Space Elevator Journal

Space Elevator Documentary Video a work-in-progress

2011-01-30T15:15:00.000-05:00

Long time no post. Certain practical realities interrupted the post stream and I just never got back to posting (or, more precisely, the hours of interviews, research, composition, and editing of words, graphics and HTML that precedes a quality post). Until today that is. Hopefully I can find the rhythm again.

The web site of Chicago media company Bitter Jester Creative (BJC) features several short video elements intended as part of a "(a feature-length documentary) [that] is a work-in-progress" explains BJC Creative Director Nicolas DeGrazia. "We have [been] following the games from 2007-2011 and have over 300 hours of footage going back to 2005."

In the first one Ben Shelef explains concisely how an SE works. I particularly liked the 'character introduction' because it speaks more to the 'why?' of the SE and, well, these people are real characters.

The pieces are variously entitled;

What Is A Space Elevator?!

(featuring Ben Shelef of the Spaceward Foundation)

Space Elevator Documentary - Project Overview

Space Elevator Documentary - Character Introduction

with Michael Laine of Liftport Group among others. This has a common thread of sacrifice I found inspiring.

Space Elevator Documentary - Building The Crane (2007)

Space Elevator Documentary - UBC Qualification Run (2007)

There's an opportunity for film/video interns here. BJC needs help logging the material to prepare it for editing. Anyone who is interested can contact them through their web site.

How Arthur C. Clarke Defined the 20th Century

2008-03-21T09:48:00.000-04:00

Kudo's for Clarke continue to pour in;

By Saswato R. Das
Published: March 20, 2008- International Herald Tribune

More than anyone else in the 20th century, Arthur C. Clarke, who died Wednesday, had a track record of being proven right.

"I don't know if the Wright brothers realized how quickly aircraft would pay for themselves," Clarke told me a couple of months ago when I visited him in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We were talking about space exploration and his belief that commercial spacecraft would soon become a reality, now that private entrepreneurs are getting involved. Over the next 50 years, he predicted, thousands would travel into orbit - and then, to the Moon and beyond.

Man may not have set foot on the Moon had it not been for Clarke. His 1952 book, "The Exploration of Space," was used by the rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun to convince President John F. Kennedy that it was possible to go to the Moon.

As is widely recognized, Clarke is a colossus of science fiction - the author of "2001: A Space Odyssey," and many other famous works. It is less well-known that Clarke was also one of the 20th century's pre-eminent visionaries. Without him, it's safe to say that there would be no direct TV, no satellite-routed ship-to-shore phone calls, and no global navigation systems. Our weather forecasts would be far less reliable.

We benefit from Clarke's contributions whenever we dress based on the weather forecast or use a GPS device to navigate our way. During World War II, when he was a young officer in the Royal Air Force in Britain, Clarke first thought of geostationary satellites as communications tools. Geostationary satellites are satellites whose orbital periods match the Earth's rotation. In 1945, Clarke proposed that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. They have since revolutionized communications and weather forecasting.

"I'm often asked why I didn't try to patent the idea of communications satellite," he said. "My answer is always, 'A patent is really a license to be sued.' "

"It's definitely my most important contribution," he told me, adding, "And maybe in a generation or so the space elevator will be considered equally important."

The space elevator - basically a huge cable connecting the Earth to space, along which payloads can be launched using electromagnetic vehicles - is another thing that Clarke has championed. He first wrote about it in 1978. Current plans call for a cable about 50,000 kilometers long.

"The chief expense of space travel when you build the space elevator is entertainment and in-flight movies," he joked.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke Dies

2008-03-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

The father of the space elevator has passed on with out seeing his creation built. Let's hope some of us will.

The announcement from his web site said;

"Science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who co-wrote the epic film '2001: A Space Odyssey' and raised the idea of communications satellites in the 1940s, died Wednesday at age 90, an associate confirmed. Clarke died early Wednesday at a hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since the 1950s, said Scott Chase, the secretary of the nonprofit Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. 'He had been taken to hospital in what we had hoped was one of the slings and arrows of being 90, but in this case it was his final visit,' Chase said."

Clarke had a rich relationship with Wired Magazine which had this to say;

His writing, both fiction and nonfiction, established Clarke as a visionary. In a paper titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?" published in 1945 , Clarke floated the idea of using geosynchronous satellites for communications long before such technology changed our world. As a result, geostationary orbit is now sometimes known as the Clarke orbit.
That's just one of the many innovative concepts Clark is credited with unleashing. From the electrosecretary transcription machine to the space elevator, Clarke laid out his visionary ideas in more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books.

Despite his track record as a futurist, Clarke remained humble about his work when he was interviewed for a 1993 Q&A with Wired magazine.

"I've never predicted the future," Clarke said. "Or hardly ever. I extrapolate. Look, I've written six stories about the end of the Earth; they can't all be true!"

Clarke picked his book The Songs of Distant Earth as his favorite personal writing, saying, "It's got everything in it that I ever wanted to say."

I was privileged to share a publication with him in The Liftport Book

Sovereignty for Sale

2008-03-10T12:14:00.001-04:00

Part one of a two-part series on the sale of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates taxpayer-funded space assets to the world's largest maker of ammunition (including cluster bombs) to the benefit of the Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund among others.

