Power From Space 2.0

THE FUTURE WE WANT : Lowering the cost of per mission spaceflight by having NASA/DOE/Private Sector embark on space solar power project.

2012-01-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

"Being completely cynical of course; But a large scale space solar power, effort lead by the united states would (1) produce high paying skilled jobs for our children (See http://NSS.org)

(2) elimante carbon emissions from coal powered electric (See http://powerfromspace.blogspot.com ) and

(3) bring the cost of launch to less than $1000/kg - thereby enabling human colonization of solar system planets and asteriods. Human colonization is a laudable goal worthy of any great society or species." - Dr Strangelove rant #0616

INDIA: Tap solar power from space: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam To answer the energy crisis in the world former President Dr A.P.J.

Abdul Kalam has suggested that solar energy can be harnessed by establishing space stations in outer space in order to tap solar power round the clock. Addressing scientists and faculty at Anna University on Monday, Dr Kalam said that the sun radiates about 10 trillion times the energy which humans consume across the world today.

If we were able to extract even a small portion of this energy from the sun, it would be sufficient to secure the energy demands of our future. “Space based solar power has many advantages over traditional terrestrial based solar plants. First, the level of solar irradiance is about 1.4 times in extraterrestrial level than at the surface of the earth.

Second, in case of surface based solar power plants the panels can collect solar power for about 6 to 8 hours a day, whereas, in the case of space based power plant, the collection time is full 24 hours”, he said. Pointing out that space based solar power plants do not get affected by weather, which might bring down the efficiency in case of terrestrial power plant, the former President said that thus space based solar power plant would be far more effective in their efficiency and power generation than the land based systems. “There are three major focus areas in the space based solar power plant.

First component is the space based solar power plant. Second, is the earth based collection system and the third important aspect is the medium of transmission from space to earth”, he added. Dr Kalam suggested that the energy should be transmitted from space back to earth – either through microwave or any other technology like laser. Careful research of the impact and safety concerns would have to be conducted.

FULL STORY :

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sci-tech/energy/tap-solar-power-space-apj-abdul-kalam-406

UNITED STATES: Augment Shale-NatGas-GeoThermal-Wind with Space Green Power Engineering by

by Jon WallACE of Florida, 1/2/12
Updated: K. Preddie 1/22/12

To recap and expand my ideas as you begin to track what I am expressing, thermal hotspotsi.( e.d. Geothermal, Hydro, DeepWater, Shale, Nat Gas ) around the globe and on the surface of the globe could be selectively amplified with space-based energy inputs to terrestrial power production plants from space based LASER energy transmissions and Microwave energy transmissions delivered by direct propagation from a solar power satellite energy constellation around the globes orbit (Glaser, 1996) and or other points interior to Earth’s Orbit (like near Mercury or Venus) where the sun’s energy is more intense and beamed back via high-energy propagation (LASER or Microwave systems are likely candidates for propagation) to a satellite constellation for this planet or other stations, planets, or moons.

Optimal locations for inputs and generation would be determined based on where on the globe power is consumed (ed: Cities!)and where on the globe demand creates a need for a boost or input from space to reduce cost and reduce the negative environmental impact of the need to rely on combustion power resources for energy needs.

FULL STORY:
http://www.futurewewant.org/ideas/entry/space-policy-green-power-engineering2

GO PATS -- http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl

It's reduce human inlfuenced methane gas first, you dolts - NASA

2012-01-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Giant Plumes of Gurgling Methane Could Fast-Track Planetary Warming

Recent discoveries have confirmed scientists’ longstanding fears that global warming would catalyze the release of millions of tons of potential greenhouse gas emissions locked up in ice and permafrost in the great white north.

Layer after layer of plant debris that has not yet decomposed lies trapped in arctic and subarctic permafrost. As global temperatures rise and this perennial ice begins to melt, previously frozen organic matter will thaw out and decompose, releasing huge quantities of greenhouse gases into our already saturated atmosphere.

This may not seem like such an earth-shattering phenomenon, but scientists are deeply troubled since there’s a strong chance that methane (CH4) will be released – as it does in anaerobic wetland conditions – which does not bode well for planetary warming since it is 21 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2).

Nearly 1/4 of the northern hemisphere is underlain by permafrost that contains twice as much carbon as the entire atmosphere, wrote The New York Times. This amounts to nearly 2 trillion tons of carbon in soils of the northern regions, 88 percent of which is “locked in permafrost,” according to Canadian scientist Charles Tarnocai and colleagues.

