University of Alberta Space Elevator Racing Team

Today was the last day of laser testing, so it was now or never to qualify.  We got up at 4AM and headed to the base for 5.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to be the first ones in line for TRUMPF’s laser testing, and were rescheduled for noon.  So while we waited, we finished up the hardware and software required for calculating the aiming vector, which is a big developmental milestone for us.  This system works dynamically to keep the laser pointed at the cell array in a self-correcting manner, ensuring as much power output as our hardware allows.

The completed aimer

However, it turns out that as one problem led to another, we were told we wouldn’t  be able to have any lasing time.  We were quite disappointed by this piece of news, as we were all ready to head out.  On the bright side, the competition is most definitely going to be postponed due to vertical station-keeping issues for the helicopter.  The possibility of a separate competition for the teams that were either disqualified or were unable to get qualification time was mentioned as out of the original 11 or so teams, only 3 have fully qualified.  We look forward to hearing more information on this later in the week when things have settled into place a little more.

The cell array outside ready for testing

So for now, we’re relishing in the awesome time we’ve had at Dryden (and to a much lesser extent Mojave) and are very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing project so far.

For about two weeks now we’ve worked around the clock prepping for laser testing. We’ve been getting 4-6 hours of sleep per night, eating too much pizza (if there is a such thing) and drinking too much caffeine.  All of our efforts until now are about to come together at our laser testing tomorrow morning.  We’ve been plagued with problems since before we left for Mojave and only since this afternoon have a bunch of things started turning around and working in our favour. For instance, the last-minute “issues” with our optics that we mentioned yesterday actually turned out to be a misunderstanding in design - everything is as it should be (we think) and will hopefully perform okay tomorrow.

Our assembled aimer (sans laser beam and with extra crap)

Our lasing tests tomorrow will test several things, including targeting capability, power output, and the ability of our system to withstand 8kW of continuous-wave infrared awesomeness. We made it to the base by about 5:30AM this morning; we didn’t get to do our laser testing today (which worked to our benefit) because there was some testing today of the helicopter and cable competition setup, which didn’t quite seem to go as planned.  More information in regards to that will likely be made available tomorrow by Ben Shelef, the Spaceward competition organizer.

Jordan, Jerry and Aditya working on the cell array

Dryden Flight Research Center is a really interesting place, with different things happening all the time. Unfortunately for any readers out there, photography is heavily restricted and so we must be cautious with respect to where our camera points. However, after the ever-helpful Greg Poteat of NASA laid down some ground rules for photographs on base, we’re able to show some of what we’re up to.  We would have liked to show you photos of the jets going supersonic today, but that’s definitely frowned upon.  The sonic boom rattled the hangar in which we were working quite a bit - we though the cable had snapped and landed on the hangar!

The random airplane on display

Air Force Space Command!

Today was a long - and productive - day.  We arrived at Dryden around 8AM and immediately got to work: we had to assemble our aiming rig, assemble our climber’s cell array, and do a fair chunk of coding.  We also got to build our own 50-foot RS-232 cable shielded by gold foil.

The completed 50' gold-shielded RS-232 cable

Our code is now ready - at least for testing.  Our aiming software is programmed, as is our cell-reading software (although the physical connections between the cells and the sensors have yet to be made); however, due to the scale of this project we’ve been unable to test our ideas beforehand.  Our test - tentatively scheduled for tomorrow - will really be a test for both qualification and for us to test our system!

Solar cell array (before we went at it)

Unfortunately, as productive as the day was, it wasn’t all good news.  Our big problem was with our aiming rig: due to a miscommunication in dimensioning the optics system, some last-minute 5AM machining is going to have to take place tomorrow morning.  Our system is technically workable, but we were told that our rig could very well damage both our lens and the supplied fibre optics cable, which would be very bad!  Since our only physics-savvy members were unable to come on the trip, we were more or less at a loss as to what the correct course of action would be.  Thankfully, we were able to clear this up later in the evening, and we’ll confirm these details in the morning with TRUMPF.

Solar cell array (after we went at it)

Now, off to bed: we need to be at Dryden for 5AM!

Jerry, Aditya, Kienan and Jordan at the entrance to Dryden Flight Research Center

We got up around 6am and headed towards Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base to talk to the regulatory people from the Laser Clearing House. After a bit of a wait at the base security checkpoint, we were cleared and sent towards the visitors center to obtain our badging. We ideally would have had our aimer with us for inspection, but a detailed description of our procedure and system tolerances would suffice for now.

Pavement ends and nothingness begins

For those not sure what we’re dong in the middle of a desert dying of heat exhaustion, here’s a quick rundown of what we’re about:

The Space elevator is a concept for cheap, reliable access to space relying on a high strength “rope” to space for laser powered elevators to climb. The Space elevator games are a NASA-sponsored event to help build the knowledge, infrastructure and awareness of the space elevator. Up to $2 million US is being offered to a team who can climb a 1km tether at a minimum of 2m/s using no stored power. We are a team competing in this event.

Aditya walking, which is a rarity

Dryden Flight Research Center is on the edge of a massive lake bed; salt-white and devoid of any kind of life whatsoever, this lake is bleak and a tad depressing. Luckily for us we have a horde of retired test planes and stealth bombers scattered around the grounds to keep us entertained. The temperature was 28 degrees (Celsius) at 7 am, and peaked to well over 40. We left Dryden around mid-morning and headed back to our hotel to continue assembling our system so it will be ready for 5am tomorrow.

Sleep? We have neither the space nor the time.

Jerry and Nikolai arrived just before lunch; we immediately unpacked and got to work, and boy is there a lot to do! You’ll notice there really isn’t a lot of room on the beds to sleep or rest, but that suits us fine as we have little time for either. Tomorrow we will test our aiming and power transmission system on the lakebed, far away from anything that would mind getting set on fire or cut in half. If these tests go well we will be in a good position for the competition, which is currently scheduled for August 5th.

After a bit of a hiatus, it was finalized last week that we would at the very least be at testing and qualifications this week. So, after a mad three-day scramble to get our stuff ready (and you can tell - we’re all getting pretty hairy), we’re in Mojave, California and excited to get to work.

Eric, Jerry, and Aditya discussing transportation

We landed in LA this afternoon, and the first order of business after getting our stuff was to get a car - which was unexpectedly difficult because none of those that flew in are 25 or over!  Mojave is about 100 miles outside of LA, which in LA traffic meant about a 2.5 hours’ drive.  Thankfully we had a trusty British navigator to guide us on our way.

Out of LA, the desert kicks in

The first thing that stands out once you’re outside the city is that this is a desert: it’s hot and barren.  Unfortunately, we have little time for “sightseeing” and are getting straight to work.  Jordan is busy unpacking the cells to have them wired and attached to the frame, Kienan and I are putting together the aiming and photosensing code, and Jerry and Nikolai are… driving here.

Desert. Yeah, that's all.

We had problems with getting our big crate with our climber (named “Optimus Climb”) and our aiming apparatus (named “Opticus Prime”) here as planned; long story short, we needed to have Jerry and Nikolai drive the stuff down nonstop.  They should be arriving in Mojave overnight.  More news and pictures to come