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The official newsletter of the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC)

Our mission statement: 
"... ISEC promotes the development, construction and operation of a space elevator as a revolutionary and efficient way to space for all humanity ..."

ISEC e-Newsletter #5
May 2010
In This Issue
Space Elevator Conference
Artsutanov & Pearson Prizes
2010 Space Elevator Games
LASER '10
EuroSpaceward announces their 4th International Conference
What is ISEC?
ISEC Journal
Quick Links
Dear Subscriber,
 
As I mentioned in our previous e-Newsletter, our Board of Directors recently adopted a Strategic Plan for 2010 and we are now busy implementing it.

Did I say 'busy'?  'Hectic' is probably a better word.  It's one thing to launch a lot of projects; it's another to keep them all going and to deal with all of the issues which invariably arise.  But it's fun and exciting and it's satisfying to see these long-planned projects finally off the drawing boards and into real-life.

In this issue of our e-Newsletter, you can read about the status of the upcoming Space Elevator Games, the LASER '10 competition recently held in Japan and hosted by the Japan Space Elevator Association, the Artsutanov and Pearson prizes, the upcoming  Space Elevator Conference, and EuroSpaceward Conference, the ISEC Journal and more.

Stay tuned - exciting times are ahead for all of us who want to make a Space Elevator happen!
 
Sincerely,
 

Ted Semon
President - ISEC
The Space Elevator Conference
 
The dates are set!  The location is set!  This year's Space Elevator Conference will be held at the Microsoft Conference Center from August 12th through August 15th.  The Microsoft Conference center is located in Redmond, Washington and is where the conference has been held at for the past two years.
 
The Conference will kick off with a presentation on the evening of August 12th, open to the general public.
 
The conference facilities are superb and this year's conference promises to be the best ever.  In addition to the Artsutanov and Pearson prizes being awarded, the 2010 Space Elevator Games - Strong Tether competition will be held at this year's conference.
 
Visit the official website for the Space Elevator Conference and sign-up soon.  You can get a discount by signing up early!
The Artsutanov & Pearson Prizes

AP Prize LogoIn March, the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) announced the Yuri Artsutanov and Jerome Pearson Prizes for Space Elevator research.  ISEC has put up these prizes to "...advance our understanding of the Space Elevator" and to increase interest in this concept.

Abstracts are beginning to come in and the Prize Review committee, chaired by Dr. Peter Swan, has been very pleased at both the quantity and quality of submissions.  "The public has always been fascinated by the concept of a Space Elevator" Dr. Swan is quoted as saying.  "With these prizes, we are taking the interest in this magnificent concept to the next level".

Abstracts are due by May 31st, and the papers themselves are due by July 1st.  Details of the competition can be found on the ISEC website.
The 2010 Space Elevator Games

Spaceward LogoThe Space Elevator Games, organized by the Spaceward Foundation and with prize money put up by NASA, consist of two events; the Climber / Power-Beaming competition and the Strong Tether competition.

As many of you know, last year saw the first winner in the Climber / Power-Beaming competition.  Team LaserMotive walked away with a cool $900,000 due to their climber being able to climb a kilometer-long cable at an average speed of at least 2 meters / second.  However, there is still $1.1 Million dollars available to the team(s) that can traverse this course at an average speed of at least 5 meters / second.  Planning is underway for the 2010 version of these Games.  Details will be posted at the official site of the Space Elevator Games when they are available.

NASA LogoNo winner has yet been crowned for the Strong Tether competition, so the full $2 Million dollar prize pool is still available.  In 2007 and in 2009, teams brought tethers constructed entirely of carbon nanotube fibers, the material with which a Space Elevator will finally be built.  The 2010 Strong Tether competition will be held at this year's Space Elevator Conference and, like the 2009 Climber / Power-Beaming competition, will be broadcast over the Internet via uStream.  Details for this competition will also be posted at the official site of the Space Elevator Games when they are available.
ISEC Logo - transparent background LASER '10 Competition

On March 21st, the Japan Space Elevator Association (JSEA) held their LASER (LEGO bricks Activity and Space Elevator Race) competition, LASER '10.

