1. A PAINLESS SOLUTION TO GLOBAL
WARMING, THE US NATIONAL DEBT,
HIGH TAXES, AND OTHER NATIONAL
AND WORLDWIDE PROBLEMS:
THE MOON AS A SOLAR
POWER SATELLITE
GERALD FALBEL
2. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
•
•
•
•
The current world energy usage is 137 trillion equivalent kilowatthours per year and is growing, with China and India coming on
line and burning fossil fuels.
In order to have a significant impact on global warming without
returning to the Stone Age, we must inject more than 5 trillion
kilowatt-hours of clean, non-CO2 emitting energy per year into
world energy usage.
The Satellite Solar Power System, (SPS), was originally proposed
in 1968 by Dr. Peter Glaser, of Arthur D. Little Co. as a series of
75 Km2, photovoltaic solar collector satellites orbiting at
geosynchronous (22,500 mile) altitude. These satellites remain
fixed over a point on the earth. The solar energy collected would
be beamed to the earth surface 24 hours a day, using microwave
energy, which can pass through cloud cover. This concept was
studied in multi-million dollar studies by major aerospace
companies between 1977 and 1980, and was found to be
feasible, but expensive.
President Reagan, proclaimed “Morning in America” but did not
“see the sun”, and canceled further study in 1980
3. WORLD ENERGY USAGE IN TRILLIONS OF
KILO-WATT-HOURS PER YEAR (TW)
5 TW = 5 TRILLION KWATT-HOURS/YEAR
6. CURRENTLY PROPOSED MEANS OF SLOWING OR
REVERSING GLOBAL WARMING
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
GEO THERMAL (VOLCANIC THERMAL ENERGY) : This uses the heat of the earth’s magma. At
other places than Yellowstone Park and Iceland, this would require drilling up to five miles into the earth
using technology that has not been developed or costed out, and may be not feasible.
“A MILLION SOLAR ROOFS” : At 1.8 billion Kilowatt-hours per year @ 1 Kilowatt/house ($12,000)
this would be less than 0.04% of the yearly energy use, or negligible. There are not 100 million solar
roofs at the appropriate pitch facing due south available in the US and acceptable to homeowners.
Average adequate solar insolation over the US is less than 4/24/7, requiring fossil fueled plants to
remain on standby, operating inefficiently and causing even more green-house gas emissions..
WINDMILLS: At the end of 2006, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 73.9 billion
watts; which is just over 1% of world-wide electricity use, not including energy used by vehicles. As
can be seen in the fight over Cape Cod windmills by very liberal politicians, there is a large NIMBY
factor on these machines, combined with the fact that the wind is not continuous enough over 24/7 in
most regions.
NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS: Presently generating 20% of electricity in the US, not including
energy used by vehicles. An increase in nuclear plants in the US by a factor of 5/1 would not be
tolerated by the electorate, considering radioactive waste storage problems, currently unsolved.
Future nuclear power is in major jeopardy based upon the current Fukushima disaster
CAP AND TRADE SYSTEMS: These tax processes, combined with increases in the CAFÉ vehicle
mileage regulations only reduce the fossil fuel emissions by a factor less than 30%, which will be rapidly
used up by the exponentially increasing emissions of India and China in a few years
HYDROGEN FUSION: This is a similar process of energy generation in the sun or in a hydrogen bomb,
and has the advantage that it does not produce radioactive residue as nuclear fission does. This
process has been scientifically investigated for over 50 years, and a “scientific breakthrough” where
more energy is generated by the fusion process than is put in to produce fusion is always “five years
away”. It is not clear whether this process will ever become economically feasible.
BIOFUELS: This approach is the current emphasis on bio-fuels such as E85 gasoline made from corn
in the US and from sugar cane in Brazil. This is not a solution, since the land used to grow corn for
ethanol eliminates cultivation for food and/or as in Brazil, it cuts down rain-forests thus removing CO2
absorbing vegetation. In addition, it requires fossil fuel energy to convert vegetation to fuel.
7. EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSED
“SOLUTIONS”
• IN VIEW OF THE 137 TRILLION KILOWATT-HRS/YEAR
OF WORLD ENERGY USAGE, NONE OF THESE
APPROACHES CAN MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DENT IN
GLOBAL WARMING
• THE ONLY APPROACH CAPABLE OF GENERATING
ENOUGH CLEAN ENERGY, WITHOUT REQUIRING A
RETURN TO THE STONE AGE, IS SOLAR ENERGY
FROM SPACE
8. MODIFIED LARGE SCALE SPACE SOLAR
POWER SYSTEM
• For over 33 years I have proposed a modified
version of the Satellite Solar Power System,
(SPS), using the moon as the "satellite”.
• The original SPS was designed and evaluated
by major aerospace companies under the joint
sponsorship of the Department of Energy and
NASA between 1977 and 1980 in multimillion
dollar studies
9. OVERALL CONFIGURATION OF GEOSYNCHRONOUS
SPS (FROM DOE STUDIES)
SPACEBORNE
ARRAY
RECTENNA ON
EARTH
10. TABLE I
OVERALL ADVANTAGES OF A SATELLITE SOLAR POWER
SYSTEM
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Major reduction in the “greenhouse effect” global warming caused by burning fossil
fuels
A totally “clean” electric power generation with no nuclear or toxic waste
The applicable technology is available today, and requires no scientific
“breakthrough” as does hydrogen fusion
Application of U.S. Engineering talent to useful and constructive ends
A defusing of the oil-dependent powder keg in the Middle East
A major reduction in oil revenues by Middle East regimes will greatly reduce terrorist
funding
Unlimited availability of clean electric power worldwide will benefit developing
countries, save the rain forests, and eliminate acid rain
This program will accelerate the development of lower cost earth-mounted solar
photovoltaic cells due to quantity production
The rectennas receiving the microwave energy allow 80% of sunlight to pass. By
mounting these rectennas on floating islands in the ocean, siphoning off some of the
received microwave energy for use in desalinization of seawater, food can be grown
in abundance to feed the world
This program is ideal for an international co-operative effort, where every nation
benefits, thus making wars and conflicts between the participants unlikely
11. TABLE II
TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES OF A LUNAR-BASED SOLAR
THERMAL-ELECTRICITY SPS OVER A GEOSYNCHRONOUS SPS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The moon is a much more reliable and stable platform than a
geosynchronous spacecraft.
The moon has unlimited expansion space for additional solar power
capacity.
In order to generate 2 trillion watts, representing only 10% of yearly world
energy use in 2020, a GEO SPS array requires 400, 5 gwatt satellites
separated by < 100 miles in orbit, having a total area of 30,000 Km2
A 1 Kgram meteor impacting this large area can cause a chain reaction,
producing a “Saturn Ring” of space debris, a catastrophic result,
making space unusable. A lunar platform is immune from this.
Raw materials for major parts of the solar collector and for unlimited
increased solar collection capacity are available directly from lunar
regolith, and do not have to be lifted from the earth.
The 0.001” thick concentrating reflector generates 227 times the
watts/kgram of the best GEO SPS proposed (SCARLET)
Collector and transmitting antenna assembly is much simpler and
cheaper under lunar gravity than in a zero g environment
12. TABLE III
TECHNICAL DISADVANTAGES OF A LUNAR VS. A
GEOSYNCHRONOUS ALTITUDE SPS
• Earth rotates underneath the transmitting
antenna in a lunar SPS
• The moon is approximately 10 times farther
from the earth than geosynchronous
altitude, thus requiring a 100 times larger
rectenna areas than for the geosynchronous
antenna
13. TABLE IV
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS TO THE TECHNICAL DISADVANTAGES
•
Locate rectennas at three or four longitudes on the earth.
This would provide solar power to other nations except the
US, and would make the US. an energy exporting nation
once again
•
Locate Hydrogen gas generating facilities near each
rectenna. These facilities would apply 1/6 of the received
microwave energy directly to the electric grid in that country.
