International Space Elevator Consortium
May 2014 Newsletter

In this Issue:

Editor’s Note
President’s Corner
New ISEC Study
ISEC Conference
ISEC at ISDC

Editor’s Note

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the May, 2014 edition of the ISEC eNewsletter.

In this issue's President's Corner, ISEC President Dr. Peter Swan talks about the importance of Involvement - getting active with ISEC and Space Elevator activities.  ISEC has many activities ongoing and we can always use volunteers.  If you are interested, please email Dr. Swan at pete.swan@isec.org.

Also in this issue, we announce the release of the latest ISEC study; this on Design Considerations for Space Elevator Tether Climbers.  The latest in a series of these studies, this one concentrates on how a Tether Climber might operate and is a "must-read" for all those who take an active interest in space elevator technologies.

Dr. Swan also represented ISEC at the recent NSS/ISDC Conference in Los Angeles - more details are shown elsewhere in this eNewsletter.

Please don’t forget to LIKE US on Facebook, FOLLOW US on Twitter, and enjoy the photos and videos that we’ve posted on Flickr and YouTube, all under our Social Identity of ISECdotORG.

Thank you! 
ISEC

President's Corner

Involvement - this simple word has a very large impact when accomplished with the appropriate amount of sharing, knowledge, championship, and listening.  I believe ISEC members must become involved within their own communities as spokespersons for our ISEC efforts and space in general. We have many things to celebrate and enjoy: the yearly conference with keynote speakers, new committees to become involved in [history and research teams have kicked off activities], CLIMB Journal focused upon Sir Arthur C. Clarke coming up, and this year's study - Architectures and Roadmaps.    As one who enjoys participation, I hope to stimulate more involvement from our ISEC members inside their own spheres of influence.  Any ideas?

"Keep Climbing my Friends!" 

Pete Swan

New ISEC Study released

Each year, the International Space Elevator Consortium prepares a study on a specific topic relating to the Space Elevator.  This latest study is entitled "Design Considerations for Space Elevator Tether Climbers" and it has just been released.  It can be purchased from the ISEC store or directly from the publisher, Lulu.

The Executive Summary of this report begins as follows:

"The 2013 ISEC study report addresses a critical aspect of the space elevator infrastructure: the tether climber.  The tether climber will leverage 60 years of spacecraft design while incorporating aspects of traditional terrestrial transportation infrastructure..."

The study is organized as follows:

  • Chapter 1: Introduction

  • Chapter 2: Tether Climber Operational Phases

  • Chapter 3: Sub-System Description

  • Chapter 4: Power Sources

  • Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations

Previous studies include "Space Elevator Survivability - Space Debris Mitigation" and the "Space Elevator Concept of Operations".  All of these reports can be downloaded free or purchased in hardcopy at Lulu.com.

Registration now open for the 2014 ISEC Space Elevator Conference

ISEC is very pleased to announce that Registration is now OPEN for the 2014 ISEC Space Elevator Conference.

The Conference will be held from Friday, August 22nd, 2014 through Sunday, August 24th.

The Venue will the same place we've had the conference the past two years, Seattle's Museum of Flight.  This has turned out to be a wonderful venue for the Conference and we are thrilled to be able to host the Conference here again.

Mark you calendars now - be there or be square!

ISEC represented at 2014 ISDC Conference

Dr. Peter Swan, President of the International Space Elevator Consortium, presented twice at the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles during 16-18 May, 2014.  The two topics that were well attended with discussions following were:

  • "Impact upon Humanity from a Space Elevator Perspective."

  • "Potential Impact of Space Elevators upon Development of Space Solar Power Development."

In addition, he signed many copies of the recently released International Academy of Astronautics report entitled, "Space Elevators: An Assessment of the Technological Feasibility and the Way Forward."