Questions about "The High Frontier"

"Mike Combs" wrote in message
news:...

Be careful. What might seem to be a consensus on this newsgroup might not
correspond to a consensus in the professional space community. There are
still experts around willing to make the argument that SPS might become
economical under plausible circumstances. Am I trying to argue that they
are the everwhelming majority or having enormous sway over policy? No.
But they're still out there.

But it might be that their influence is on the rise. They seemed to have
convinced the National Security Space Office to throw its weight behind the
idea:
http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/nsso.htm

One recommendation made in this report is that we support Space-Based Solar
Power with at least the same funding levels as we do fusion research and the
ISS.

And there's a newly-formed organization to promote SBSP: The Space Solar
Alliance for Future Energy.
http://ssafe.wordpress.com/


--


Regards,
Mike Combs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth
I bid you stand, Men of the West!
Aragorn

"Mike Combs" wrote:

But it might be that their influence is on the rise. They seemed to have
convinced the National Security Space Office to throw its weight behind the
idea...

Because DoD/intel has a much bigger budget than NASA, and because in
the early years they did so much of the R&D heavy lifting for ICBMs
and recon satellites, there's a temptation to get over-excited about
signs of interest on their part. But their track record of zoomy
Powerpoints leading nowhere (and before those, slide shows and
overheads and easel presentations) is every bit as long as that of
civilian space advocates.