The New York Times reports:

For now, scientists have many more questions than answers. Preliminary computer analyses, made only recently, suggest that the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions could eventually become an annual source of carbon equal to 15 percent or so of today’s yearly emissions from human activities.
But those calculations were deliberately cautious. A recent survey drew on the expertise of 41 permafrost scientists to offer more informal projections. They estimated that if human fossil-fuel burning remained high and the planet warmed sharply, the gases from permafrost could eventually equal 35 percent of today’s annual human emissions.

More Here : http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/12/methane-plume-planetary-warming/

"Methane should be reduced in battle against global warming": NASA

In the battle against global warming, scientists say they some of the world’s largest emitters should adjust their focus from reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, to curbing the emissions of soot and methane.

NASA scientists, in a study published in Science, say that while carbon dioxide from fossil fuels like coal and oil remain a larger overall cause of global warming, reducing methane and soot may offer short-term solutions that could slow down the impacts of global warming.

The research, led by Drew Shindell of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, finds that focusing on black carbon and methane measures could slow global mean warming 1 degree Fahrenheit by 2050, preventing between 700,000 and 4.7 million premature deaths each year.

While all regions of the world would benefit, countries in Asia and the Middle East would see the biggest health and agricultural gains from the emissions controls, said NASA officials.

The study, which was conducted under NASA, included an international team, which considered about 400 control measures. The new study focused on 14 measures with the greatest climate benefit. The study concludes that all 14 measures would curb the release of either black carbon or methane, pollutants that exacerbate climate change and damage human or plant health either directly or by leading to ozone formation. The new study builds upon research featured in an assessment report published last year by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization.
The study also finds that hundreds of thousands of deaths would be prevented with such changes. Between 700,000 and 4.7 million premature deaths could be averted, say scientists. Black carbon, a product of burning fossil fuels or biomass such as wood or dung, is one of the leading causes of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The small particles also absorb radiation from the sun causing the atmosphere to warm and rainfall patterns to shift. In addition, they darken ice and snow, reducing their reflectivity and hastening global warming. Ways to cut back include building more efficient cookstoves, installing more filters on diesel vehicles, taking the worst polluting vehicles off the road and banning the practice of burning farmland, the study said.

FULL STORY :

http://www.thestatecolumn.com/science/methane-should-be-reduced-in-battle-against-global-warming-nasa/ RELATED STORY "Next Global warming Show to Drop Methane Gas" (c) 2011

[PWSP2] Enter the Solar Powered Dragon Capsule.

2012-01-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

...With happy regards to
Bruce Lee

and Spacex

SpaceX Dragon set to dock at International Space Station on COTS 2/3 mission
Falcon 9 launch of Dragon on COTS 2/3 mission is slated for Feb.7, 2012 from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Artist’s rendition of Dragon spacecraft with solar panels fully deployed on orbit. ISS crew will grapple Dragon and berth to ISS docking port. Credit: NASA

The Dragon has grown its mighty wings

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has gotten its wings and is set to soar to the International Space Station (ISS) in about a month. NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting a liftoff on Feb. 7 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Dragon is a commercially developed unmanned cargo vessel constructed by SpaceX under a $1.6 Billion contract with NASA. The Dragon spacecraft will launch atop a Falcon 9 booster rocket also built by SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies.

The Feb. 7 demonstration flight – dubbed COTS 2/3 – represents the first test of NASA’s new strategy to resupply the ISS with privately developed rockets and cargo carriers under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) initiative.

Following the forced retirement of the Space Shuttle after Atlantis final flight in July 2011, NASA has no choice but to rely on private companies to loft virtually all of the US share of supplies and equipment to the ISS.

The Feb. 7 flight will be the first Dragon mission actually tasked to dock to the ISS and is also the first time that the Dragon will fly with deployable solar arrays. The twin arrays are the primary power source for the Dragon. They will be deployed a few minutes after launch, following Dragon separation from the Falcon 9 second stage.

...We were thinking spacex would aDd thin film solar { may be even spray on solar } to the exterior of the dragon capsule...more watts...more power...more opportunities. Such as SOLAR ELECTRIC THRUSTERS for long durattion missions...{1/8/2012 Newark]

The solar arrays can generate up to 5000 watts of power on a long term basis to run the sensors and communications systems, drive the heating and cooling systems and recharge the battery pack.

