Photos: Competitors prepare for lift-off

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  • Prepping the light source

    Prepping the light source

    Members of the Spaceward Foundation, which is hosting the competition with funding from NASA, prepare the light source that will be beamed from a transmitter to a receiver on the robot climber.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Space Miners' climber

    Space Miners' climber

    A close-up shot of the Space Miner team's climber, which is a wheelchair frame powered by "super cells" that can produce at least 2.5 amps of current each.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • University of B.C.'s climber

    University of B.C.'s climber

    A graduate student from the University of British Columbia holds up his team's solar-cell-powered robot, which will climb the tether in competition with six other bots this weekend.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Ribbon

    Ribbon

    Robot climbers get three chances to ascend a 50-meter ribbon carrying a payload and traveling at a minimum speed of 1 meter per second. That's similar to climbing a 20 story building in one minute.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Starclimber team member

    Starclimber team member

    A member from the Starclimber team assembles a parabolic reflector, which is designed to focus light on the hot end of the robot's engine. Starclimber incorporates a Stirling engine, which can convert heat into mechanical energy with an efficiency of 30 to 40 percent, on par with gas engines.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Team Speco

    Team Speco

    Team Speco works on its climber, which uses a roller friction drive and triple junction photovoltaic cells.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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Photos show teams as they prepare for a first-ever space elevator competition hosted by NASA and the nonprofit Spaceward Foundation.

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Prepping the light source

Members of the Spaceward Foundation, which is hosting the competition with funding from NASA, prepare the light source that will be beamed from a transmitter to a receiver on the robot climber.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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