well, it's been quite some time since the last blog. so, i'll make this short, sweet and complete:

our flashback limo company experienced too many unfortunate stituations and was closed. however, we met plenty of new contacts and that was our intention. the white caddy was damaged due to a freak wind storm. the '87 black caddy is still available for private use and for catering to spaceminer sponsors.

unfortunately, my father had past away in his sleep. i had to take some time out and deal with all the situations that occurs after such a life changing tragedy. my family fell apart, my business ended, and i was becoming financially dependent on the savings account. depression was more crippling than being confined to a wheelchair.

dwelling on the past is bad for ones health. my father was always as happy as a dog in a clown suite. he inspires me to carry on. i can't give up. so, i am now once again attempting to win the grand prize at the space elevator competition. this means i need a small army of spaceminers [inventors, engineers, programmers, designers, etc] check out our videos and sign up as a spaceminer at www.youtube.com/spaceminers !!!

At the moment, the SpaceMiners are opening a limousine business to raise funds and awareness for the space elevator project.

www.flashbacklimos.com [based in Hurst, Texas] is a unique & exciting transport business, as our limos look like "back to the future" meets "the godfather"! two classic 6-door caddy's complete with gps mapping/tracking/security, dvd, satellite radio, neon ground effects, wireless laptop internet access, etc.

if we can't transport you around town in a classy hightech limo, then we wouldn't even try to send you to the stars in a space elevator or hybrid rocket! this is our 1st step in the transportation business. our #1 priority is a safe & secure ride to your destination... wherever it may be :)

as far as the 2007 space elevator contest, WE WILL BE THERE! we have 2 climbers, 2 solar arrays and 1 prototype thermal engine. the "power beam" is under intense research at the D/FW SpacePort [home of the SpaceMiners] and will require a large amount of funds from current & potential sponsors to assemble, test & operate. we may not be competing, as the contest is only months away. however, we will be demonstrating the 2 climbers, hybrid thermal engne, and "power beam" at the competition site to gain awareness in the aerospace industry.

the stakes have been raise and so has the cash prize. in order to win the now $500,000 cash prize, our climbers must achieve a min of 2m/s ascension up a 400ft industrial belt; 2x the speed and 2x the distance of last years requirements. 10kw theatrical spots are now physically & financially impractical to lift a sizeable payload. lasers are an ideal alternative assuming you can build one that pumps out 100 billion candlepower.

"a watt is a watt, no matter what." we need an intense amount of beam power, which means we need an electrical generator capable of supplying over 1 million watts of energy. why so much? beam energy decreases as its distance increases. also, the climber must carry a payload. the greater the load the higher the score.

score = [speed * payload] / climber weight

climber weight is fixed. climber speed has a max limit determined by the motor & gear ratio of the drivetrain. but the weight of the payload can be incremented as beam power is incremented.... more power, more payload... up to the limits of the motor of course. how does a 24v, 732amp dc motor sound? 17,000+ watts max!! the largest scooter motor i've seen handles up to 3000w. this 17,000w motor is capable of lifting 3 or more men with some energy to spare!

in order to achieve this increadible amount of power we will require a very efficient beam/collector interface. if not, we will be stuck with approx 100:1 energy conversion. for every 100w of generator output, we will only obtain 1w of solar collector output. the SpaceMiners are researching a radical new form of hybrid beam energy as well as a thermal collector that absorbs 90%+ of the energy directed to it.

if you are interested in this project, and you feel that you have what it takes to become a SpaceMiner team member, please contact us and email your resume & list of technological achievements to spaceminers@dfwspaceport.com

DON'T LET THE CANADIANS WIN THIS CONTEST! JOIN THE AMERICAN SPACEMINERS AND HELP US WIN THE "BEAM POWER SPACE ELEVATOR" CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE!!