The remaining 5/6 would generate Hydrogen, 2/6 of this
Hydrogen would be used in stationary fuel cells to generate
the remaining daily requirements of electricity on the grid
during the 12 hour period when no microwave energy is
received from the moon. The remaining 3/6 of this
Hydrogen would be sent on pipelines to fuel Hydrogen
vehicles. This Hydrogen in liquid form can also be exported
to other countries using existing oil tankers
14. DIFFRACTION-LIMITED ENERGY PATTERN ON EARTH
SURFACE AT 2.5 GHZ. (SAME FREQUENCY AS
REMOTE HOME TELEPHONES)
100 Km. & 130 Km. for
lunar rectenna
16. PROPOSED LOCATIONS OF RECTENNAS
These rectennas (made up of paper clip-sized dipole antennas) would be located on all
continents or in offshore areas near all continents, thus providing world wide
continuous electrical and fuel cell energy, thereby eliminating world dependence on
fossil fuels and reversing the Greenhouse Effect and global warming. Suggested
locations for these rectennas are presented following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Hudsons Bay
Mojave Desert
Gobi Desert
Sahara Desert
Saudi Arabian Desert
Siberia
Argentine Pampas
Greenland
Floating islands off the coasts of the continents, built using existing off-shore oil
derrick technology, which can desalinize sea water and grow crops in abundance to
feed the world
17. ULTIMATE SOLAR-THERMAL STIRLING CYCLE
ELECTRICITY GENERATING SYSTEM AT THE LUNAR
EQUATOR
VARIATION OF SUN RAYS OVER LUNAR EARTH ORBIT
200 , 1 METER DIAMETER CERAMIC PIPES
MADE FROM LUNAR REGOLITH
PIPE STANCHION EVERY KILOMETER
VAPORIZED LUNAR REGOLITH GAS
HEATED TO DRIVE STIRLING CYCLE
ELECTRIC GENERATORS EVERY
10 TO 100 KILOMETERS
ALONG LUNAR EQUATOR
1 KILOMETER
ALUMINIZED POLYESTER 0.001" THICK, HANGS
IN A CATENARY, WHICH EQUALS A PARABOLA
18. PROPOSED DEPOSITION OF FURLED REFLECTOR FILMS ON
LUNAR SURFACE WITH MINIMUM FUEL AND LIFT WEIGHT USING
TILTED SPINNING ROCKETS FOR LUNAR SOFT LANDING
L1 LAGRANGIAN POINT
TOTAL ORBIT TIME PERIOD ~ 142 HOURS
DESCENT TRAJECTORY
OF FURLED REFLECTOR
SIX FREIGHTERS IN ORBIT,
SPACED 24 HOURS APART
MOON
PICKUP POINT FOR ANOTHER
LOAD OF REFLECTOR FOIL
RELEASE POINT FOR
FURLED REFLECTOR
20. CONFIGURATION OF DESCENT MODULE OF
FURLED 9 REFLECTOR CLUSTER
ENGINES ANGULAR SEPARATION
FOR MINIMUM AXIAL THRUST
ENGINES ANGULAR SEPARATION
FOR MAXIMUM AXIAL THRUST
CABLE
CLUSTER OF 9 FURLED REFLECTORS
100 METERS
21. SOFT LANDING THRUST CALCULATIONS
• Earth Weight of 1 x 105 m² x 2.54 x 10-5 m UV-hard,
aluminized polyester reflector
• = 1 x 105 m² x 1.4 grms/cc x 104 cm²/ m² x 2.54 x 10 -5 m =
3,556 earth kgrams.
• Solar collection with 30% efficiency solar thermal –
electricity Stirling Cycle converter
• = 1,350 watts/m² x 0.3 = 405 watts/m² x 1 x 10 5 m²
= 40.5 Mwatts
• Watts/kgram of collector mass efficiency factor = 40.5 x
106/3,556 Kg. = 11,389 watts/Kg.
