"Rick Jones" wrote in message
...
Jeff Findley wrote:
You're ignoring history. Again, look at airlines. There were other
ways to travel long distances (rail and ocean going passenger
liners). The airlines started out small, catering to the rich with
lavish service aboard the smallish aircraft. But as safety and
efficiency increased, costs came down. This broadened the market.
If we are looking to history, then who/what are taking the place of
the barnstormers, bringing aviation to the "plain folks" at $5 a head?
A surplus Curtis Jenny back then probably didn't cost the annual
salaries of a few hundred thousand people, or involve multi-mach
speeds. The comparisons to commercial aviation just aren't valid
except for ...one aspect, which is to find the space version of the
huge and virtually unlimited profit potential of aviation.
How can space activity provide direct and substantial benefits to
almost EVERY person and business on the planet? That's why
we have 80,000 flights a day in the US alone. Nothing niche
about it.
If you want to ignite a 'gold rush' for space, and usher in the
kind of space future everyone wants, and the planet ..deserves
then you have to look around the world and find the very LARGEST
and most PRECIOUS market which .../space/..can TRANSFORM!
It's not a very difficult max/min equation. Minimum effort that
provides the maximum potential effect.
What's the /single idea/ which can save the /world/ ?
There's only one market that has all those qualities; the shear
dollar size appropriate to space travel, the level of connectivity
to almost every other market that exists, and is also within our
current technological ability.
And the answer is so obvious, I shouldn't even have to
mention which market it is. But of course I will anyway~
Executive Summary
NASA'S SPACE SOLAR POWER EXPLORATORY
RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (SERT) PROGRAM
"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Space
Solar Power (SSP) Exploratory Research and Technology
(SERT) program1 was charged to develop technologies needed
to provide cost-competitive ground baseload electrical power
from space-based solar energy converters. In addition, during its
2-year tenure, the SERT program was also expected to provide
a roadmap of research and technology investment to enhance
other space, military, and commercial applications such as satellites
operating with improved power supplies, free-flying technology
platforms, space propulsion technology, and techniques for
planetary surface exploration.
NASA focused the SERT effort3 by utilizing the definition of a
"strawman" or baseline SSP system that would provide 10 to
100 GW to the ground electrical power grid with a series of
1.2-GW satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO).
For each of the major SSP subsystems, NASA managers
developed top-level cost targets in cents per kilowatt-hour
(kW-hr) that they felt would have to be met to deliver baseload
power at a target of 5 cents/kW-hr."
GEE, I wonder what happened to this program? It seemed to
literally drop off the face of the planet almost overnight?
Any one care to speculate if it was cost or technology issues?
OR POLITICAL? Read below, the answer should be obvious
even to a child.
"The SERT program was established in FY 1999 and continued
through FY 2000 by U.S. congressional appropriation. An additional
appropriation was also funded for SSP Research and Technology
(SSP R&T) for FY 2001. Decisions on internal NASA budget
allocations for FY 2002 were pending during review and publication
of this report."
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10202&page=1
Hmm, what happened in late 2001? And how devoted to solar power
would you suspect our new President, Texas Oilman George W Bush
was at the time? Wasn't the 2002 budget the first he was responsible
for? Oh yes that would be correct.
And if anyone was around this ng back then, exactly 3 weeks after
I started ranting about SSP here, NASA took down their long standing
SSP web page, and expunged virtually every reference to SSP throughout
all their pages, I checked. They were all gone the ...same day.
I knew at that moment it was the better goal before I could barely spell
space solar power. It was plainly obvious the powers that be were so
worried about the concept derailing their new plans, they ordered a
Soviet style purge of the idea.
Considering what has happened to NASA since then, I'd say the
decision hasn't stood up to the test of time.
But it's never too late, a good idea has a way, and these days
a good idea can go viral at almost any time, and from even
from a few voices.
s
s
rick jones
--
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, rebirth...
where do you want to be today?
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... 
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...