A link to Part two is available on The Space Commerce Blog

--PB--

"The project to build Radarsat-2 -- 'R2,' as it is commonly called -- had started nine years ago and was now in its final stages before the system would be packaged and shipped to Kazakhstan for launch.

Quite simply, this made-in-Canada satellite is the most advanced of its kind in the world. It was designed to allow Canadian scientists to view objects on the earth three metres wide from an altitude of around 800 kilometres. It would also be able to spot ships moving through Canadian waters, monitor environmental problems such as oil spills, measure crop conditions and map the extent of the country's forest resources.

As a mark of its imminent commercial success, dozens of customers in various nations had lined up for its services before it was even launched.

R2 was Canada's ace in the hole when it came to protecting the country's sovereignty in the Arctic. With climate change reducing the amount of ice in the North, Canada is facing challenges to its claims of ownership of key parts of its territory, mainly from the United States but also from nations such as Russia and Denmark.

Just months earlier, Prime Minister Stephen Harper had made one of his strongest speeches yet on Canada's plans to assert its sovereignty in the North.

"Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty in the Arctic: either we use it or we lose it," Mr. Harper said. "Make no mistake; this government intends to use it."

And Radarsat-2, built by MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates of Richmond, B.C., was the route to that goal, according to government and military officials.

"This satellite will help us vigorously protect our Arctic sovereignty as international interest in the region increases," Mr. Prentice told reporters during the October gathering, following up on the prime minister's earlier speech.

Yet five months later, the Conservative government's leadership is being called into question, along with the very future of the country's space industry.

U.S. aerospace giant Alliant Techsystems announced in January that it was buying MacDonald Dettwiler's information and geospatial division. And with that $1.325-billion deal comes ownership of Radarsat-2 and most of Canada's space capabilities."

'Successful' Destruction of Rogue Spy Satellite

2008-02-27T08:54:00.007-05:00

February 21, 2008: Satellite Explodes over Pacific Ocean

"More than 100 metric tons of man-made objects reenter in an uncontrolled fashion each year. Of satellites that reenter, approximately 10-40% of the mass of the object is likely to reach the surface of the Earth.^[17] On average, about one catalogued object reenters per day. Approximately a quarter of all objects are of U.S. origin.

Due to the Earth's surface being primarily water, most objects that survive reentry land in one of the world's oceans. The estimated chances that a person will get hit and injured is around 1 in a trillion." Source: Wikipedia - Atomospheric Re-entry

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon declared on Monday that its mission to blast apart a defunct spy satellite with a missile fired from a Navy warship had been a success.

The strike took place 247 km (153.5 miles) above the Pacific Ocean last Wednesday as the satellite sped through space at more than 17,000 mph (27,000 kph), according to U.S. officials.

Missile Launches Towards Rogue Spy Satellite

"By all accounts this was a successful mission," Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement.

Cartwright said analysis of debris supported the initial conclusion that the missile had most probably destroyed the satellite's tank of hazardous hydrazine fuel as intended.

"From the debris analysis, we have a high degree of confidence the satellite's fuel tank was destroyed and the hydrazine has been dissipated," he said.

Experts were tracking less than 3,000 pieces of debris, all smaller than a football. "The vast majority of debris has already reentered or will shortly reenter the Earth's atmosphere in the coming days and weeks," Cartwright said."

"The Kessler Syndrome is a scenario, proposed by NASA consultant Donald J. Kessler, in which the volume of space debris in Low Earth Orbit is so high that objects in orbit are frequently struck by debris, creating even more debris and a greater risk of further impacts. The implication of this scenario is that the escalating amount of debris in orbit could eventually render space exploration, and even the use of satellites, too prone to loss to be feasible for many generations.

The Kessler Syndrome is especially insidious because of the "domino effect and Feedback runaway." Any impact between two objects of sizable mass will create additional shrapnel debris from the force of collision. Each piece of shrapnel now has the potential to cause further damage, creating even more space debris. With a large enough collision (such as one between a space station and a defunct satellite), the amount of cascading debris could be enough to render Low Earth Orbit essentially impassable."

Movie of Satellite Destruction Source: YouTube:WiredNews

We All Need the Qualities of Hero ...

2008-02-25T12:45:00.004-05:00

Image Courtesy: CarbonHero.net

... but if you weren't born with them and don't expect any close encounters with mutant spiders or toxic waste any time soon you can still save the planet (or at least reduce your personal carbon footprint) using Carbon Hero.

The little foot-shaped sensor "identifies and evaluates the different forms of transport, ... the custom Carbon Hero (CH) application processes the data stream by way of an algorithm and database ... then outputs this to the user [via a Java application running on their mobile device]."

Carbon Hero computes the carbon footprint using values from the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to evaluate each trip's environmental impact.

According to the European Space Agency's (ESA) News Portal CH was a "regional prize winner in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition, sponsored by ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme, the device uses [GPS] satellite navigation technology to track journeys."

The CH web site explains that "adoption of a new technology or system is more successful when it involves the minimum of interference or learning by the user. Using sophisticated sensors and programming, Carbon Hero does the learning and deduces modes of transport being used, with almost no user input required."