• This efficiency factor is 227 times better than the best
orbital collector/mass efficiency (SCARLET)
22. CALCULATIONS SHOWING METHOD OF DEPOSITING NINE,
100 X 1,000 m2 SOLAR REFLECTOR STRIPS ON LUNAR SURFACE
DIRECT FROM AN EARTH TO L-1 ECCENTRIC ORBIT
•Effective mass of reflector strip in lunar gravity = 3,556/6 = 593 Kg.
•Therefore, a >6000 kgram or 2,727 lb-force thrust deceleration rocket will
provide adequate thrust to levitate 9 of these furled reflectors to the lunar
surface
•What is needed is a variable thrust rocket engine that brings the package
vertical velocity to near zero at a <10 meter lunar altitude
•In order to minimize the required attitude control for the furled reflector the
rocket engines would be attached to the 9-furled-reflector bundle by a
tension cable in a configuration similar to that used for the Mars Landers, so
that the furled package would always be oriented aligned with the lunar local
vertical during the landing approach
•In order to minimize lateral acceleration during the descent trajectory, the
assembly would be spin stabilized around the descent axis during descent.
Variable thrust is achieved by varying the angle between the rocket engines
•At a height of less than 10 meters above the lunar surface, determined by a
radar altimeter, the cable would be severed, and the furled package would
drop to the lunar surface by lunar gravity acceleration, while the rocket
motor and cable would blast out to space’
23. SOLAR-THERMAL STIRLING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
•
This system, uses the attributes of the lunar platform more efficiently, and uses a
higher efficiency solar-thermal-to-electrical power conversion.
•
Experiments with Stirling cycle solar energy conversion systems, conducted at Sandia
National Laboratories and at NASA Glenn Research Center have have shown that end-to-end
solar-to-electricity efficiencies higher than 31.9% are achievable, and as high as 40% if high
temperatures for the gas can be reached through the use of high gain solar concentrators.
•
This is up to 2.5 times the efficiency of the photovoltaic reference approach studied in 1977.
The system shown in the previous slide, which girds the lunar equator, uses the lunar gravity
and windless environment to achieve a very low cost cylindrical concentrator composed
entirely of 1 mil aluminized polyester film hanging in a catenary, (which closely approximates a
parabola). This catenary focuses the sun on a series of linear pipes containing the Stirling
cycle gas. This gas is heated to increase its pressure, thus driving the Stirling engines
distributed along this linear concentrator, which generate the electricity.
•
No solar tracking is required because it is an optical characteristic of a cylindrical mirror that its
line focus is maintained independent of the incident angle of the incoming rays in the plane of
the cylindrical axis, and the maximum ± 5° angular variation of the sun in the elevation plane is
accommodated by the width of the black pipe collector. The availability of an unlimited heat
sink less than 100°K on the dark side of the moon and in the shadow of the reflector, where the
Stirling Engines are mounted, should allow even higher efficiencies.
24. ECONOMIC FACTORS FOR EQUATORIAL LSPS
•
The equatorial location with the dimensions shown in he previous slide results
in 10,000 km. of collector length, with 3,330 km2 of net collecting area at any
one time.
•
As is shown below, since the Stirling cycle efficiency is approximately twice that
of the photovoltaic cell configuration, this system produces a net energy of 5.31
Trillion Kw-hrs per year, generating a yearly revenue of $637 billion to the US
Treasury at the current average electricity rate of 12 cents/kwatt-hour.
OPTIMUM SYSTEM COLLECTOR AREA X
REFERENCE SYSTEM COLLECTOR AREA
=
3,330 KM2
55 KM2
NET GWATTS OF REF.