SpaceX designed, developed and manufactured the solar arrays in house with their own team of engineers.

As with all space hardware, the arrays have been rigorously tested for hundreds of hours under the utterly harsh conditions that simulate the unforgiving environment of outer space, including thermal, vacuum, vibration, structural and electrical testing.

Video Caption: SpaceX testing of the Dragon solar arrays. Credit: SpaceX

...

FULL STORY & CREDIT:

http://www.universetoday.com/92444/solar-powered-dragon-gets-wings-for-station-soar/

[PWSP2] Consider this our application to become Dragon/Falcon 9 Heavy test pilots...

2012-01-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

The Dragon spacecraft, launched by the Falcon 9 rocket are both designed and built by SpaceX, a private rocket company run by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. The firm known officially as Space Exploration Technologies Corporation will fly an unmanned cargo version of its spacecraft in February. With the Space Shuttle fleet retired, we are currently dependent on the Russians for access to the ISS.

If successful, the Dragon cargo vessel will come within 2 miles of the ISS on its own, then astronauts aboard the space station will take over until close enough to capture the ship with a robotic arm.

Estimated Dates: 02.07-12.2012

SpaceX hopes to be flying manned Dragon missions by 2015. In 2015 the Falcon will be flying payloads while NASA's SLS will be suborbital only at best, due to all the politics.

Those of us with dreams of ever setting foot on another planet ( or even launching a SBSP ) will have to look towards Russia, China and most fortitudously private American firms called Spacex { maybe even Stratoluanch }

...PWSP Dragon test pilot application. We work for peanuts and a shot o scotch - single malt

[BIG IDEAS] Fighting Global Warming and achieving Energy Independence with Bakken Shale and Nuke/Space Based Solar Power

2012-01-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2012!

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, CLEAN ENERGY AND ACTUALLY FIGHTING GLOBAL WARMING IN OUR LIFETIME
- T
his ain't your dad's Kyoto!

A blended coordinated post 2012 strategy of using the energy sources below could combat global warming, boost financial markets, create the right kinds of highly taxable jobs and at the sametime accidently achieve energy independence.

Phew that is a lot.

So why aren't we pursuing this seriously here in the Americas?

ENERGY SOURCE : BAKKEN SHALE / TAR SANDS

TIME HORIZON: NEAR TERM - Requires Hybrid + Electric vehicles to fight Global warming.

Using fracking technology to address energy independence

Reporting In the 'Detroit Free Press'

TOWANDA, Pa. -- Ever since Richard Nixon's 1973 promise to attain energy independence, successive U.S. presidents all have pledged the same goal -- even as foreign supplies composed a larger and larger share of the U.S. energy mix. Now, almost 40 years later, a measure of independence is within reach.

But as this booming town in northeastern Pennsylvania shows, the quest for independence involves both opportunities and trade-offs. It may surprise many, but in less than a decade, the U.S. could pass its 1970s peak as an oil and natural gas producer. If that happens -- and many analysts think it's possible -- the U.S. would edge past Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's top energy producer.

That alone wouldn't make the country completely energy independent. Mexico and Canada are likely to remain stable providers of oil to supplement growing U.S. production. And other factors will help, too, ranging from advances in battery technologies and alternative fuels to greater fuel economy in automobiles.

However, the biggest potential game changer for U.S. energy production is natural gas. Just a few years ago, terminals were being built at U.S. ports in anticipation of importing natural gas; today, there's talk of exporting it. Technological advances have allowed drillers to go down almost 7,000 feet, smashing through rock formations and drilling horizontally, freeing trapped oil and gas that long had been considered inaccessible....

FULL STORY:

http://www.freep.com/article/20111225/NEWS07/112250429/Shale-gas-puts-some-energy-independence-within-reach-for-U-S-

5 BEST INVEMENT IN BAKKEN SHALE

Reporting in 'Seeking Alpha'

The Bakken shale is an oily shale located primarily in North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan. Recoverable oil estimates vary widely, but there is general agreement that multiple billions of barrels of oil are produceable given today's technology.

Some experts are predicting tens of billions of barrels will be pumped from the Bakken. Most of my readers know that I am a firm believer worldwide oil supply is having difficulty keeping up with worldwide demand.

