One of the "holy grails" of the space program is to successfully built a space elevator. Basically, you get a cable (a very strong cable) that extends from the surface of the earth far enough out into space so that natural forces allow it to just hang there on its own. Then you run an elevator up and down it. Hey presto, you've solved the problem of having to use rockets to get into orbit. Naturally enough, there are a heck of a lot of engineering problems that will need to be solved before anything like it can be built. That's why it's encouraging to see that people are working on it, and even making a little progress.

LaserMotive of Seattle qualified for at least $900,000 in the $2 million NASA-backed Space Elevator Games, which began Wednesday at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base. LaserMotive's vehicle climbed 2,953 feet (nearly 1 kilometer) in just over four minutes and then repeated the feat.

Now wouldn't that be something to see a space elevator within my life time. Judging from NASA's progress in the last 40 years, I doubt there'll be anything like it until ... well, my grandkids time, even if we're lucky.