this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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US Congress Breaks Ground on Space-Based Solar Power: A Small but Significant Victory for Space Exploration Enthusiasts

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[–] the_nightman@beehaw.org 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I didn’t see any mention of how they actually get the power down to earth. Really long cable maybe?

[–] TheTrueLinuxDev@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They did a test with microwave to transmit energy from space to Earth. There is some serious drawback in doing it via microwave though, so I'm curious on how they'll transmit a huge amount of energy without heating up or causing residual damage to the environment.

[–] charliespider@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And ppl think wind turbines are deadly to birds, imagine a flock flying through a trillion watt microwave beam.

[–] tal@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_gun

The sun gun or heliobeam is a theoretical orbital weapon, which makes use of a concave mirror mounted on a satellite, to concentrate sunlight onto a small area at the Earth's surface, destroying targets or killing through heat.

[–] shanghaibebop@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Ion canon ready

[–] MrGoodBright@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah seems like there's a general thermodynamics problem with sending a bunch of energy through the atmosphere

[–] Thomasnotused@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Most proposals I've seen involve using microwave transmission to a ground-based receiver dish.

[–] sax@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I imagine it would be something like the wireless energy beaming tech in this TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxrB7PDLJ18

[–] baascus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Last year, at the International Space Development Conference, a NASA official said the agency had begun a short-term study evaluating the prospects of space-based solar power. This was the agency's first real look at the subject in about two decades. However, that study has not been released publicly, as there were apparently some policy concerns about the first draft. The revised study may finally be released in late June or July.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] _anarchism_@beehaw.org 10 points 1 year ago

I FUCKING LOVE MIRRORS PLACED AROUND STARS THAT HARNESS ITS ENERGY IN A CLEAN AND EFFICIENT WAY YEAAAAA

[–] stevexley@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Is this because people who grew up playing Sim City 2000 are now in positions of power?

[–] charliespider@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

ALL solar is space based

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

They will try everything else before building wind and solar

[–] Bipta@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Jewish space lasers in the news changed the game.