Since the U.S. and other oil consumers seem incapable of making the transition to natural gas transportation in spite of how abundant, cheap, and clean natural gas is today, we can expect the price of oil to continue on its upward trajectory...

FULL STORY:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/308004-5-best-investments-in-bakken-shale-oil

What is Shale oil : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_oil

Whati s DeepWater Drilling; http://www.deepwater.com/

Alleged side effects of 'fracking' - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/02/ohio-earthquakes-caused-by-wastewater-well-drilling_n_1180094.html

ENERGY SOURCE: SPACE SOLAR and TERRESTIAL NUCLEAR

TIME HORIZON - LONG TERM :

It normally takes 10+ years to build a nuclear power plant.
It wolud also take about 10+ years to put a working space solar power satellite that generates meaningful output.

Reporting from National Space Society

WASHINGTON, DC. The United States and the world need to find new sources of clean energy. Space Solar Power gathers energy from sunlight in space and transmits it wirelessly to Earth. Space solar power can solve our energy and greenhouse gas emissions problems. Not just help, not just take a step in the right direction, but solve. Space solar power can provide large quantities of energy to each and every person on Earth with very little environmental impact.

The solar energy available in space is literally billions of times greater than we use today. The lifetime of the sun is an estimated 4-5 billion years, making space solar power a truly long-term energy solution. As Earth receives only one part in 2.3 billion of the Sun's output, space solar power is by far the largest potential energy source available, dwarfing all others combined. Solar energy is routinely used on nearly all spacecraft today.

This technology on a larger scale, combined with already demonstrated wireless power transmission (see 2-minute video of demo), can supply nearly all the electrical needs of our planet

FULL STORY AT NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY:

http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/index.htm

Let's use technology to fight global warmng
.

In their debate Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over nuclear energys it pros and cons.

Together they make the best case yet for space based solar power.

[BIG IDEAS] The goal is to make humans a multiple planet spieces.

2012-01-01T12:42:00.001-08:00

SPACEX'S MISSION /

HUMANITY'S DESTINY

IS MARTIAN COLONIZATION

{Sorry martian microbes, you're about to get evicted - Earth :)}

In his Heinlein prize acceptance speech, he said he wants to put 10,000 people on Mars. Musk rarely makes public statements merely for effect but a call for 10,000 would-be Martians is extraordinary, even by his standards. When I query him on this point, he pauses. Is he reconsidering?

...

Yes... but, as with so much else about Musk, not in a predictable way. "Ultimately we don't really want 10,000 people on Mars," he says, after letting the pause linger a few seconds more. "We want millions."

FULL STORY: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2011/12/27/elon_musk_spacex_will_bring_man_to_mars_in_less_than_20_years_video_.html

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/spacexs-elon-musk-on-why-we-must-make-life-multiplanetary-video/11660

UPDATE: SpaceX flights merged as

FEB 7-12TH launch date targeted

The next demonstration test-flight for the SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter will link up with the International Space Station, officials have decided, allowing the company to combine the two previously-planned flyby and capture missions into one, launching from Cape Canaveral on February 7....

FULL STORY:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/111209dates/

PWSP 2011 Year Review : NASA’s planetary probes dominate in 2011 and into the future

2011-12-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

"The few remaining bright lights for commercial orbital human space flight in 2012 all belong to Spacex , Russia ( ILS Launch services) and China.

Below the year 2011 in review for NASA is all about unmanned probes and retiring the space shuttle." - Dr. Strangelove Rant #1106

December 26th, 2011 by Chris Gebhardt in NASASPACHEFLIGHTNOW

It was an interesting year for NASA as the 2011 calendar brought about the retirement of the iconic Space Shuttle fleet, the completion of the USOS segment of the International Space Station, the launch of three new planetary missions, and the ongoing scientific endeavors of NASA’s fleet of planetary probes. In all, 2011 proved a banner year for NASA’s unmanned explorers in our solar system.

While much of the world’s attention was on NASA’s manned exploits in 2011, the US space agency was busy with its fleet of unmanned planetary explorers peppered throughout the inner and outer solar system.

In particular, NASA’s MESSENGER, Dawn, Cassini, and Voyager 1 spacecrafts increased our knowledge of Mercury, the asteroid belt, Saturn, and the outer-most boundary of our solar system, while the intrepid rover Opportunity revealed more secrets about our third closest celestial neighbor: Mars.

