Big KC Space Pirates Sponsorship and Media News

The Space Elevator Blog has some important news from the KC Space Pirates. Better yet, it's a 2-for-1 news update. First, KC Space Pirate Brian Turner tells us:

I am going to be interviewed about the Space Elevator on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Date Friday May 2nd

Time: Very late. After the Tonight Show - Around 11:30 in Kansas City

I have read repots estimating 2 million viewers.

That's a cool way to get the news out about the Challenge. You never know how something like this is going to turn out, of course. Hopefully the audience will get a sense not just of the potential of these games and the technologies (for example power beaming not just for space elevators but for all sorts of other applications, including space and Earth applications) but also of the fun involved. This could bring a lot more fans to the Games.

The other news, again straight from the SE Blog post:

We have landed National Instruments as a sponsor. For those of you who don’t know them, they make the coolest automation software out there (LabView) and all the hardware to go with it.

It would be good if the media attention results in more sponsorships all around.

Another Space Elevator Blog post links to video from the 2008 Space Elevator Games from Bitter Jester Creative. The KC Space Pirates also have a post with the video links. Bitter Jester is making a documentary on the Games.

Meanwhile, USST's main page has an April 15 note on the end of the semester, and there's also a note from the new President of the team I haven't seen before (I'm not sure how old it is, though).