The nuclearization of space — Beyond Nuclear International

Fast track to Mars could come at terrible price
The nuclearization of space — Beyond Nuclear International
1 Comment »
Leave a Reply
-
Archives
- May 2022 (158)
- April 2022 (378)
- March 2022 (405)
- February 2022 (333)
- January 2022 (422)
- December 2021 (299)
- November 2021 (400)
- October 2021 (346)
- September 2021 (291)
- August 2021 (291)
- July 2021 (257)
- June 2021 (210)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Fuk 2022
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
Dr. Grossman finishes, “Indeed, said the article [about a scheme to harvest solar power on the Moon], a huge amount of solar power energy could be generated on the moon and be beamed back to Earth.”
Although Dr. Grossman is right about the lunacy of launching large reactors to serve the deeply dubious goals of space militarization, Moon commuting, and the like, it’s unfortunate that he ends his piece by promoting this almost equally absurd and dangerous scheme: harvesting solar power on the Moon and shipping it back to earth via terawatt-strength microwave beams.
Absurd, because we already harvest solar power on the Earth, now producing “the cheapest electricity in history” in favorable markets (International Energy Agency, 2020) — cheaper than coal, gas, nuclear, or even wind and getting yet cheaper all the time. How could solar panels on the Moon ever possibly compete? Dangerous, because a trillion-watt (or even 100 billion-watt) power beam narrow enough to be economically collectable Earthside would present an obvious hazard if diverted accidentally or deliberately to, say, a city. Build a power beam strong enough to make a significant contribution to Earth’s electric supply and you’ve built a death ray.
The lunar-solar idea is so utterly cockeyed in terms of practicality, economy, and safety that it is startling that Dr. Grossman would credit it for a second, much less give it prominence at the end of his article.