NSS Space Elevator Team Site

Late Breaking News

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:15:18 -0400

To help recover cost overruns incurred while working out technical problems with the helicopter cable system that Spaceward is using, each qualified team was required to submit supplemental entry fees. The NSS team was not able to raise funds to pay these fees, and therefore will not be competing in the games this year.

Qualification Milestone

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:07:09 -0400

The NSS Space Elevator Team has successfully qualified for the 2010 Space Elevator Games that are to be held at Edwards AFB in California. Check out the YouTube videos posted by Ted Semon at SpaceElevatorBlog.

Laser Tracking

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:34:44 -0400

This past weekend, we tested out our tracking system across a mile long lake. The picture above was taken from almost a mile away using a camera capable of rendering the image at that distance and also capturing the laser signature. Thanks to Tim and Robert for coordinating this effort. Click on the image to see a couple more pictures that demonstrate our optics capabilities as well as our array illumination.

Prototype Climber

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:27:37 -0400

We tested out a prototype climber that has the ability to adapt to any number of cable and environmental configurations. Thanks to Rick for coming up with the idea and fabbing the prototype for testing. Here we’re testing it under different load and power configurations. Here’s a look at a quick 100 foot climb at ~10mph.

Competition Qualification

Thu, 8 Oct 2009 22:16:47 -0400

Next Monday and Tuesday, October 12th and 13th, the team from NSS will be at the TRUMPF facility in Plymouth, Michigan, testing and validating their Climber and power-control system. Personnel from both Spaceward and NASA-Dryden will be there too. Follow this and other information about the space elevator competition at Ted Semon’s Space Elevator Blog.