STILL OFF TOPIC: Re: America needs therapy

[Eugene Leitl]

On Mon, 1 Oct 2001, Steve Schear wrote:

> At 01:25 PM 10/1/2001 -0400, James B. DiGriz wrote:
> >Declan McCullagh wrote:
> >A far more productive application of corporate welfare would be if that
> >money were spent on engineering research and development of geosynchronous
> >solar power microwave relays, fusion and advanced fission reactors,

GEO is lousy: it's too far away, and it's packed already. Newer concepts
assume LEO with active microwave focus tracking of the rectenna ground
array with phased array antennas integrated into the solar array. You have
to have sufficient amounts of hardware in the sky for continuous line of
sight presence.

> >permanent manned statons on the Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc. The planet and

Luna is closest, and it's near enough for relativistic lag being low
enough to allow teleoperation. Sending monkeys elsewhere would seem a
later stage.

> >its politics would likely be a lot cleaner. Just one beneficial side effect.
>
> Research in geosynchronous power satellites is still being funded.  One
> program, started in Japan but which is now also funded by NASA, uses 5.7
> GHz transmission to a ground based RECifying anTENNAs.  Another project
> intends to use IR lasers.  My understanding is these projects are receiving
> serious funding and prototypes should fly soon.

Problem is high LEO launch costs. It would seem easier to build automated
and teleoperate fabbing and (linear motor) launching facilities on Luna,
and circularize orbit mostly by aerobraking.

-- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204/">leitl</a>
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