Calendar year 2011 for NASA also saw the launch of three new and exciting missions: the twin GRAIL probes to the moon, the Juno spacecraft to the Jupiter, and the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity to Mars.

Sadly, 2011 also brought about the end of official operations for the Mars rover Spirit which survived on the red planet for over six years.

The new missions: GRAIL, Juno, and MSL:

Continuing a string of successes in planetary missions, NASA began three new planetary flights in 2011, including one designed to build the presence of the space agency around the moon.

GRAIL and the new mission to the moon:

Dubbed the GRAIL mission, the twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory spacecraft will be the first of their kind to conduct an unprecedented and detailed study of Earth’s closest celestial neighbor from the crust of its surface to its inner-most core.....

FULL STORY: PART 1

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/year-in-review-p1-nasas-planetary-probes-dominate-2011/

Following on the planetary accomplishments of NASA’s fleet of unmanned solar system explorers in 2011, the U.S. space agency was also extremely busy in the field of extra-solar studies via observations of other solar systems with the impressive Kepler Space Telescope.

Understanding our uniqueness - Kepler sheds light on extra-solar planets:

It was a difficult start to 2011 for the Kepler team. Beginning the year with an anomaly resolution stemming from the spacecraft putting itself into safe mode on December 22, 2010, the Kepler project team successfully returned the spacecraft to normal operations on January 6, 2011 after determining that the condition was caused by an “unexpected noise in the signal from Kepler’s sun sensors that erroneously indicated Kepler might be pointing too close to the sun.”

It wasn’t long after this that the Kepler team announced the confirmation of the first discovery of our rocky planet outside of our own solar system....

FULL STORY : PART 2

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/year-in-review-r2-kepler-astonishing-discoveries/

UPDATE for 2012

MARs for less than 5 billion

Just what is Elon Smoking?

Elon Musk, the man who helped make Internet commerce possible for the everyman by creating PayPal, wants to bring space travel to the masses as well. And not that just putting a proverbial foot in space and then returning right away to Earth. Musk hopes his private space company SpaceX will bring millions to Mars. Says the New Scientist’s Greg Klerkx.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2011/12/27/elon_musk_spacex_will_bring_man_to_mars_in_less_than_20_years_video_.html

[China Rising] New Supertrain features speeds of 500kmh

2011-12-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

Maglev Highspeed Train 430 km/h
The Maglev Highspeed Magnetic Levitation train brings passengers in 10 minutes from Pudong International Airport to Longyang Road Station in Shanghai, China. From there you can continue your journey via metro. And not the end of it China just started testing it 500 Kmh train on Christmas Eve! BEIJING (Reuters) - China launched a super-rapid test train over the weekend which is capable of travelling 500 kilometers per hour, state media said on Monday, as the country moves ahead with its railway ambitions despite serious problems on its high-speed network. Train, made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd, China's largest train maker, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It "will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations," it quoted train expert Shen Zhiyun as saying. But future Chinese trains will not necessarily run at such high speeds ( Phew!) "We aims to ensure the safety of trains operation," he said.- CSR chairman Zhao Xiaogang China's railway industry has had a tough year, highlighted by a collision between two high-speed trains in July which killed at least 40 people. Construction of new high-speed trains in China has since been a near halt. In February, the railways minister, Liu Zhijun, a key figure behind the boom in the sector, was dismissed over corruption charges that have not yet been tried in court. (Reporting by Sabrina Mao and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa) .. (Meanwhile over in the US they're working on 150 Km/h. Woweee ;)

Update : Spacex Dragon spacecraft demonstration flight on Feb. 7, 2012

2011-12-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, will launch its Dragon spacecraft on its second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration flight on Feb. 7, 2012.

UPDATE 12-29-11

Hawthorne-based commercial space venture SpaceX is set to send its Dragon space capsule to dock with the $100-billion International Space Station -- a feat that's been accomplished only by the world's wealthiest nations. NASA announced Friday that the private company, formally named Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Will aim to launch its 18-story Falcon 9 rocket Feb. 7, pending completion of final safety reviews, testing and verification. In a statement, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the mission "will mark a historic milestone in the future of spaceflight.” It’s also a mission that takes the company one step closer to cashing in on a $1.6-billion contract with NASA.

The contract is to haul cargo in 12 flights to the space station for NASA.

FULL STORY :

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/12/spacex-nasa-space-station-docking.html

Pending completion of final safety reviews, testing and verification, SpaceX might also send Dragon to rendezvous with the ISS.

