On Thu, 13 Dec 2001, Olga Bourlin wrote:
> Scientist proposes beaming electricity to Earth from the moon (and his
> name's Criswell, no less, but NOT the Criswell who said "We are all
> interested in the future, for that, my friend, is where you and I will
> spend the rest of our lives." Heh ... heh.
The paper author isn't just any "Criswell" -- he is *the* David Criswell of
"star lifting" fame. Hmmm, lunar power systems after you propose how to
lengthen the lifetime of a star. Kind of a let down if you ask me.
In response to Damien's comments about whether you have the necessary
materials. The material you need the most of if you don't care too
much about efficiency is silicon and there is plenty of that up there.
If you want high efficiency cells, then gallium arsenide is used to
a greater degree. Since your ability to range all over the moon looking
for deposits is likely to be limited, you are going to have to utilize
trace element abundances. That most probably means you need elemental
sorting capabilities. You can do that with current technology using mass
spectrometers, but I suspect the throughput is pitiful. I don't think
the idea is really going to fly until you have pretty robust nanotechnology.
Robert
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