Dec 25 1991
From The Space Library
Ivan Bekey, a NASA space power expert, was quoted by the New York Times in connection with an article on solar power from space. Bekey said that power beaming was not a problem. Rather, the difficulty was getting a large enough satellite into orbit. Currently large satellites ran between 20,000 to 30,000 pounds whereas a satellite to enable developing solar power would need to be some 100 times larger than that. Another possibility would be to mine the silicon for the solar cells and the aluminum for the structure from the moon. Those materials might make up 90 percent of the mass, meaning less weight would need to be launched from Earth. Bekey foresaw that developing power from space would be 20 or 30 years away. (NY Times, Dec 25/91)
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