Carbon Hero's story is just beginning and Andreas Zachariah and Nick Burch are looking for a "visionary investor with integrity and appetite to unlock full potential via a mobile provider/manufacturer alliance."

Finding investment should be a lock if CH keeps winning battles the way it has been.

The ESA news says "in addition to winning a regional prize in the 2007 European Satellite Navigation Competition, Carbon Hero was awarded the British Standards Institute (BSI) prize for Sustainability Design in July last year. It was a finalist in the 2007 Oxygen Awards and Deutsche Bank Pyramid Awards, and also invited to enter the Saatchi & Saatchi World-Changing Ideas Awards. It is now in the closing rounds of the 2008 St. Andrews Environmental Prize."

The dynamic duo envision several future projects including a stand-alone CH unit, a tracker-style CH post-processing unit, auto-related products for driver safety and vehicle fuel efficiency/environmental impact, a mass-transit climate control device and a water-saving aid.

Carbon Hero Demo Application

Andreas Zachariah talks about CarbonHero on the BBC World Service: Culture Shock with Philip Dodd

Only 50 More Days

2008-02-22T06:16:00.007-05:00

"Poyekhali! (Let's Go!)"

Image Courtesy: Yuri's Night

These were the words spoken by Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as he embarked on the historic first manned space flight on 12 April 1961. Twenty years later on 12 April 1981, the US launched the first space shuttle flight. We think that's something worth celebrating – so we do!

Every year on April 12th Yuri's Night is celebrated all around the world – last year there were over 90 events or parties held in over 30 countries worldwide - and this year looks set to be even bigger. The range of events is as diverse as the people who hold them – even the residents of the International Space Station have been known to join in the fun!

Whether in someone’s living room, a swinging nightclub or a world-class science museum, Yuri’s Night events all have one thing in common - people who are excited about space exploration and who want to join together to celebrate it.

[Find a Yuri's Night party near you (Map)]

[Find a Yuri's Night party near you (List)]

[Throw Your Own Yuri's Night Party]

PlanetSpace still plans to blast-off from Cape Breton

2008-02-21T09:56:00.002-05:00

"PlanetSpace Inc. says it's still in the space race, even though it was passed over for a $170 million NASA [COTS] contract earlier this week.

Chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria said Wednesday that his company is still going ahead with plans to develop space tourism and a low orbit courier service from Cape Breton."

"We're going to continue on building the Silver Dart, which we're going to use for point-to-point travel or what we call international fast freight or global express, taking packages around the world in 40 minutes," he said.

"And, eventually, human transport in 40 minutes. Also, small- and medium- size satellite launches, and, you know, the space tourism part of it."

[Word is PlanetSpace is still vying for COTS2 contracts - PB-]

The Story Can Now Be Told

2007-06-02T08:02:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy time and it's just ending.

I got back from SESI and was working on the 60GB. of digital media I got from there and Hofstadter's Law was in full effect. I realised that if I was going to put in the kind of effort it's going to take to present it well (I'm fussy about that - maybe too fussy) then I wanted it to come out on the new web site I'm planning for the Space Elevator Journal (SEJ).

Before I could get anything done on that my life took a left turn. As you may remember, I was working private security so I could work on the SEJ which pays me about $1/month (Canadian no less). Anyway some headhunter found my C.V. on Workopolis (which reveals my dark secret - that I spent 20 years in IT before journalism) and I ended up getting an excellent offer to work doing tech support for a large software company that I could not refuse if I wanted to be able to sleep (without worrying whether my wife Keiko was going to kill me in my bed ;> ).

She's been incredibly supportive while I went to school and worked on various journalistic endeavours including the SEJ. She's returning to university in the fall to start working on a CGA and it's my turn to support her (and I need money to start the new web site) so the timing of the new position was fortuitous.

The crazy part was that the new company wanted me to start right away and I didn't want to leave my former employer in the lurch (responsibility sucks sometimes) so I worked off the 2-week notice while training for the new position. So I had no time off for the better part of a month. This, plus several events in my personal life conspired to keep me away from the keyboard for much too long. (Ancient Chinese Curse: May you live in interesting times)
Anyway, the medium-term plan is get her through school and launched on the new phase of her career so she can keep me in the style to which I'd like to grow accustomed then put journalism back on the front burner. That's not to say the SEJ is dead by any means. I just became my own angel investor and, based on the successful stats the SEJ put up as a blog, the plan is to re-launch it as a full-blown (and hopefully financially viable) web site that grows with the space elevator(s?).

Along with the SESI material there are a couple of big stories in the offing and, just a couple of days ago, an inspired Google search turned up a whole rich vein of material that will refine into some fine articles. In the meantime I will have find time to squeeze out a post or two every week.

Like those annoying announcements say when you're holding on the phone or finding out you're trapped in your plane on the tarmac for a while, your patience is appreciated.

--PB--

A Heated (and Premature?) Post-Mortem

2007-04-18T12:58:00.000-04:00

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again ....

Bob Dylan: Times They Are A-Changin'

Beset by lawsuits and financial problems Liftport Group is taking a standing eight count and trying to figure out whether to throw in the towel or come out swinging. Some of those sitting ringside are already calling it a TKO.