X
5.0 GIGAWATTS
X
X
STIRLING EFFICIENCY__
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFICIENCY
_2___
1
= 606 GIGA-WATTS = 0.606 TRILLION WATTS
YEARLY ENERGY AVAILABLE = 0.606 TRILLION WATTS X 8750 HOURS/YEAR
= 5.31 TRILLION KILO-WATT-HOURS/YEAR
DOLLAR VALUE OF YEARLY ENERGY @ 12 CENTS/KWATT-HOUR = $637 BILLION
(NOTE: THE CURRENT COST OF ELECTRICITY IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY CT IS 18.5-23 CENTS/KILOWATT-HOUR)
26. METHOD OF FUNDING LUNAR SOLAR POWER
STATION
As I am sure you have read or heard in the Media of the approvals by
Congress and Presidents of both parties, of such obviously un-needed
and wasteful projects in the present anti-Terror warfare regime as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Sea Wolf “Hunter-Killer Attack Submarines ($2 billion each)
The Osprey STOL Helicopter/Airplane
The B1 and B-2 Bombers
The International Space Station
Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”)
F-22 Fighter Aircraft
F-35 Multi-Service Aircraft >$300 billion total
National Missile Defense >$60 billion todate
27. METHOD OF FUNDING A LUNAR SOLAR POWER
STATION WITHOUT INCREASING TAXES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In an OP-ED article published in the Stamford Advocate on May 22, 1992, I proposed
a diversion of the current funds for weapon systems for which there is no credible
mission, into a single, long term, project to obtain more than 5.3 trillion kwatt-hours
of electrical energy per year on a 24/7 basis from a lunar solar energy platform. This
is equivalent to more than 3 billion barrels of oil per year, indefinitely.
3 billion barrels is the total amount stored in the Arctic National Wildlife Range
I submit that these funds are currently being directed to “WPA” type “make work”
projects to defense and aerospace contractors, which form part of the “MilitaryIndustrial-Congressional Complex.
One of many such weapon systems are the “hunter-killer” attack submarines
currently being built and serviced here in Connecticut by the Groton submarine base.
Senator Lieberman and Governor Rell have made proud statements of “saving
31,000 jobs” by continuing this wasteful use of taxpayer funds.
In my proposal, these same funds would be diverted to one useful project to make
the US energy independent by obtaining unlimited, absolutely clean, energy from
space on a 24/7 basis.
Moreover, by re-directing these already-allocated funds to the same aerospace
industries receiving them now, there would be no lay-offs, no economic
dislocation, and no increase in taxes.
28. MAJOR ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM THIS
DIVERSION OF EXISTING TAX FUNDS
The following major advantages would accrue from implementation of this project:
1. Reducing and Ultimately Reversing Global Warming
2. Starving Terrorist funding by eliminating US dependence on Mideast oil
3. Saving Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid without an increase in any taxes or F.I.C.A by
utilizing the $637 billion yearly income from lunar solar power at the current rate of 0.12/kilowatt-hour
4. Paying off the National Debt
5. Reversing the US balance of payments deficit by exporting lunar solar energy to the world
6. Once National Debt is paid off, a reduction of US income taxes even for the billionaires,
7. If a senior official of the US were to announce the proposed initiation of this program, oil futures
would drop by at least 20 points and gas and heating oil prices would drop commensurately
.
8. As was discussed in multiple OP-ED pieces by Tom Friedman of the New York Times, our
profligate use of oil is being used as a weapon against us by funding Iran, Al Qaeda, Hezbolla,
etc. The best long range weapon against Terrorism is to cut off the funding to these terrorist
sources by reducing our consumption of foreign oil (see 2. above).
29. THE ESTIMATED COST
•
If Burt Rutan, who won the “X Prize” by going into space
with private funds for only $20 million, was given a free
hand, and was placed in charge of this program, using the
SPACE-XI believe it could be accomplished in as little as
ten years @ $25 billion/year for a total amount of $250
billion.
•
Of course, the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex
would never stand for this, so if NASA or the US Military
were placed in charge, I believe it could be accomplished in
the same time period for $1 trillion, or 20 times the cost of
the $40 billion total of the Apollo Moon Program. It would be
funded at $100 billion per year, diverted from the current
defense budget, with no significant reduction in US defense
capabilities in the War on Terror.
