Futuristic Space Competition Slated for Davis County this Fall

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Someday, instead of propelling people and cargo into space with rockets, we will send them on a leisurely ride in an elevator car up a long cable from Earth to orbit. It sounds crazy, but Spaceward Foundation CEO Ben Shelef says it's real:

"It's closer than you may think, but it does require a departure from the notion of a rocket that goes into space," says Shelef. "It's like a rocket, except infinitely cheaper, safer and more of it."

This week the nonprofit science education group Spaceward Foundation announced it will hold it's 2007 Space Elevator Games at the Davis County Events Center October 15-21st.

Shelef says twenty teams of scientists will compete to build the strongest, lightest cable for the space elevator and the fastest elevator car capable of carrying the heaviest load. NASA will give one-million dollars in cash prizes, and Shelef says the government has good reason to be interested in the space elevator.

"You can launch an elevator car once every day carrying the same load as a space shuttle - there's no risk of an explosion or risk on re-entry," says Shelef. "Once the space elevator is working, that will be the beginning of the Space Age. We're not going to be talking about individual people in orbit. We'll be talking hundreds of thousands of people. The capacity is a lot larger than we can do today."

Shelef says his group settled on Utah for the 2007 Space Elevator Games at the invitation of Davis County economic development officials. The Governor's Office of Economic Development hopes the high-tech competition will draw attention to Utah's growing aerospace industry centered in Davis and Weber Counties.

See demonstrations of the Space Elevator and learn more about the 2007 Space Elevator Games at www.spaceward.org.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW