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P.C. millennium club
Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 2163 Location: Denmark
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Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:32 am Post subject: What's LiftPort Doing Next? |
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What's LiftPort Doing Next?
This summer we will be working with two of our research partners, Rutgers and Carolina State. We will be launching a 10km tethered balloon system to test new robots and power beaming. This test has a fairly high likelihood of "catastrophic failure" that could result in a "crater" if either of the robots breaks. This event will have a lot of press coverage and would be an excellent opportunity for a business to think about sponsoring. 10km of unbroken ribbon alone is going to be very expensive. |
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P.C. millennium club
Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 2163 Location: Denmark
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Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:37 am Post subject: |
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| Since last we sent out a newsletter, we have had a month long balloon test. In a remote area of Washington State, we lofted our balloon platform for an entire month in cooperation with a wireless ISP. The ISP didn't work out, but the platform did... more or less. We discovered that the altitude does indeed extend the range of the wireless equipment significantly and as a communication system it is very useful indeed. We tested many different methods of tethering the platform to the ground, tethering the balloons to each other, and attaching the communication platform to the rig. All in all, we feel we've identified many problems and successes in the mission and are quite pleased with the results. The test did end on a less pleasant note, however, as a fall windstorm with gusts over 30mph (50km/h) pushed the balloons onto the top of an orchard, perforating two of them. This test was important because as well as being a test bed for our robotics team, the balloon system has pro ven it can be a revenue stream to help us continue work toward our goal of building the LiftPort Space Elevator. |
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Anerenceted6
Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 2
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usarender millennium club
Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 1258 Location: San Diego, Ca
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject: Hey pc |
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Hey pc, this is the same as I have been proposing.
Where did you get this information?
Are you part of the Lift Port group of companies? |
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P.C. millennium club
Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 2163 Location: Denmark
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