In March 2000, NASA's Office of Space Flight asked the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council to perform an independent assessment of the space solar power program's technology investment strategy to determine its technical soundness and its contribution to the roadmap that NASA has developed for this program. The program's investment strategy was to be evaluated in the context of its likely effectiveness in meeting the program's technical and economic objectives.
This book makes the case for Space Solar Power; recounting the history of this fascinating concept and summarizing the many different ways in which it might be accomplished. The book describes in detail a highly promising concept - SPS-ALPHA (Solar Power Satellite by means of Arbitrarily Large Phased Array) - and presents a business case comprising applications in space and markets on Earth. The book explains how it is possible to begin now with technologies that are already at hand, while developing the more advanced technologies that will be needed to deliver power economically to markets on Earth. The Case for Space Solar Power concludes by laying out a path forward that is both achievable and affordable: within a dozen years or less, the first multi-megawatt pilot plant could be in operation. Getting started could cost less than $10 million over the first 2 years, less than $100 million over the next half dozen years. Given that space solar power would transform our future in space, and might provide a new source of virtually limitless and sustainable energy to markets across the world, the book poses the question, "Why wouldn't we pursue space solar power?"
Communication satellites are a $144 billion industry. Is there any space-based industry that could possibly beat that market? 'Solar Power Satellites' shows why and how the space satellite industry will soon begin expanding its market from relaying signals to Earth to generating energy in space and delivering it to the ground as electricity. In all industrialized nations, energy demand is growing exponentially. In the developing world, the need for energy is as basic as food and water. The Sun's energy is available everywhere, and it is non-polluting. As business plans demonstrate its technical feasibility, commercial potential, and environmental acceptability, every country on Earth will look to space for the power it needs.
This book presents a visionary concept for future development of space travel. It describes the enabling technology for future propulsion concepts and demonstrates how mankind will ‘live off the land in space’ in migration from Earth. For the next few millennia at least (barring breakthroughs), the human frontier will include the solar system and the nearest stars. Will it be better to settle the Moon, Mars, or a nearby asteroid and what environments can we expect to find in the vicinity of nearby stars? These are questions that need to be answered if mankind is to migrate into space.
Power beaming is the ability to move energy without moving or employing mass between an energy input and energy output. It is an emerging technology that could reshape how we generate and distribute energy and how our devices and autonomous systems are powered.This comprehensive compendium provides the foundation needed for researchers, technology developers, and end users to understand the promise and challenges for power beaming. By establishing a common nomenclature and conceptual approach to the analysis and assessment of power beaming systems, this unique reference text provides a true status of advancements in the field, and lays the groundwork for fruitful future research and applications.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has operated continuously since 1990. During that time, four space shuttle-based service missions were launched, three of which added major observational capabilities. A fifth â€" SM-4 â€" was intended to replace key telescope systems and install two new instruments. The loss of the space shuttle Columbia, however, resulted in a decision by NASA not to pursue the SM-4 mission leading to a likely end of Hubble's useful life in 2007-2008. This situation resulted in an unprecedented outcry from scientists and the public. As a result, NASA began to explore and develop a robotic servicing mission; and Congress directed NASA to request a study from the National Research Council (NRC) of the robotic and shuttle servicing options for extending the life of Hubble. This report presents an assessment of those two options. It provides an examination of the contributions made by Hubble and those likely as the result of a servicing mission, and a comparative analysis of the potential risk of the two options for servicing Hubble. The study concludes that the Shuttle option would be the most effective one for prolonging Hubble's productive life.
