Centennial of Flight

image of Wright flyer

In December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright, two bicycle mechanics working with no government support, initiated the age of powered flight with their success at Kitty Hawk. NASAs Prize Program honors the spirit of the Wright Brothers and other independent inventors by acknowledging the centennial of the first powered flight in 2003. The NASA Centennial Challenges program also recognizes that the rapid and dramatic progress in aeronautics in the early years of the first century of flight was often driven by prize competitions.

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"If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted."
Sir Francis Bacon
(1561‐1626)

Power Beaming Competition

    Power Beaming Challenge
    LaserMotive LLC was awarded $900,000 in the 2009 Power Beaming Challenge. Official results, as well as video and photography, are available at: http://live.spaceelevatorgames.org→ 
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    This challenge is a practical demonstration of wireless power transmission. Teams build mechanical devices (climbers) that can propel themselves up a vertical cable. The power supply for the device is not self-contained but remains on the ground. The technical challenge is to transmit the power to the climber and transform it into mechanical motion, efficiently and reliably. In past competitions, some teams used power from the sun or ordinary spotlights but all of the teams preparing to compete now intend to use lasers. Practical systems employing power beaming would have a wide range of applications from lunar rovers and space propulsion systems to airships above the Earth. Another future application of power beaming would be the space elevator concept and many of the competitors are advocates for this technology.

    Beamed power competitions were held in 2005, 2006 and 2007. So far no team has met the ambitious criteria to win the prize but some were close in 2007 and they are returning in 2009 for a prize purse of $2 million. In the 2009 competition, the competitors will be expected to drive their laser-powered devices up a cable one kilometer high, suspended from a helicopter. This promises to be the most visually impressive Centennial Challenge event to date.

Special Feature

2009 Power Beaming Challenge Image Gallery

image of power beaming competition
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2008 Power Beaming and Tether Challenge Images

power beaming & tether image
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