...

Elon Misk - Why Is Making A Reusable Rocket So Difficult?

Giving Back - SpaceX Internship Program

Spased Based Solar Power (SBSP) and Laser (IR) Power beaming getting serious research interest in the wake of Spacex Falcon's lower-cost

2011-12-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

...
Victoria Jaggard - National Geographic News Published December 5, 2011 In an aircraft hangar in Germany, scientists are firing lasers across the room in the hopes of bringing science fiction to life: beaming solar power directly from space. According to a new report [PDF] by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), space-based solar technologies now in development in the lab will be technically feasible and ready for practical demonstration within the next decade or two. What's more, based on existing technologies, space-based solar could be an economically viable alternative to today's commercial energy sources within the next 30 years, concludes the report published last month.
JAXA Space Solar power as an alternative to nuclear power demo

...
In fact, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is "going forward on their [space-based solar] demo plan, with satellites scheduled to be up by the end of the next decade and a full pilot system by 2030," said Frank E. Little, of the Space Engineering Research Center at Texas A&M University. According to the IAA report, such flight demonstrations "that validate [solar power satellite, or SPS] systems concepts to a high level of maturity . . . appear to be essential in order to build confidence among engineers, policy makers, and the public and allow space solar power technology maturation and SPS deployment to proceed." For now, though, the most frequently cited barrier to deploying—or even testing—many of the existing space-based solar platforms is the cost of launching the necessary equipment into orbit. "There's a cost of building equipment, but also the cost associated with designing an experiment that's man-rated," Little said. "If I put a device on the International Space Station [for example], because there are people on the ISS, the level of safety required increases the cost of the project. We looked at doing such a project and it's not cheap. FULL STORY @ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICS http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/12/111205-solar-power-from-space/
IN THE ECONOMIST: http://www.economist.com/node/18864324

AT THE NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/index.htm X-@-MAS- NASA

[PWSP2] Using Space Solar Power to Preempt Global Warming

2011-12-23T19:20:00.001-08:00

Space Solar Power to Preempt Global Warming

Reporting from Discovery News

Small High Risk Powersat for Rapid ROI SSP using Infra Red (IR) power beaming.

It's always sunny in low-Earth orbit, so what better place to look for a source of solar energy?

With the end of "cheap oil" rumored to be rapidly approaching (if not already upon us), not to mention the effects of fossil fuel use upon the environment and climate, sources of alternate, clean and renewable energy appear to be the unavoidable wave of the future.But the key factor in all these ventures is efficiency -- how to get the most "bang for the buck" in the harnessing, creation and distribution of energy.

Watch a video of the NSS' Nov. 14 conference on space solar power.

Mark Hopkins, Senior Vice President of the National Space Society, stated "As the United States makes decisions now to answer the energy challenges of the next 50 years, space-based solar power must be a part of the answer. The NSSO-led study charts the path forward. While the technical challenges are real, significant investment now can build Space Solar Power into the ultimate energy source: clean, green, renewable, and capable of providing the vast amounts of power that the world will need. Congress, federal agencies and the business community should begin that investment immediately."

Now, over four years later, we have yet to see any significant development on the space solar power concept... meanwhile, the nations of the world continue to discuss how best to combat the undeniable and increasing complications of climate change.

Although space solar power is currently far from ready, requiring plenty of research and engineering (and thus funding) to become a reality anytime soon, the technology is feasible... given the existence of affordable launch vehicles and in-orbit support operations. Still, isn't it best to start development and testing sooner rather than later, when we will be under even more pressure to clean up our energy act?

ANALYSIS: Japan Eyes Solar Power Station in Space

The future is coming, whether we're ready or not. We need to be prepared for the energy needs of an ever-growing population, and even if space solar power won't replace conventional energy anytime soon it may offer a supplemental source of power -- with little negative impact on the environment.

FULL STORY:

http://news.discovery.com/space/beaming-down-earths-energy-111220.html

[PWSP2] NEXT GLOBAL WARMING SHOE 2 DROP - Methane Gas death plumes

2011-12-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

Risk from Acidic Methane Gas (Oceans) and Accelerating
Global Tempatures increases dramatically in 2011

With Apologies to my Global Cooling fan base....

Dec-13-2011

Steve Connor @ www.independent.co.uk

Methane Gas Plumes in the arctic

Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane - a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide - have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.

