$900 000 prize for space lift
2009-11-07 13:28
Los Angeles - A Seattle team has won $900 000 in a competition aimed at developing technology based on the science fiction concept of a space elevator.
The team earned the money by sending its laser-powered robot thousands of feet up a cable slung from a helicopter
LaserMotive LLC was presented the check on Friday at Nasa's Dryden Flight Research Centre in the Mojave Desert after two other competitors in the three-day competition were unable to complete the climb of more than 900m.
The LaserMotive machine completed the climb in about three minutes and 48 seconds, good enough for second-place money. The company could have won $2m if its robot had finished under three minutes.
Theorists propose space elevators as an alternative way to reach orbit without using rockets.
- SAPA