30. THE ORIGINAL WPA PROJECT: THE GREAT PYRAMID OF PHARAOH KHUFU
(CONSTRUCTED BY WORKERS PAID BY THE “PRIEST-INDUSTRIAL-COMPLEX”)
31. THE PAYBACK
• As is shown in the previous slides, the Lunar Equatorial Stirling System
can generate 5.31 trillion kilowatt-hours per year, which has a value of
$637 billion per year input to the US Economy at 12 cents/kilowatt-hour
into the indefinite future
• 5.31 trillion kilowatt-hours represents less than 3% of world energy
usage in 2010
• With the unlimited energy available from the moon, if we double the size
of the Stirling System on the moon at an additional cost of $200 billion,
the US Treasury receives $1.3 trillion per year, doubling it again,
(amounting to less than 10% of 2020 world energy usage), would
produce $2.6 trillion/year etc.
• This would eliminate the Budget Deficit and ultimately, the National
Debt, eliminate all taxes for the US in a few years, and would allow the
US to “Corner the Market” on world energy”, making the US a 19th
century “robber baron” capitalist, something even the Republicans would
approve of.
• I consider this to be a “no-brainer”
• However, as demonstrated in the next few slides, the only response I
have received in my 33 year communications to the “movers and
shakers” of the world, is a “no-courager”-response.
32. THE "YELLOW BADGE OF POLITICAL COWARDICE" LIST
PERSON WRITTEN TO
DATE
RESPONSE RECEIVED
President Jimmy Carter
December 19, 1979
Form letter from Pentagon
Mr. Anthony Lewis The New York Times
April 2, 1986
Innocuous letter
President Ronald Reagan
February 19, 1987
None
General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev
November 26, 1985
None
Governor Michael Dukakis
May 26, 1988
None
Governor Mario Cuomo
November 19, 1991
None
Dr. Michael Griffin NASA
January 13, 1992
Acknowledgment letter, referred to
subordinates. Innocuous response.
Mr. Adam Smith Channel 13
January 23, 1992
None
Senator Paul Tsongas
February 16, 1992
None
President Boris Yeltsin
February 16, 1992
None
National Commission for Energy Conversion
March 13, 1992
None
Mr. H. Ross Perot
April 2, 1992
None
(after second Presidential Debate)
May 13, 1992
None
Senator Joseph Lieberman
Senator Albert Gore Jr.
Secretary James Baker
Chief of Presidential Staff (President Bush)
The OP-ED Editor, The New York Times
President-Elect Bill Clinton
June 10, 1992
July 22, 1992
None
None
September 10, 1992
September 17, 1992
November 4 1992
None
None
Form letter not dealing with any issues
raised in my letter
Dr. Seymour Melman Chairman,
33. THE "YELLOW BADGE OF POLITICAL COWARDICE" LIST (CONTINUED.)
PERSON WRITTEN TO
DATE
Dr. Freeman Dyson,
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University November 16, 1992
President Jimmy Carter
November 16, 1992
The Editor, The Washington Post
November 20, 1992
Program Director Sixty Minutes CBS Television December 14, 1992
Mr. Peter Nye, Editor, PUBLIC CITIZEN
January 15, 1992
Mr. Daniel Yergin Yergin Associates
January 30, 1993
Admiral Gene LaRoque Center for Defense Info. February 15, 1993
Program Director, DAY ONE, ABC Television
March 12. 1993
The Sierra Club (CT)
April 15, 1993
RESPONSE RECEIVED
Congressman Christopher Shays
October 18, 1993
The Concord Coalition
Larry King CNN
CONNPERG
President Clinton
Speaker Newt. Gingrich
Thomas Friedman NY Times
Senator John McCain
Senator Bill Bradley
Ralph Nader
December 9, 1993
December 9, 1993
January 4, 1994
December 8, 1994
February 2, 1995
December 24, 1995
January 5, 1996
April 9, 1999
May 20, 2000
John Kerry
Dennis Kucinich
Howard Dean
Congressman Christopher Shays
Congressional Candidate Diane Farrell
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
All Announced presidential nomination
candidates for 2008
President Obama
Congressman Jim Himes
Senator Richard Blumenthal
September 2003
October, 2003
October 2003
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
Carl Pope, president, “Microwaves
will blow up the atmosphere”
Form letter, Referred to DOE, generated
form letter “Not our present policy”
None
None
None
None
None
None
Form Letter
None
None, AFTER BEING PERSONALLY
HANDED MY PROPOSAL
None
None
None
30 minute meeting. No action taken
Response FAX. No action taken
No Response
January 2008
February 2009
March 2008, April 2008, March 2011
February 2011
No Responses
No Response todate
No Response after meeting
Form letter
34. FROM A LETTER TO PRESIDENT GORBACHEV (1985)
•
•
•
•
When you address the “US Military Industrial Complex", your
attitude is that it is the incarnation of evil, intent only upon
destroying the Soviet Union by military threats or application
of military advantage.