The scale and volume of the methane release has astonished the head of the Russian research team who has been surveying the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf off northern Russia for nearly 20 years.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov of the International Arctic Research Centre at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who led the 8th joint US-Russia cruise of the East Siberian Arctic seas, said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.

"Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said.

"I was most impressed by the shear scale and the high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them," he said.

Scientists estimate that there are hundreds of millions of tons of methane gas locked away beneath the Arctic permafrost, which extends from the mainland into the seabed of the relatively shallow sea of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf.

One of the greatest fears is that with the disappearance of the Arctic sea ice in summer, and rapidly rising temperatures across the entire Arctic region, which are already melting the Siberian permafrost, the trapped methane could be suddenly released into the atmosphere leading to rapid and severe climate change.

Dr Semiletov's team published a study in 2010 estimating that the methane emissions from this region were in the region of 8 million tons a year but the latest expedition suggests this is a significant underestimate of the true scale of the phenomenon.

In late summer, the Russian research vessel Academician Lavrentiev conducted an extensive survey of about 10,000 square miles of sea off the East Siberian coast, in cooperating with the University of Georgia Athens. Scientists deployed four highly sensitive instruments, both seismic and acoustic, to monitor the "fountains" or plumes of methane bubbles rising to the sea surface from beneath the seabed...

History Channel Mega Disasters - Methane Explosion

FULL STORY : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/methane-discovery-stokes-new-global-warming-fears-shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-releases-greenhouse-gas-6276278.html

OH OH! UPDATE 12.18.2011

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A bubble rose through a hole in the surface of a frozen lake. It popped, followed by another, and another, as if a pot were somehow boiling in the icy depths.
Every bursting bubble sent up a puff of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas generated beneath the lake from the decay of plant debris. These plants last saw the light of day 30,000 years ago and have been locked in a deep freeze — until now.

If a substantial amount of the carbon should enter the atmosphere, it would intensify the planetary warming. An especially worrisome possibility is that a significant proportion will emerge not as carbon dioxide, the gas that usually forms when organic material breaks down, but as methane, produced when the breakdown occurs in lakes or wetlands. Methane is especially potent at trapping the sun’s heat, and the potential for large new methane emissions in the Arctic is one of the biggest wild cards in climate science.

Scientists have declared that understanding the problem is a major priority. The United States Department of Energy and the European Union recently committed to new projects aimed at doing so, and NASA is considering a similar plan. But researchers say the money and people devoted to the issue are still minimal compared with the risk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/science/earth/warming-arctic-permafrost-fuels-climate-change-worries.html

UPDATE 12-30-11
:
Shouldwe fear the Methane Time Bomb?

http://www.globalwarming.org/2011/12/29/should-we-fear-the-methane-time-bomb/

"Short answer, Yes " - Dr Strangelove #Rant 1101

Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen joins the Commercial Space Race

2011-12-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

Forget about rockets, if Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has his way, the satellites of tomorrow may well enter orbit courtesy of a mid-air launch from a dual-fuselage airplane that dwarfs any that’s come before. Based on the SpaceShipOne concept, the carrier plane will bring a multistage booster rocket to 30,000 feet, then release it, after which the engines will ignite to propel 10,000-lb-class payloads to low earth orbit. Meanwhile, the carrier plane will head back down to earth until the next mission.

The project is under development by Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems, which puts him back together with Burt Rutan, his teammate from SpaceShipOne, the launch vehicle that took a civilian into space. But while SpaceShipOne had an 82-ft wingspan, that of the Stratolaunch carrier plane will be a whopping 385 feet. Compare that to the wingspan of the Airbus A380 at just over 261 ft…or the Spruce Goose at 319 ft.

I find myself torn, here. The geek side of me is fascinated by the ambition and scope of the project. In some ways, it seems like a very smart solution. But then I read about them leveraging used 747 engines and parts. I look at the crossmember dangling between the two fuselages that's going to have to support a 490,000-lb booster rocket with payload, and composite or no composite, I can’t help but be a bit skeptical.

Still, they seem to be assembling a good team. In addition to adding Rutan to the Stratolaunch board, they’ve recruited NASA veteran Gary Wentz as CEO. The task of building the carrier aircraft falls to Scaled Composites, which built SpaceShipOne and is developing SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic. As for the 120-ft-long booster rocket, that will be provided by SpaceX, based on its Falcon 9 platform. SpaceX will also provide mission design and integration services. Dynetics will produce the mating and integration system (MIS) that connects the booster rocket with the carrier aircraft. The system can hold a booster load of nearly half a million pounds.

