Commentary : Nukes in Space 2021
Today : “ Solar Power is Best for Mars Colonies .” The extensive article states how “ a NASA-sponsored MIT think-tank has weighed up the future energy needs of a manned settlement on Mars and arrived at an interesting conclusion … solar arrays might function just as well , if not better , than the nuclear options .”
•
A Discover magazine piece , “ How to Harvest Terawatts of Solar Power on the Moon ,” reported that Japanese corporation , Shimizu , were “ gearing up to develop solar power on the Moon .” The “ photovoltaic cells themselves could be tissue thin , since the moon has no weather or air ,” said the article , “ and half of the Moon is in sunlight at any one time .” A huge amount of solar power energy could be generated on the Moon that could be beamed back to Earth , it related .
“ The new age of sail .” The subheading following with : “ We are on the cusp of a new type of space travel that can take us to places no rocket could ever visit .”
The article begins by discussing 17 th Century astronomer Johanne Kepler ’ s observation of comets and discovering “ that their tails always pointed away from the sun , no matter which direction they were traveling .” To Kepler , it meant only one thing : “[ T ] he comet tails were being blown from the sun .” I further explain in the piece that , indeed , “ the sun produces a wind in space ” and “ it can be harnessed . First , there are particles of light streaming from the sun constantly , each carrying a tiny bit of momentum . Second , there is a flow of charged particles , mostly protons and electrons , also moving outwards from the sun . We call the charged particles the solar wind , but both streams are blowing a gale — that ’ s in the vacuum of space .”
Japan launched its Ikaros spacecraft in 2010 — sailing in space using this alternative solar energy from the sun . Last year , the LightSail 2 mission of The Planetary Society was launched — and it continues to remain in space , flying with the sun ’ s energy .
New systems using solar power are being developed — past the current use of thin film such as Mylar for solar sails . The New Scientist article spoke of scientists “ who want to use these new techniques to set a course for worlds currently far beyond our reach — namely the planets orbiting our nearest star , Alpha Centauri .”
29