SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Robot Goes All the Way in Space Elevator Competition

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. (Associated Press) -- A robot powered by a ground-based laser beam climbed a long cable dangling from a helicopter Wednesday, qualifying for prize money in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the science fiction concept of space elevators.

The highly technical contest brought teams from Missouri, Alaska and Seattle to Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert, most familiar to the public as a space shuttle landing site.

The contest requires that the machines climb 2,953 feet up a cable slung beneath a helicopter hovering nearly a mile high. LaserMotive's vehicle zipped to the top in about four minutes and immediately repeated the feat, qualifying for at least a $900,000 second-place prize.