Marc Boucher of SpaceElevator.com wrote this yesterday morning;

"Building a Space Elevator will not be an easy endeavour. The hurdles to overcome are numerous. ... No one company today will start from scratch with the stated business aim of building a space elevator and succeed, it’s too soon." [!!!? --PB--]

"Companies today interested in the space elevator need to focus on technologies, materials needed for the space elevator and produce tangible spin-off products that can be made the foundation of a business. The space elevator is no ordinary product, so applying traditional business models and fundraising techniques won't work.

"Liftport created their own roadmap, one in which they stated that in 25 years they would start sending cargo up an elevator. What investor today who is thinking about a return on investment would consider such a long term investment? None who have the funds to get such an endeavour off the ground. And in applying traditional business models this is in part where Liftport went wrong. And I feel for those who made emotional decisions to invest in the Liftport Group. In fours years Liftport went from one company to a group of four companies. This was all part of the fundraising strategy. And while they got a lot of people excited, raised expectations and did do some work, for the most part what was produced was hype. And hype is not a product, and without a product and with your expenses mounting the day will come when your business fails."

And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'....

Bob Dylan: Times They Are A-Changin'

Michael Laine of Liftport took exception and replied in the comments section;

"Marc, you have gone way over the top with this post. [Liftport] is NOT dead. please re-read Brian's post. yes, I -personally- have a pretty big problem. And it changes our company - a lot. that said, we are still here, hurt, and fighting, but don't count us out just yet!

"The business model has not failed. It's perfectly intact. My -personal- ability to fund this project from my own checkbook is damaged. To date I have put in well over $400,000 of my own damn money into this project. Don't you dare start slandering me and my team by implying that the only thing we ever produced was 'hype'. We produced a realistic, working roadmap, (which was a catalyst for Bryan's effort) a small amount of carbon nanotubes on our own furnace, and robotic lifter systems that actually work - they have climbed into the sky...

"What have you and your 'buddies' done? What skin have you put into the game? What risk have you taken to further this elevator to space?

"This sort of mudslinging is unacceptable."

For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Bob Dylan Times They Are A-Changin'

LiftPort April General Newsletter Updates Lawsuit Situation

2007-04-18T00:35:00.000-04:00

In late 2005 Liftport Group, arguably the most visible corporate entity in the space elevator community, seemed to be on a roll. They had a line on the Space Elevator (SE) version of the holy grail - continuous production of carbon nanotubes (CNT's).

CNT production is still done in batches. Liftport's April General Newsletter describes their "continuous flow process" as "a huge leap forward in the production quantities that will be required for supplying the growing [demand for CNT's] across a vast array of industries."

Not necessarily CNT's strong enough to make the tether for the SE but any supply of CNT's is likely to find a buyer in a market that projects growth in individual sectors in billions of dollars. Profits from a successful CNT plant would provide research money to take Liftport's SE research to the next level.

Liftport found willing partners in the City of Millville, NJ and the federally-funded Cumberland Empowerment zone named for the surrounding county. Each loaned Liftport $50K. Liftport's newsletter picks up the story from here.

"Unfortunately, our contractor did not fulfill their end of the contract and slipped over schedule and over budget. We assured the city and county that we were still committed and continued development. Once again the time table slipped, and promises were broken. We again went to the city and county to reassure them and make promises based on assurances from our contractor that results were imminent.

"At the end of March [2007], we read an article in the news that claimed we were being sued. We followed up by calling various contacts and ended up leaving several messages but getting no new information. We had not received any mail, email, or voice messages about this.

"Patrick Boake emailed us asking about it and mentioned it in his Space Elevator Journal. Further digging by Patrick yielded assurances by city and county officials that though they were indeed moving forward with filing a civil suit to defend their taxpayer's interests, they are still hoping that we'll be successful and that they'll be able to settle the suit with a mutually beneficial outcome.

"Our contractor has chosen to default on the contract and we will be bringing the furnace home to Bremerton where there has been a growing interest by University of Washington researchers in working on this project. Our furnace as it exists now does indeed produce carbon nanotubes, and has for about four months. The process, however, does not sustain as intended and is therefore not yet ready for installation. The news article suggests that after the suit is filed and LiftPort is served, we'll have ninety days to respond (we finally received notice on April, 5. It is being reviewed by our attorney). We're fairly confident that we will be able to install CNT production in Millville within that time frame, but will only do so if the ROI can justify it."

The Demise of Liftport?

2007-04-16T08:07:00.000-04:00

Erik a blogger listened to Michael Laine of Liftport at a panel on Infosnacking and Infobingeing: A Guide to Being Well-Informed at the recent Conference on World Affairs and put a partial transcript in his blog Pikamac;

"I've got a scoop for all the all the bloggers in the room. Other than the X Prize, if you're on the cover of Popular Science or Popular Mechanics then your project is not going to go anywhere. But failure is a critical component of growth.

"Two hours ago I lost a three million dollar building. I'd rather pay for this space elevator then pay my mortgage. I'd rather talk to schoolchildren about the project than pay my phone bill. I've been in foreclosure seven times in the last five years. And now I don't have a place to live. I don't have a place to for my staff to go to. I don't have a place to put my cat.

