Venus L2 is supposedly 1,014,300 km 1,014,200 km = 86% shaded by
Venus, receiving 14% worth of the solar photosphere illumination.
There's actually a bit more of what the outer most realm of the solar
atmospheric/chromosphere illumination that should make VL2 worth roughly
20% of the total solar illumination impact (especially if you'd care to
include those impressive CME loops), but the vast bulk of the
photosphere's IR spectrum is what's getting nicely diverted by as much
as 90% via the highly reflective 12,250 km diameter blockage of Venus,
and best of all, hardly if any of those nasty halo CMEs would ever get a
clear shot at VL2.
What VL2 might often get to see is a bit more impressive than the
following "coronal_loop" images have to suggest.
http://www.bu.edu/cism/CISM_Thrusts/...tmosphere.html
http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/shine/suntoday.html
http://trace.lmsal.com/
Unfortunately, TRACE isn't going to last forever, and setting up
TRACE-II (such as at VL2) along with a 10 fold improvement in utilizing
mirror optics and outfitted with even better CCDs seems well worth our
doing.
A properly controlled station-keeping halo orbit could actually manage
to receive as much or as little solar illumination and thus IR spectrum
warmth as desired, because, with the minimum of IR being as slight as
10% represents that a highly reflective POOF space depot would otherwise
become a touch cold.
For an example:
14% of the VL2's 2625 j/m2 = 368 j/m2
368 j/m2 is actually offering a bit more then the average solar energy
that's terrestrial, although the back side or thermal exit phase of VL2
is most likely extremely cold. Therefore, accomplishing a
station-keeping halo orbit of allowing perhaps 25% of the solar energy
to reach this VL2 space station might be about right, at 656 j/m2
(roughly 5% less than what our ISS has upon average to work with
(especially since VL2 is w/o venus-shine).
Therefore, of whatever is at all ISS/POOF suitable for LEO application
should be directly usable as is, if not a whole lot better suited for
the Venus L2 placement, with lots of available options for obtaining
more or less solar energy as the situation demands, and best of all,
there's even less of the lethal forms of radiation to deal with.
With much of the solar atmosphere emitting in the near-UV and UV
spectrum, the VL2 photo cells should actually do just fine and dandy,
and otherwise survive better off than having to deal with the IR
spectrum along with avoiding most of the flak contributed by way of
those pesky CME halo events which can bcome downright lethal.
The question is, other than taking whatever's my best swag as to what
VL2 has to offer, what is your best swag at the cool nature of VL2?
-
Brad Guth
--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server -
http://www.Mailgate.ORG