The Space Elevator Reference

Space Elevator Games Registration update

A reminder from the Spaceward Foundation - Early Bird team registration deadline is on 1/31. Starting February 1, registration goes up to $5000. A current list of registered teams can be found at www.elevator2010.org/team.html .

The 2nd Biennial Space Elevator Workshop

I want to briefly outline the role, as I see it, of the 2nd Biennial Space Elevator Workshop in the Space Elevator community.

The 1st Annual International Space Elevator Conference was held in Seattle, WA in 2002 and was hosted by Bradley Edwards through his company at the time, HighLift Systems. The 2nd Annual International Space Elevator Conference was hosted by me through the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2003 and was held in Santa Fe, NM. The 3rd Annual International Space Elevator Conference was held in Washington, DC in 2004 and sponsored by Bradley Edwards with his employer at the time, the Institute for Scientific Research.

Many changes beset the drivers behind these conferences in 2004 and so there was no 4th conference. We anticipate resurrecting the series in the near future as soon as our current concerns are successful. No one else emerged to create another conference until 2005.

In 2005 the Space Engineering and Science Institute created the Space Exploration 2005 Conference. As a component of the conference, the 1st Biennial Space Elevator Workshop was held. The conference and workshop were moderate successes and so the planning of the 2007 conference with its imbedded 2nd Space Elevator Workshop was begun.

So as of the present date, the Space Exploration 2007 Conference (SpEx 2007) with its imbedded 2nd Space Elevator Workshop will be held in Albuquerque, NM from March 25 – 28, 2007. The philosophy of SpEx 2007 is to be a relatively inexpensive, moderate-sized, space conference accommodating a broad range of topics and presenters. Principle among the aims of the conference is to bring together diverse people with varying backgrounds and interests. The synergy and “cross-fertilization” that is possible at such a gathering is profound.

In concert with this conference, the workshop attracts Space Elevator researchers and enthusiasts and they interact with the other participants, many of whom are from more traditional space institutions than some of the Space Elevator participants. In this way the more traditional people are introduced to the promise of the Space Elevator. At the workshop itself, keynote speeches, research and speculative papers are presented and panel/audience discussions are held. Although the workshop is not a substitute for a Space Elevator Conference, where we meet only with our community, it is our current opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and inspiration for Space Elevator development.

This year is very significant for the Space Elevator. Funding has dried up, generally, and I perceive that it appears that the effort I stalled. The perception is incorrect, however, as much is occurring behind the scenes in non-traditional areas. I suspect that even more is going on than I know so I am calling for everyone in the Space Elevator community to attend the conference and share their experiences over the last few years.

One of the highlights of this year’s workshop is the Global Space Elevator Roadmap working session in which a roadmap outline will be developed with the community’s input. Also, I am planning a “shotgun science” session in which many individuals get to speak in rapid succession. Each person is given 5 minutes to speak, 2 viewgraphs to show and 1 question to answer. Such a session allows concepts to be introduced and interested audience members can follow up later at a social event that follows the session.

Therefore, I extend an invitation to the Space Elevator community to:
1) Attend the conference
2) Share their experiences and be heard
3) Give a paper presentation
4) Roll up their sleeves and create a Global Space Elevator Roadmap Outline
5) Throw out a concept at the “shotgun science” session
6) And interact with others from different space disciplines.

Please go to www.sesinstitute.org for conference information. If you want to give a paper or a shotgun science presentation at this late date, please contact the Technical Chairman (me) at < blaubscher AT msn.com >.

The Space Elevator future is in our hands!

Recent and upcoming specials on the space elevator

Many of you caught the recent NOVA program that included a segment on the space elevator. It was a good program outling some of what is happening. If you missed it you can find it at the NOVA Science Now site (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3401/02.html).

Since there wasn't much heads-up for the NOVA show I thought I would try to give a little warning on the next one - Discovery Channel is having a piece on the space elevator airing January 28th. From what I have seen of it the show should be very good. All of this publicity is good but more word of mouth will help in some areas. The climber competition for 2007 is looking good but can always use more sponsors/advertisin revenue. Anyone who know of a corporate or organizational sponsor who is up for $50k to $500K sponsorship let Ben Shelef know. This level of sponsorship will get a lot of exposure both at the competition and in the extensive attention to follow.