"Is this the straw that breaks the camels back? Not quite, I'm pretty tough. I've got to go get a job... I'm not a very good employee. How do you build an elevator into space on the evenings and weekends? I'm counting on the two million people on the network who have referenced the project to make a difference... to put some skin in the game.

"I thought I had this fucking problem solved on Wednesday, but I'm not going to let this stop me."

Julie Fredrickson AKA Almost Girl was also there and had this to say about it. "a space elevator is clearly one of the first steps towards our future off this planet.

In fact, NASA and its funding is one of the few places where I find my libertarian mindset in a quandary. Individuals clearly cannot fund research, corporations taking control of space has some vivid problems, and rarely do people come together to fund purely exploratory ventures. Space, at this point, is a nonprofit world and it is generally governments with the resources and longevity to fund that which will not return a profit for decades if not centuries.

And today, with an audience of people held rapt, Michael Laine demonstrated today just how true this problem rings. And it broke my heart. During the panel [on] Infosnacking and Infobingeing: A Guide to Being Well-Informed, a composed but clearly emotional Mr. Laine began to wax poetic about network effects and the blogosphere. He talked about information flow and the power of many people coming together to discuss and influence topics.

The blogosphere has been good to Lifport, bringing to light their smaller victories. Blogs have helped keep the spirit alive even as progress is slow and the victories are hard won in this type of work. Networks of people have in some sense replaced the support of governments and big money. And that support has allowed Michael and his team of merry twentysomethings to forge on.

But today, roughly two hours before the panel, an obstacle was placed in Michael and Liftport’s path. Zealot that he is, even his belief and passion could not hold against this reality of finance. They lost their office space. The money ran out. And on Monday they will announce this fact.

I almost cried in sympathy as Michael described how this would impact not only Liftport but his personal life. He had no home, no place for his animals, no job, no source of income, and no place for his staff. A three million dollar building that held the hopes and dreams of more than just a few space crazies was taken away from a project that for better or worse is attempting to bring about a future I was weaned on. And a future I don’t often get to remember in a day to day way and now perhaps will not see even in dreams anymore"

Doors Still Open to Liftport in Millville

2007-04-04T22:36:00.000-04:00

Despite launching a lawsuit to collect almost $50K from Liftport, Donald Ayres, the City of Millville's director of economic development, is still looking for ways to get Liftport's nanotube production facility working in New Jersey's Cumberland County.

"We'd love to work with Mr. Laine and keep moving forward," Ayres explains, "however, we had arrangements with him to make some payments on our loan and as a a public agency we have to protect ourselves and protect our taxpayers."

Ayres is not unsympathetic to Liftport's plight.

"I know there have been problems and I expect problems when you're trying to commercially produce carbon nanotubes en masse and work with universities to try and create something new.

"I have a lot of admiration for the tremendous task they've undertaken. I realize it's a very daunting challenge for them, it's fraught with hurdles and there will be delays. At a certain point in time we have a responsibility to the people who ultimately provide the economic development fund."

For his part, Michael Laine of Liftport is forthright about the situation if a somewhat unhappy about the way it has played out.

"It's no secret. I'm not trying to dodge that. I'm $15K behind on my obligations," Mr. Laine states.

"[There's an email] I sent two weeks ago saying we're going to do our balloon test in Millville because we're committed to Millville. .... There's been plenty of opportunity to communicate with me directly and say 'we're thinking of seeking legal action.' The first thing I hear about it is in The Daily Journal."

The technical issue stymying Liftport is converting their Carbon NanoTube (CNT) furnace from a batch process to a continuous production process that can turn out commercial volumes of CNT's.

"We've been making nanotubes for four months," Laine reveals. "It's no different than anyone else is doing it's just not at volume. They're Single-walled CNT's ... the quality's fine there's just not much of it. That's the problem - nobody can produce substantial quantities of CNT's – yet.

"We're tackling something that's never been done before in the history of mankind and - Don's right - we expected problems and there were problems. But we never would have entered into this agreement with them in the first place has we not fundamentally believed that we have access to a key technology."

Liftport's legal troubles don't end there. The company has a matching loan from Cumberland Empowerment Zone (CEZ), the county organisation that, according to its web site, "provides financing for economic and community development initiatives as well as business and industrial expansion in the Empowerment Zone target areas" using federal funds.

"Our board did authorize us to go the same route," says Jeannine MacDonald, CEZ's executive director who is also open to resolving the situation outside the courtroom.

"It's definitely imminent and we will be unfortunately filing suit. We're not closing the door. We're just doing what we have to do to protect our interests. We certainly remain willing to speak with Liftport and work with them."

Laine declined to disclose what the next steps will be but remains undaunted.

"I still think we have a key technology Laine contends. "There's a technique we have helped pioneer that's part of that key mass-production process."

Paraphrasing Edison, Laine says “We haven't failed, we've just discovered four years of how not to do it.”

Liftport Suffers Technical - and Legal - Setback

2007-03-31T16:16:00.000-04:00

Normally I don't copy a (nearly) complete article into a blog entry but because this is a bit of a black eye for the nascent space elevator industry (and about a company I have high hopes for) I wanted to be as thorough as possible.

