Power without pollution

Details of several methods of converting solar energy to power without pollution are given. Data cover technical, economic, and social issues

Energy for lunar resource exploitation

Humanity stands at the threshold of exploiting the known lunar resources that have opened up with the access to space. America's role in the future exploitation of space, and specifically of lunar resources, may well determine the level of achievement in technology development and global economic competition. Space activities during the coming decades will significantly influence the events on Earth. The 'shifting of history's tectonic plates' is a process that will be hastened by the increasingly insistent demands for higher living standards of the exponentially growing global population. Key to the achievement of a peaceful world in the 21st century, will be the development of a mix of energy resources at a societally acceptable and affordable cost within a realistic planning horizon. This must be the theme for the globally applicable energy sources that are compatible with the Earth's ecology. It is in this context that lunar resources development should be a primary goal for science missions to the Moon, and for establishing an expanding human presence. The economic viability and commercial business potential of mining, extracting, manufacturing, and transporting lunar resource based materials to Earth, Earth orbits, and to undertake macroengineering projects on the Moon remains to be demonstrated. These extensive activities will be supportive of the realization of the potential of space energy sources for use on Earth. These may include generating electricity for use on Earth based on beaming power from Earth orbits and from the Moon to the Earth, and for the production of helium 3 as a fuel for advanced fusion reactors

Space satellite power system

The concept of a satellite solar power station was studied. It is shown that it offers the potential to meet a significant portion of future energy needs, is pollution free, and is sparing of irreplaceable earth resources. Solar energy is converted by photovoltaic solar cell arrays to dc energy which in turn is converted into microwave energy in a large active phased array. The microwave energy is beamed to earth with little attenuation and is converted back to dc energy on the earth. Economic factors are considered

Power from space for use on earth: An emerging global option

The concept of the Earth as a closed ecological system is addressed from the point of view of the availability and use of energy from space and its potential influence on the economies of both developed and developing countries. The results of past studies of the solar power satellite (SPS) are reviewed, and the current international activities exploring various aspects of an SPS are mentioned. The functions of an SPS, including collection of solar energy in orbit, conversion to an intermediate form of energy, transmission of energy from orbit to Earth, and conversion to useful energy in the most appropriate form are discussed. Directions for future developments are addressed including a suggested planning framework. Salient aspects of SPS technologies are presented, and the potential benefits of the uses of lunar materials for the SPS construction are outlined. Scenarios within the context of international participation in a global SPS system are presented. The conclusion is drawn that an SPS system is one of the few promising, globally applicable power generation options that has the potential to meet energy demands in the 21st Century and to achieve the inevitable transition to inexhaustible and renewable energy sources

Two surveys of the needs of engineering schools in the field of biomechanical and human factors engineering education

Surveys of engineering school needs in field of biomechanical and human factors engineering educatio

Transient upsets in microprocessor controllers

The modeling and analysis of transient faults in microprocessor based controllers are discussed. Such controllers typically consist of a microprocessor, read only memory storing and application program, random access memory for data storage, and input/output devices for external communications. The effects of transient faults on the performance of the controller are reviewed. An instruction level perspective of performance is taken which is the basis of a useful high level program state description of the microprocessor controller. A transition matrix is defined which determines the controller's response to transient fault arrivals

Nutrition and food technology for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

Food technology requirements and a nutritional strategy for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) to provide adequate food in an acceptable form in future space missions are discussed. The establishment of nutritional requirements, dietary goals, and a food service system to deliver acceptable foods in a safe and healthy form and the development of research goals and priorities were the main objectives of the study

Evaluation of solar cell materials for a Solar Power Satellite

Alternative solar cell materials being considered for the solar power satellite are described and price, production, and availability projections through the year 2000 are presented. The chief materials considered are silicon and gallium arsenide

Apparatus for measuring thermal conductivity Patent

Development of apparatus for measuring thermal conductivit