This competition was targeted towards school-children, to get them interested in both the Space Elevator and general engineering concepts.  The 'racetrack' was a 7 meter high (25 mm wide) polyester tether and the climbers themselves were constructed entirely out of Legos.

Several prizes were awarded:

Category awards:
 
  • Speed Award For the fastest time to climb (7m/14.2sec) - Team Falcon Robots (elementary school students) 
  • Power Award For the best efficiency(payload) - Team Bahamut: Nihon Univ. Buzan Junior High School
  • Mechanical Design Award For the best mechanism - Team Snake: Nihon Univ. Buzan Junior High School
  • SE Design Award For the best design for Space Elevator - COSMIC BOX: Komazawa Gakuen Girl's Junior High School
 
Special Awards:
 
  • Nihon Univ. Award For the best presentation - Eritakenchan: Yokohama city Nara Junior High School
  • Team Play Award For the best teamwork - SKY-T: Komazawa Gakuen Girl's Junior High School
Congratulations to the Japan Space Elevator Association (JSEA) and the LASER Planning committee for holding this successful competition!  Planning is already underway for the next LASER competition this coming Fall.
EuroSpaceward logo EuroSpaceward announces their 4th International Conference

EuroSpaceward has announced their 4th International Conference to be held on December 4th and 5th in Luxembourg.  The theme of this year's conference is "Carbon Nanotechnology and Space Elevator Systems".

From the conference flyer: "The objective of the event is to push the technology development by examining and discussing the status quo of research in carbon nanotechnology and latest designs of the space elevator."

They have also issued their "Call for Papers" for this conference; abstracts to be submitted by August 31st.

More details can be found on EuroSpaceward website.
What is ISEC?

ISEC LogoThe International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) is the result of a coming-together of leading figures and organizations who have worked long and hard over many years to promote the concept of a Space Elevator.  With organizational members in the United States, Europe and Japan and individual members from around the world, ISEC's goal is nothing less than to get a Space Elevator built.

From our bylaws:

"... ISEC promotes the development, construction and operation of a space elevator as a revolutionary and efficient way to space for all humanity ..."

Our plan of action is based on four pillars: Technology, Law, Business, and Outreach:

Each of the pillars is headed by a pillar lead, who functions much like a university's department head. Their job is to start initiatives (projects), pursue collaborations, guide project leads and prospective project leads in pursuing their individual projects, and generally increase the activity level of their pillar.

If you agree that building a Space Elevator should be a priority for all of us and you want to help make this happen, please Join Us!  Benefits include e-newsletters (such as this one), a print version of the ISEC Journal and other items listed on our sign-up page.

Come and join us and help make the future happen!
The ISEC Space Elevator Journal
 
2010 will mark the first year of publication for the ISEC Space Elevator Journal.  The theme of the Journal will reflect the ISEC theme for 2010 - Space Debris Mitigation - and there will be several articles in the Journal on this topic, including the winning paper for the Pearson prize.
 
But this will not be the only topic covered by the Journal, far from it.  The winning paper for the Artsutanov prize (which can be on any space-elevator related topic) will be included as well as articles from the Four Pillars of ISEC (Technical, Legal, Business and Public Relations).  In addition, other articles covering the whole gamut of Space-Elevator related topics will be
 
Dues-paying Members of ISEC will receive this Journal as part of their membership benefits - non-members will have to purchase it (price to be determined) if they want a copy.
Visit ISEC on the Web

Visit our website at www.isec.info.  There you can join learn more about what is happening in the Space Elevator community and what is being done to advance the concept of a Space Elevator.  Please consider joining ISEC - we foster research and sponsor Space Elevator-related causes, but to do so takes money.  Your contributions are crucial to our success.  Thank you!

If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can also sign up to be on our mailing list so you don't miss a thing!