"[City of] Millville Sues Company Over $50,000 Loan" - The Daily Journal

By JOSEPH P. SMITH - Staff Writer

MILLVILLE, NJ -- The city filed a civil lawsuit this week to recover a $50,000 loan to a company hoping to open a carbon nanotube factory here.

LiftPort Nanotech, a subsidiary of LiftPort Group of Bremerton, Wash., has not made a loan repayment in 90 days, the suit alleges. LiftPort also has a matching loan from Cumberland County's Empowerment Zone. Both loans date to late 2005.

Donald Ayres, the city's Economic Development director, said Friday technical problems kept the company from starting production.

...

LiftPort counted on experimental custom furnaces to produce the nanotubes. It received two models of furnaces in succession. Neither performed as hoped.

...

'We had to do what we had to do,' Ayres said. The city still is interested in the project."

Responding via e-mail Joe Julian, Liftport's Executive Vice-President/Media, said "We read the article in the Millville news but haven't received anything from either the city or the county. According to the article, we're supposed to be given 90 days [to respond once being served], which if things keep progressing the way they are, should be a non-issue."

Due to the timing of this post Millville officials were unavailable for comment. Watch this space for updates.

--PB--

Astronomers Launch Space Exploration 2007

2007-03-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

The Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS) showed a large, diverse crowd of conference attendees what astronomers see, an alternative technique for seeing it and then Alan Hale caught us up on what's been happening in his personal and professional life in the 10 years since

Hale-Bopp to launch the Space Engineering and Science Institute's 2007 edition of its International Conference and Exposition on Science, Engineering and Habitation in Space.

TAAS's Bruce Levin showed why amateur astronomers go to great trouble and expense to practice their hobby/profession by taking us billions of light years into space via a series of photos from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Next, Dale Murray, another TAAS member explained the ins and outs and whys and wherefores of backyard astronomy with binoculars.

The evening ended with audience and TAAS members gathering behind the hotel for some stargazing with the kind assistance of several TAAS members like local mechanic Ric Thiem who brought the giant scope seen at the left that provided gorgeous views of the moon like the one seen below.

More pictures from the conference kick-off are available at my Picassa web gallery.

Laser Power Beaming article on MachineDesign.com

2007-03-23T09:13:00.000-04:00

One of several images from Hoffman's article showing different power beaming applications

There will be no space elevator without practical laser power beaming.

MachineDesign.com's Senior Editor Jean M. Hoffman put together an excellent article on laser power beaming for the March 8, 2007 issue the magazine explaining how "a range of experimental efforts give promise that lasers may, in the not too distant future, provide cheap, safe, and reliable access to space."

The article covers the history of laser power beaming, its current status, the way forward and provides a list of contacts for the researchers and companies in the field.

[And, yes, I DO read the whole Internet each morning over breakfast while discussing the day's plans with my family. ADD does have its advantages. --PB--]

NASA Kills Funding for the Home of Space Elevator Plan

2007-03-22T09:01:00.000-04:00

Collateral Damage

Student Fellows Prize Canceled

"Due to funding constraints beyond NIAC's control, the 2007-2008 Call for the NIAC Student Fellows Prize (original due date April 16, 2007) has been canceled."

NIAC's Student Program awarded $9000 fellowships to several students every year allowing them "to investigate revolutionary ideas for space exploration."

The 2006 - 2007 winners were searching for answer to questions like; "Will we be able to identify water on other planets using neutron physics? Can space travelers rely on asteroids to protect them from dangerous radiation? Can near-earth objects like asteroids be harnessed and combined with space tethers to allow for faster travel to the Moon, Mars and beyond? Would large orbiting mirrors bring a small part of the Martian surface closer to Earth-like temperatures? Is it possible to develop tiny, bug-like flying robots to explore planetary surfaces?"

Now this stream of knowledge will fall silent.

While there's no official announcement yet, the word is out that NASA is killing the budget for the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) the organization that funded Dr. Brad Edwards' study to "produce an initial design for a space elevator using current or near-term technology and evaluate the effort yet required prior to construction of the first space elevator." (Source: The Space Elevator - NIAC Phase II Final Report)

"The closure of NIAC is extremely disappointing," comments Dr. Brad Edwards by email. "As many of us know and was stated in the presidential commission report a few years back, NIAC is one of the bright lights of NASA.

"Over the years though I have realized that such things like the closure of an excellent program are to be expected.

"NASA is a large federal institution driven more by political forces than by an interest to create the best space program. I think we need to stop looking to NASA for space-related activities and focus on independent programs."

The Futures Channel has an excellent video on NIAC that shows the excellent value that can be had for a few million dollars when the right people are given the resources to think freely. NIAC's funding (~$4m/year) is a minuscule percentage of the total NASA budget (~$16B/year) and the institute historically applies well over 70% of that budget to research.

The credit for breaking this story goes to Keith Cowing, writer and editor of NASA Watch (and astrobiologist, journalist, former rocket scientist, and recovering ex-civil servant) who was unreserved in his judgement of this move "This is just plain stupid. Let me repeat this for clarity's sake, Mike, ([or] whoever made it) this is A STUPID DECISION."

