight, strong carbon material, it's feasible to talk of building a meter-wide "ribbon" that would start on a mobile ocean platform at the equator, west of Ecuador, and extend 62,000 miles up into space.

www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,57536,00.html - 27k - Cached - Similar pages

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http://liftwatch.org/tiki-view_articles.php
Space Elevator News
Research news on launching by cables extending into space. Frequently updated.
liftwatch.org/ - 1k - Apr 17, 2006 - Cached - Similar pages

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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