Since I am a member of the "Military Industrial Complex", I
assure you that for me, or any one I know, this is not the case.
However, when it comes to putting bread on the table, most
people (including me) will justify their work in the Defense
Establishment as assigned tasks that must be done properly
and whose parochial justifications may even be advocated so
that work accomplished on an ongoing project is not "wasted"
by its cancellation.
I submit to you that this insidious "work ethic" is the
underlying cause of the Arms Race to a much greater extent
than any military or political necessities."
35. FROM A 1986 LETTER TO PRESIDENT REAGAN
•
"It might be of interest for you to know that I am, by profession, an electrooptical engineer, whose hey-day would come with the widespread
implementation of the space laser systems in "Star Wars". However, I consider
such work a prostitution of my art, which, unfortunately, I, and a majority of my
professional associates, do as a matter of economic survival.“
•
The above quotation from my letter to President Reagan proved to be a
prediction of the future.
•
I am very proud of my conceptual design effort on the earth attitude sensor
used on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft, which made a
historic discovery of "wrinkles" in the Universe, and ratified the "Big Bang"
Theory. I am not proud of my design stewardship of a Strategic Defense
Initiative infrared scanning camera system, which was to be flown on the Space
Shuttle. After $15 million had been spent and the camera was near completion,
the whole >$200 million program was canceled due to insufficient funds,
whereby this camera has now taken its place among its multi-million dollar
predecessors, gathering dust in a warehouse.
36. References
• “Satellite Power System Concept System
Definition Technical Assessment Report”
NASA December 1980
• “Environmental Assessment for the SPS
• Microwave Health and Ecological Effects”
EPA November 1980
• Space Power Free Piston Stirling Engine
Scaling Study” Mechanical Technology Inc.
NASA CR-182218 October 1, 1989
37. PHYSICS OF GLOBAL WARMING
SUN SPECTRAL
IRRADIANCE
8-12 MICRON ATMOSPHERIC
“WINDOW” EARTH TO
SPACE
WATER VAPOR
ABSORPTION
O2 AND OZONE PROTECTION
FROM ULTRAVIOLET RAYS
VISIBLE REGION
CO2 ABSORPTION
@ 250 PPM
CO2 ABSORPTION
@ 350 PPM
SPECTRAL TRANSMISSION OF
THE ATMOSPHERE
SPECTRAL RADIANCE @ 77°
F
EARTH TEMPERATURE
38. COMMENTS ON GLOBAL WARMING PHYSICS
•
•
•
•
The previous slide shows the unique relationship between a 77°
F
earth temperature spectral emission curve and the spectral
transmission “windows” in the earth atmosphere.
The 8 – 12 micrometer atmospheric window allows the earth to
radiate the heat gained from the sun out to cold space, thus
preventing global warming. This can be experimentally proven by
placing a thermos bottle with a few oz. of water in its bottom in
120°F Arizona, looking at the sky, where the water will freeze.
°
By increasing the CO2 content of the atmosphere by burning fossil
fuels, we reduce the width of this window, and effectively “choke”
the windpipe of the earth, not allowing it to “breath out”.
This exquisite balance of atmospheric gases is now being mucked
up (and I could use a more appropriate word) by the bible thumpers
of Kansas and other places who drive their 8 mpg. Hummers and
zero-to-sixty-in-four-seconds muscle cars, causing global warming.
My statement to these bible thumpers is: “You are mucking up an
“Intelligent Design”.