NIAC Director Robert Cassanova, PhD was somewhat more circumspect in his email response but no less heartfelt.

"We were very disappointed to hear that NASA will not be continuing the NIAC due to constraints on the NASA budget. However, NIAC has generated a legacy of advanced concepts that may have a significant impact on future activities in aeronautics and space.

"Possibly more importantly, NIAC will leave a legacy of a process which encourages creative
scientists and engineers to intellectually venture beyond the evolutionary concepts the dominate the near term and to creatively explore potentially revolutionary concepts. These concepts may be the genesis of emerging technologies that enable these and other revolutionary concepts.

"The NIAC process has inspired the technical community to reach for the stars with credibility and integrity.

"We appreciate the opportunity that NASA has given us for the past nine years to explore the possibilities for future space exploration that are limited only by our imagination."

The NIAC Timeline that laid out its "vision for space exploration" and the integration of those ideas into NASA's future programs has four streams. The space elevator was the only one common to them all.

Space Elevator Journal Covers Space Exploration 2007

2007-03-21T12:13:00.000-04:00

Although this has been in the works for some time, I can only now reveal the exciting news that the Space Elevator Journal will be covering Space Exploration 2007, including the Second Biennial Space Elevator Workshop live and in person. The plan is to provide as much live coverage as time permits and record as much of the proceedings as possible and make it available in various forms afterwards.

Feedback from you, the reader, will help shape the coverage. Tell me what most interests you by clicking the 'Leave a Comment' link in the footer below.

I also need to know if people are interested in a CD or DVD with audio and video of the proceedings and PDF copies of the papers presented.

Your intrepid scribe also plans to get one-on-one interviews with as many of the space elevator pioneers present as time and scheduling will permit. I just won't sleep is all. :)

Many thanks to Phil Richter, President of conference hosts Space Engineering and Science Institute and Administrative Chair, Space Exploration 2007 for making this possible.

Cassini Spacecraft Images Seas of Fuel on Saturn's Moon Titan

2007-03-14T14:13:00.000-04:00

Titan's lake compared to Lake Superior

Source: NASA JPL

In keeping with the Space Elevator Journal's mission of showing what a post space elevator reality might look like I search out stories about resources in space that will be even more accessible and better researched after the space elevator is built.

"Instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft have found evidence [of] seas, likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan. One such feature is larger than any of the Great Lakes of North America and is about the same size as several seas on Earth."

Even after doing article after article on this I still get blown away by what's out there. The science fiction writer in me envisions convoys of robot tankers flying to Titan and filling up with fuel for a thirsty space community. Is it possible space elevator economics will make it profitable to return the fuel to Earth and we can stop draining our own planet?

I wonder how long it will be before there's a Dunkin' Donuts and a convenience store in orbit around Titan? "Thank you very much. Come again." --PB--

View Full News Release

"Source: NASA JPL - [These movies], comprised of several detailed images taken by Cassini's radar instrument, shows bodies of liquid near Titan's north pole. [They] show many of the features commonly associated with lakes on Earth, such as islands, bays, inlets and channels, are also present on this cold Saturnian moon. ... Strong evidence that larger bodies seen in infrared images are, in fact, seas [that] are most likely liquid methane and ethane."

View QuickTime Video (lg, no audio) (70.9 MB)

View QuickTime Video (sm, no audio) (56.1 MB)

How will space chickens sit on their eggs?

2007-03-09T08:54:00.000-05:00

Space food has come a long way since John Glenn choked down bite-sized cubes, freeze dried foods, and semi-liquids in aluminum toothpaste-type tubes to become the first human to eat a meal in space*. Hopefully, by the time the space elevator is built, there will be space farms and zero-gravity food preparation technology that better approximate eating on Earth (except for that floating thing).

A recent European Space Agency (Quicktime/WMP) video "gives an overview of the meals served on the ISS on normal days and at special occasions [and] also outlines the underlying nutritional and psychological factors that determine what astronauts [eat] in orbit."

These guys are eating "a Sicilian starter followed by roast quail in a wine sauce and rice pudding with dried fruit." It sounds better than my menu for today but, due to the stress of the small environment and work they do, food is the main source of relaxation and joy for International Space Station crew according to ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter who moderates a report about food for some experts on the ground in this video.

Oh, and the answer to the question posed in the headline? Velcro, baby, Velcro.

--PB--

*Yuri Gagarin did test food and water samples experimentally but his single-orbit flight did not require a meal.

Space Exploration 2007 on The Space Show

2007-03-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

Dr. Livingston

Phil Richter, the conference coordinator for the Space Exploration 2007 Conference and Second Space Elevator Conference taking place in Albuquerque, NM March 25-28, 2007, was a guest on the February 20th edition of The Space Show™.

Hosted by Dr. David Livingston, The Space Show™ focuses on timely and important issues influencing the development of outer-space commerce and space tourism, as well as other related subjects of interest to us all.

I didn't catch it live but it ended up on the media stack I go through to find stories for the SEJ and listened to it from the show archives. One of the most interesting things to come out of the show for me was the educational experience available to the general public.

