Good to see all of the green in Neosho.

The team is rested (more rested than before, anyway) and ready to head back out on the road to Calgary via Omaha tomorrow. They'll start out in either fourth or fifth place, which, in retrospect doesn't seem so bad. Everybody will be chasing Michigan and Principia -- but there are a lot of cars that will have to catch up to S&T if they hope to run with the lead pack.

By tomorrow evening, this site should be populated with some fresh MULTI-media updates, including new audio and video. In the interim, Bob has posted some new photos and a Foxworthy-like list of reasons you know you're on a solar car adventure over at Experience This!

Posted by Lance Feyh at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Solar Miner VI got to Crowder College this morning about 9:30 a.m. and the team will rest here (this is an official stage stop) until Tuesday morning.

So the teams to arrive in Neosho (in order) are: Michigan, Principia, Minnesota, Germany and Missouri S&T. The rest of the pack is presumably still in Oklahoma.

Functionality and performance are always going to be the primary concerns of engineers, but looks matter. And in the aesthetic arena, Michigan and the team from Germany are in a class by themselves (no doubt aided by really big budgets). The Michigan car is sleek with a wolverine football helmet design painted into the canopy, while the German car looks like a huge fishing lure or a yellow humpback whale. And when it's charging, the German vehicle opens up like a big clam. These cars are very impressive and wonderfully designed, but we'll see if they have been built to withstand the stress of the long haul.

Meanwhile, the S&T team is relying on the kind of old school engineering that once got American astronauts to the moon and back. It reminds us of Tom Hanks in Apollo 13. Sure, the Solar Miners have GPS and all kinds of sophisticated equipment, but we're pretty sure they're also relying on plenty of duct tape, wire hangers, shoelaces and possibly transistor radio parts.

Continue reading "Today Neosho, tomorrow Topeka and beyond" »

Posted by Lance Feyh at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Day one for the Missouri S&T Solar Car Team ended in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store on the outskirts of Vanita, Okla., about 70 miles short of Neosho, Mo. The team was beset by technical problems -- blown fuses, issues with the fairings -- that limited Solar Miner VI's speed to 40-45 mph.

"Tonight's going to be a real engineering night," says Lance Feyh, who is traveling with the team to post updates and interviews on this site.

Continue reading "Day One: Overnight in Vinita, Okla." »

Posted by Andrew Careaga at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Solar Miner VI just rolled into the first checkpoint about an hour behind race leader Minnesota. The car apparently blew a tire or had some kind of glitch that delayed progress for 10 minutes not long after crossing the Texas-Oklahoma border. Still, S&T is in third place behind only Minnesota and Michigan. Principia arrived at the first checkpoint right behind Solar Miner VI.

Earlier, Kentucky was in third place -- but no sign of them right now.

It's not clear if S&T is going to make the first stage stop in Neosho this evening, but they should be able to get there early tomorrow.

So far, it's been cloudy with a few sprinkles. "Once we get a day of open sun, we'll be able to fly," says team member John Clay.

Western Michigan failed to qualify, so they're loaning us three team members for the race.

We'll try to check back later this afternoon and/or, if we get a motel room, later tonight.

Posted by Lance Feyh at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From Plano, Texas: A new audio interview with some parents of Missouri S&T Solar Car Team members.

Posted by Andrew Careaga at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Testing...Interview with Solar Car Team members on the eve of the North American Solar Challenge.

Posted by Lance Feyh at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Solar Miner VI ran flag-to-flag this afternoon in its final test before Sunday's big race, but not without a lot of suspense. Last night through this morning the Miners were plagued with circuit board problems that defied explanation, but just before lunch the crew found the crossed circuits and headed to the track. More.

Posted by Mindy Limback at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)