Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Space Pirates Wielding Lasers

The Space Elevator Blog is keeping up with the Kansas City Space Pirates' switch to laser power. They sound optimistic, and are covering the technical, business, and management problems that confront every Space Pirate:

We have done some testing with low power lasers horizontally at 1km. We have lined up two different Solar cell providers depending on what laser we end up using. We have one or two answers for every technical challenge we have anticipated. We have a few parts for the ‘08 climber in house that are awaiting testing along with some sketches of where to put them.

Our focus has been in making sure we have a viable plan, but the fund raising environment seems warmer than last year.

We have recruited some more expertise this year to make sure we have all the skills needed.