Anyone interested in space will be able to talk to the various presenters (see the conference schedule for details) about the progress in space exploration and the space elevator and there will be two open sessions, both moderated by Dr. Bryan Laubscher.

One is called Shotgun Science where any attendee can give a 5-minute talk on any space-related topic, concept or observation they have.

The other is the Global Space Elevator Road Map Workshop a three-hour brainstorming session where everyone can contribute ideas.

Students have not been forgotten. SEC2007 has a special rate for full-time students of $50 (vs. $300) + $25 for optional banquet. Course credit is not available from the conference but SEC2007 is a 501 (3C) non-profit educational organisation so students should speak to their teachers about getting credit for attending.

The point is the open sessions won't work if you don't come. If you were thinking about attending stop thinking and register. Unfortunately the hotel discount officially ended on February 28th but there's no harm in asking for it anyway.

Please be sure to mention you heard about the conference on the Space Elevator Journal.

Liftport Opens Space Elevator Ticket Window

2007-02-25T19:27:00.000-05:00

LiftPort Group's ongoing efforts to improve public awareness of the lower costs of future access to space provided by the space elevator continue with the production and sale of replica 1-Ounce Space Elevator Tickets.

The tickets are done up in an old-fashioned train ticket motif evoking past frontiers and carry an image of the Mir Space Station commemorating both Mir's record for the longest continuous human presence in space and its place in history as the first space tourism destination.

The tickets are numbered in gold foil, printed on secure paper using several patented anti-counterfeiting methods and come mounted in a protective collectible-quality frame. They can be purchased at the Liftport Store for US$25.

The 1st Ticket in the series is available on E-bay paired with a stunning image depicting a futuristic cargo lifter custom designed by Nyein Aung protected by museum-quality frame and glass.

Lift Port Group Out There Pitching the Space Elevator Concept

2007-02-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

I love to see this because, where participation in rocketry is somewhat elitist by necessity, the space elevator will open space to a much larger segment of businesses and allow individual participation at a grassroots level. Space elevators hold the potential for the average person to get to space.

LiftPort Group (LPG) founder and President Michael Laine recently told the Kiwanis Club of Seattle how "the Space Elevator will be at the heart of [a] revolutionary transportation service, ... opening up broad-based access to Earth orbits and the inner solar system, LPG will help bring about the creation of entire new [space commerce] markets[that] can only become viable through safe, inexpensive, routine access to the inner solar system.

"In short, we at LiftPort Group believe that development of the space elevator is a crucial step in the future of Earth and space."

Open Source Radio - What to Do in Space?

2007-02-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

"You’ve probably heard about the Mars Rover and space weapons a la China, but do you know about plans to build a space elevator? Or to mine asteroids? Do you know about the 181 things scientists hope we can accomplish by returning to the moon?"

Today's Open Source Radio show will "deal largely with the new frontiers of what some people call alt.space - private enterprise trailblazing the way forward. So adjust your antennae to think about the role of the market in space exploration."

Open Source Radio streams live at 7 PM EST, Monday-Thursday through WGBH and on XM Public Radio, channel 133. It is available via RSS or iTunes and is carried by various public radio stations around the USA. Details and links available here.

There are 39 comments in the pre-show listener discussion and no shortage of passion about space issues.

--PB--

NASA not interested in Space Elevators

2007-02-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

As covered on the Space Elevator Blog, NASA Centennial Challenges staffer Ken Davidian stated on the February 11th edition of Dr. David Livingston's podcast The Space Show, "NASA's not interested in space elevators" and only sees the Space Elevator Games as a means to develop technologies.

Personally I'm disappointed to hear this but not surprised. NASA's a rocket culture and, barring some cataclysmic culture shock, always will be (IMHO).

I think the SE will be to space what the PC was/is to computing. IBM only released the design for the PC after they decided it was a 'toy'. The 'big iron' culture (of the time) led them astray. Sound familiar?

Liftport's Brian ("Kilroy") Dunbar comments to the effect that this is as it should be and NASA should leapfrog space elevator development efforts by stepping out of the "Space Truck business and worry about exploration and R&D" is a sensible and plausible sentiment. My problem with that is that NASA is the big money pipeline.

You heard it here first. Carbon nanotubes won't be the factor delaying SE construction - it will be money, money and more money. The kind of money only governments can afford to invest.

The purse-string holders in the world's various governments are using to listening to presentations they don't understand then doling out galaxy-sized budgets to their respective space agencies. Everyone's comfortable with this.

If the space agencies a) don't take the space elevator seriously and b) fear SE projects will undercut their funding they will not only not support SE's, they will actively undermine them.

Setting up a new funding infrastructure may take longer than actually building the space elevator itself. Especially since there's likely to be more than one country involved.

Winning the hearts and minds of both the public and their governments is going to take longer and be harder than developing working carbon nanotube tethers or power-beaming systems. The scientists and engineers have it relatively easy because they will know when they are done.

The entrepreneurs, lawyers and lobbyists advocating for the space elevator will not only have to build the supporting legal and political infrastructure that will have to be in place before the money starts to flow, they will have to maintain it even after the space elevator is working.

--PB--