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Elevator:2010 was an
inducement prize contest An inducement prize contest (IPC) is a competition that awards a cash prize for the accomplishment of a feat, usually of engineering. IPCs are typically designed to extend the limits of human ability. Some of the most famous IPCs include the Longi ...
with the purpose of developing
space elevator A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) anc ...
and space elevator-related technologies. Elevator:2010 organized annual competitions for climbers, ribbons and power-beaming systems, and was operated by a partnership between Spaceward Foundation and the
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
Centennial Challenges The Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams. Origin NASA's Centennial Challenge Program (CCP) directly engages the public at large in the p ...
.


History

On March 23, 2005
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's
Centennial Challenges The Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams. Origin NASA's Centennial Challenge Program (CCP) directly engages the public at large in the p ...
program announced a partnership with the Spaceward Foundation regarding Elevator:2010, to raise the amounts of monetary prizes and to get more teams involved in the competitions. The partnership was not renewed after its initial 5-year term. There were two (out of an intended seven) competitions of the NASA
Centennial Challenges The Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams. Origin NASA's Centennial Challenge Program (CCP) directly engages the public at large in the p ...
which fell under the Elevator:2010 banner: The Tether Challenge and the Beam Power Challenge. There were also the two original competitions.


Tether Challenge

This competition presented the challenge of constructing super-strong tethers, a crucial component of a
space elevator A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) anc ...
. The 2005 contest was to award US$50,000 to the team which constructed the strongest
tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also maybe used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers includ ...
, with contests in future years requiring that each winner outperform that of the previous year by 50%. No competing tether surpassed the commercial
off-the-shelf Off-the-shelf may refer to: * Commercial off-the-shelf, a phrase in computing and industrial supply terminology * Government off-the-shelf * Ready-to-wear * Shelf corporation, a type of company * Off the Shelf Festival, a festival of writing and r ...
baseline and the prize was increased to $200,000 in 2006. Of the four teams competing, three were disqualified for not following length rules—one of these cases by a fraction of a millimeter. Ultimately, the 'House Tether' won against the remaining team. The 'House Tether' is composed of Zylon fiber and M77 adhesive. It was stronger than the machine used to test the tether itself: it began to fail at , forcing the test to be called off.


Beam Power Challenge

The Beam Power Challenge was a competition to build a wirelessly-powered ribbon-climbing robot. The contest involves having the robot raise a specified
payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...
to a specific height within a limited period of time. The first competition in 2005 would have awarded , US$20,000, and US$10,000 to the three best-performing teams meeting the minimum benchmark of . However no team met the minimum standard in 2005. In 2006 the prize for first place increased to $150,000 with the goal of climbing 50 meters in under 1 minute. It was held October 20–21, 2006 at the
Las Cruces International Airport Las Cruces International Airport is a city-owned, public airport nine miles west of the central business district of Las Cruces, in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. It is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–23 which cate ...
at the Wirefly X PRIZE Cup. 13 teams entered the competition. Only one team,
University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, was able to climb the tether in under 1 minute, reaching the top in . The Challenge had $500,000 in prize money for the 2007 competition. At the 2009 Challenge, on November 6, 2009,
LaserMotive PowerLight Technologies is an American engineering firm providing power transmission via lasers. Its primary products are power-over-fiber which transmits energy in the form of laser light through an optic fiber, and "laser power beaming" in whi ...
successfully used lasers to drive a device up a cable suspended from a helicopter. Energy is transmitted to the climber using a high-power infrared beam. LaserMotive's entry, which was the only climber to top the cable, reached an average speed of and earned a $900,000 prize. This marked both a performance record, and the first award of a cash prize at the Challenge. LaserMotive won the prize for the Level 1 power beaming prize in 2009 with the achievement of climber speed over a sub-kilometer climb. The Level 2 power beaming prize, for a climb, remains available for future competitions.


Future competitions

After LaserMotive claimed the prize for the Level 1 power beaming prize in 2009, the Space Elevator games being conducted by Elevator:2010 planned to offer a prize purse for future competitions of , for both the Power Beaming (Climber) Competition and the Tether Strength Competition. The Japan Space Elevator Association
conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties ...
climbing competitions in August 2013.


See also

* KC Space Pirates *
Launch loop A launch loop, or Lofstrom loop, is a proposed system for launching objects into orbit using a moving cable-like system situated inside a sheath attached to the Earth at two ends and suspended above the atmosphere in the middle. The design conce ...
*
Lightcraft The Lightcraft is a space- or air-vehicle driven by beam-powered propulsion, the energy source powering the craft being external. It was conceptualized by aerospace engineering professor Leik Myrabo at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976, ...
*
Lunar space elevator A lunar space elevator or lunar spacelift is a proposed transportation system for moving a mechanical climbing vehicle up and down a ribbon-shaped tethered cable that is set between the surface of the Moon "at the bottom" and a docking port suspe ...
*
Non-rocket spacelaunch Non-rocket spacelaunch refers to theoretical concepts for launch into space where much of the speed and altitude needed to achieve orbit is provided by a propulsion technique that is not subject to the limits of the rocket equation. Although al ...
*
Skyhook (structure) A skyhook is a proposed momentum exchange tether that aims to reduce the cost of placing payloads into low Earth orbit. A heavy orbiting station is connected to a cable which extends down towards the upper atmosphere. Payloads, which are much li ...
* Space elevator construction * Space elevator economics * Space elevators in fiction * Space elevator safety *
Space fountain A space fountain is a proposed form of an extremely tall tower extending into space. As known materials cannot support a static tower with this height, a space fountain has to be an active structure: A stream of pellets is accelerated upwards f ...
*
Space gun Space Gun may refer to: * Space gun, a method of launching an object into space * ''Space Gun'' (album), a 2018 album by Guided by Voices * ''Space Gun'' (video game), a 1990 arcade game * Ljutic Space Gun, a 12 gauge single-shot shotgun See also * ...
*
Tether propulsion Space tethers are long cables which can be used for propulsion, momentum exchange, stabilization and attitude control, or maintaining the relative positions of the components of a large dispersed satellite/spacecraft sensor system. Depending on t ...


References


External links

*
The Spaceward Foundation
{{Spaceflight Space elevator Challenge awards Awards established in 2005