I’m heading over to the airport shortly for the X Prize Cup, which begins at the the crack of dawn (almost literally: the event starts at 7 am MDT and sunrise is about 15 minutes later.) In addition to my visit to the fairgrounds to watch the Space Elevator Games qualifying, I also spent some time at the airport checking out preparations for the event. Things there were in a mild state of chaos, but understandable given all the scale of the event, as well as the fact that some preparations were hours behind schedule because of heavy rain late Wednesday. I have a set of photos on Flickr of various work and other activities, including some scenes from the space elevator qualifying. The weather looks good for today (sunny and mid-70s), although the winds are forecast to pick up a bit (to 10-15 mph) later in the day; hopefully not enough to cause problems for any of the events.
I plan to post updates as time, events, and Internet connectivity permit. If you’re not at the event, you can a live webcast of the event via SPACE.com, which also has a special section devoted to the event, including multimedia and breaking news. Alan Boyle will likely also be updating MSNBC’s Cosmic Log at the Cup, as will Clark Lindsey at RLV and Space Transport News and Robin Snelson at Lunar Lander Challenge Blog.
I wish I could be there. My wife wants to drag me to a renaissance fair instead… ah well.
Is the cup always going to be out west? I know they have the open space and all, but my travel limit for stuff is probably 3 to 4 hours from home. I looked on the X Prize cup site, but didn’t see that information in the “future” section (although I might have just read over it).
Chance: Sorry, but they’re committed to hosting the X Prize Cup in New Mexico for the indefinite future.