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#41
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"Gene P." wrote in message
... I'm basically a skeptic of human nature though... I don't think there will ever be solar power satellites or really big solar mirror farms for the same basic reason: The ability to focus a power beam at any distance is equivalent to a space weapon of incredible power. No Government will ever allow it... unless there's been a major war and only one government has access to space. You need to read some more on the SPS proposal. The power beam proposed would have zero usefulness as a weapon. It's a beam that requires the active cooperation of its target (I'm referring to the phased array pilot signal). -- Regards, Mike Combs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Member of the National Non-sequitur Society. We may not make much sense, but we do like pizza. |
#42
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Sander Vesik wrote:
Cameron Dorrough wrote: If you were serious, you'd probably direct bury them - AIUI, moon dust is a great insulator. Its a great thermal insulator - this does not automaticly mean it is also a great electrical insulator No, but those properties are often related; electron mobility plays a role in each. (especially if fused by the electricty first). Silicates tend to form glass; I'm not sure what the particular minerals most common in lunar regolith would form into. /dps -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ |
#43
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Paul F. Dietz wrote:
D Schneider wrote: How much plasma is there on the Moon? I would have thought that the density of earth's atmosphere falls off rapidly after LEO (isn't drag negligible by MEO?). Does the solar wind have enough density to produce arcing? The concern would be that there would be a runaway discharge from secondary ions. You wouldn't need much to get that process started. Can you explain in more detail how the secondary ions would be formed? What are you seeing as the primary ion, and what atoms become the secondary ions? /dps -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ |
#44
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D Schneider wrote:
Can you explain in more detail how the secondary ions would be formed? What are you seeing as the primary ion, and what atoms become the secondary ions? Primary ions would be ambient plasma ions. Secondary ions would be ions sputtered off surfaces after impact by other ions or electrons. Paul |
#45
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Paul F. Dietz wrote:
Primary ions would be ambient plasma ions. Secondary ions would be ions sputtered off surfaces after impact by other ions or electrons. So what is the flux of ambient plasma ions at the lunar surface? /dps -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ |
#46
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D Schneider wrote:
Paul F. Dietz wrote: Primary ions would be ambient plasma ions. Secondary ions would be ions sputtered off surfaces after impact by other ions or electrons. So what is the flux of ambient plasma ions at the lunar surface? If the multiplication factor is 1, you just need one to get the process started, so the initial ion density isn't important. Paul |
#47
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Joe Strout :
Nonsense. The microwave power beam from a solar power satellite has half the power density of sunlight. You could walk right through it and probably wouldn't even notice. think you are wrong there. As you walk thru the beam you will probably think it is a very hot day and go looking for a drink. Powersats promote beer sales, that is why there is a sercet cabal of German Brewmasters behind the push for space power. I don't think that mirrors could focus light on Earth's surface enough to cause major damage, either. High school math is your friend. Basicly, a point source from an orbiting mirror reflecting to Earth's surface with expand in width 1/100 it's attitude on the surface. Simple model: Orbit a mirror at 200 KMs and see how much it can increase light desity on Earth if it is perfect. Min. Spot size on Earth 2KM. 1KM mirror, - Solar flux increase 25%, Total flux 125% - Just a hot day. 2KM mirror, - Solar flux increase 100%, Total flux 200% - Feel the heat. 4KM mirror, - Solar flux increase 400%, Total flux 500% - Now that is getting hot! The problem is 200KM is very low, you have major orbital decay problems, the transit time across the sky is very fast so you need a lot of mirrors or alot of downtime. So let's try 1000KM. Min. Spot size on Earth 10KM. 1KM mirror, - Solar flux increase 1%, Total flux 101% - This will not be noticeable. 2KM mirror, - Solar flux increase 4%, Total flux 104% - Not much better. 4KM mirror, - Solar flux increase 16%, Total flux 116% - Just noticable! Basicly mirrors need to be min of 1% in diameter of thier attitude to achive even a 100% increase of the solar flux. Thier use as a weapon does not make sense. Earl Colby Pottinger -- I make public email sent to me! Hydrogen Peroxide Rockets, OpenBeos, SerialTransfer 3.0, RAMDISK, BoatBuilding, DIY TabletPC. What happened to the time? http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp |
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