[ExI] pentagon wants orbiting solar power stations

[hkhenson]

At 01:47 PM 10/16/2007, "Dagon Gmail" wrote:
>The immense difficulty of creating an industry in near-space,
>with development of lunar or NEAR asteroid ores, as well as
>harvesting solar energy is so incredibly disheartening it gives
>me a nauseous feeling. My gut is telling me things are going
>all wrong.

I agree with you, but I think it is instructive to see why.  It isn't 
because of physical reality, there are probably several ways you 
could build a huge space industry, the key to all pre nanotech ways 
is a low cost way to get into space.  My favorite is a moving cable, 
stepped taper, space elevator, partly because it is highly 
efficient.  But really huge lasers for laser launch offer another 
possibility.  The problems are at other levels, in my opinion more 
intractable levels because they are poorly understood.  (In some 
cases, discount economics gives wrong answers.)

>It is all but certain that we will need to take this step, barring
>a Kurzweilean quantum leap in AI/Nanotech/longevity advances.
>I am concerned to rely in my expectations on any singularities,
>it would be just too convenient. I really want to see industry
>and accompanying economical growth start real fast, as I
>am really starting to get nervous about the Peak Oil issue.

With good reason.  The consequence of economic growth below 
population growth leads to those populating becoming xenophobic and 
war-like.  There is a growing realization that solving terrorism 
(driven now by this underlying situation) will probably require a few 
billions of people to die.  Marvin Cetron discusses this around the 
edges in an article in the May/June issue of "The Futurist" earlier 
this year.  This situation is likely to come about well before the 
most thoughtful predictions of the singularity (Ray Kurzweil, mid 2040s).

Keith Henson

PS  I have been working on a description of space elevator and SPS 
construction in the context of part of a novel.  If you want to read 
it and comment, ask.