Whiplashed
The team from British Columbia made the first try at the space elevator competition at the XPrizeCup, but the ribbon oscillations (building up from the light winds) were too rough for the all but the smallest climbing machine (It reminded me of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge).
Here you see the solar cell mesh meant to capture energy from a ground-based laser pointing up parallel to the ribbon that extends out past geosynchronous orbit… surrounded by the exhausted UBC students. Competition included the Kansas City Space Pirates.
Whiplashed
The team from British Columbia made the first try at the space elevator competition at the XPrizeCup, but the ribbon oscillations (building up from the light winds) were too rough for the all but the smallest climbing machine (It reminded me of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge).
Here you see the solar cell mesh meant to capture energy from a ground-based laser pointing up parallel to the ribbon that extends out past geosynchronous orbit… surrounded by the exhausted UBC students. Competition included the Kansas City Space Pirates.