http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/50942.html
LOS ANGELES TIMES October 20, 2006 A dozen 'space elevator' prototypes vie for $150,000 payload at the X Prize Cup LAS CRUCES -- On a windy expanse of the Chihuahua Desert, the gangly 22-pound contraption began to climb up a thin carbon-fiber belt hung from a crane. Directed toward the craft from the ground was an array of 135 mirrors to concentrate the blinding New Mexico sunlight to an intensity equal to 300 suns. The beam shined on the climber's high-efficiency solar cells. With a muffled whirring, it rose 35 feet. Only 37,500 miles to go. The solar-powered elevator car, dubbed the Jolly Roger, is one of a dozen prototypes from around the world for a device that could lift humans and cargo into geosynchronous orbit aboard a futuristic space elevator. It's an admittedly bizarre idea, but NASA has taken it seriously enough to host a global competition here this week, offering $150,000 to the team that can lift the most weight to the top of a 200-foot tether in the shortest time. Instead of carrying heavy fuel, the machines must get their energy beamed onboard from sources such as sunlight, microwaves or lasers. That energy is then converted to electricity to drive the crafts' motors. <more>
