X PRIZE Cup 2007

If you're intrigued by the concept of civilians heading into space, consider roadtripping to the X PRIZE Cup 2007 in New Mexico or volunteering at the event.

Exciting and interesting aerospace activities abounded at the X PRIZE Cup 2006, 20 - 21 October 2006 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. These included:

• Vertical Lander competition, with John Carmack piloting the Armadillo Aerospace entry with a handheld controller. He had problems landing safely due to dust kicked up by his vertical lander, Pixel. Real life problems not anticipated...
  
• Space Elevator Beam Challenge, wirelessly power space elevators. Huge improvements from last year, dropping from six minutes to climb the tether ribbon down to less than one minute, although the judges weren't sure if the ribbon was 50 or 60 meters long.
  
• Space Elevator Tether Challenge, testing the strength of potential space elevator cable materials. This event happened late at night and included the test unit failing and disqualifications for three of the four entries due to their entries being one or a few millimeters below the stated two meter distance.

If you don't have space exploration activities planned yet for October 2007, consider a road trip to New Mexico. RocketRoadCamp may be in your future. Plot a route from Maine to New Mexico. We'll have designated meet-up points every three to four hours along the route, and the arrivals at each of those points will join the convoy on its southwest trek.

This may need to be a two-phase voyage, with the inital wave made of those people who are volunteers at the event. The second group would be those folks who are not able to take as much time off from their everyday activities. Modern day wagon train, here we come. Wouldn't it be cool to be part of an X PRIZE Cup convoy consisting of several thousand vehicles heading down the highway towards Las Cruces? Contact me if this sounds like your type of adventure!

Excuse me now -- I have to use Mapquest and Google Maps to start plotting the route. Let me see, who can I connect with in Maine...

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