Fully loaded, the carrier plane will take off at 1.2 million pounds and require a 12,000-ft runway to do it. The company touts the launch platform’s portability—it has a range of 1300 miles—as making it independent of local weather conditions. That said, 12,000-ft runways aren’t exactly thick on the ground. Perhaps more of a concern, are they likely to be able to accommodate the carrier plane’s wingspan, not just in the primary runway but in taxiways? It seems more likely that the project would develop a few dedicated runway/hangar facilities of its own.

It’s an interesting concept, but I keep looking at the numbers and questioning the scale. Allen has deep pockets, but it seems likely that this project would rapidly devour the $200 million some sources estimate he’s indicated he’s prepared to spend. The ambitious schedule calls for test flights to begin in 2016. That seems optimistic, as well. That said, I’ve been to Cape Canaveral, I’ve stood by the Mercury rocket and then a Saturn V. I’ve seen how technology can scale up. Will it work in this case? Will Stratolaunch have the resources to pull it off? What do you think?

FULL STORY:

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4233201/From-Microsoft-to-commercial-space-flight--Paul-Allen-s-new-venture

THE NEXT BOOM 4 THE REST OF US

Elon Musk - Spacex/Tesla/SolarCity
Jeff Bezos - Blue Orgin
Paul Allen - StratoLaunch
Richard Branson - Virgin Galactic
John Carmack (Millionaire) - Armadillo Aerospace

"With so many billionaires putting real money into commercial spacce, there obviously must be, a real opportunity to create the next economic engine. Better yet when combined with SSP a sustainable path for economic development that can support 10s of billions of power hungry people can be realized. " - Dr. Strangelove

Exclusive: Iran hijacked US drone, says Iranian engineer

2011-12-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

In an exclusive interview, an engineer working to unlock the secrets of the captured RQ-170 Sentinel says they exploited a known vulnerability and tricked the US drone into landing in Iran.

CS Monitor From Istanbul, Turkey

Iran guided the CIA's "lost" stealth drone to an intact landing inside hostile territory by exploiting a navigational weakness long-known to the US military, according to an Iranian engineer now working on the captured drone's systems inside Iran.

Iranian electronic warfare specialists were able to cut off communications links of the American bat-wing RQ-170 Sentinel, says the engineer, who works for one of many Iranian military and civilian teams currently trying to unravel the drone’s stealth and intelligence secrets, and who could not be named for his safety.

Using knowledge gleaned from previous downed American drones and a technique proudly claimed by Iranian commanders in September, the Iranian specialists then reconfigured the drone's GPS coordinates to make it land in Iran at what the drone thought was its actual home base in Afghanistan.

Drones Against American on US Soil? Background Article 2008 : Why is a U.S. Army brigade being assigned to the “Homeland”?
FULL DRONE HIJACK STORY :

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1215/Exclusive-Iran-hijacked-US-drone-says-Iranian-engineer

[PWSP2] Los Angeles Space Salon / Space UP

2011-12-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

With LA Space Salon – William Pomerantz of Virgin Galactic

The 2nd recent Oil war is so over; fear not, a 3rd one looms (Iran)...why not space solar?

2011-12-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

There was no triumphalism and certainly no shock or awe. The end of the war in Iraq was subdued and simple: a small band playing as the US forces flag was furled with 200 troops watching on quietly.

In a makeshift parade ground in a corner of Baghdad airport, time was called on the war just after 1pm on Thursday, eight years, eight months and 26 days after its far more dramatic opening in March 2003. Nearby a plane was waiting to take home the US high command. And in southern Iraq, the 4,000 US troops who remain were steadily streaming towards Kuwait.

On the streets of Baghdad, the ceremony caused little fuss. It was carried live by state television, but groups of men in several coffee halls in the city's eastern suburbs largely remained ambivalent.

....

Some of the soldiers who will soon cross the border will remain in Kuwait for several months more. But the vast majority of people in a country that has seen about 1.5 million US soldiers rotate through are unlikely to ever see another. Only 159 uniformed troops and officers as well as a marine guard corps will remain in the US embassy in the heart of Baghdad's green zone.

"You came to this land between the rivers again and again and again," said the US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, who arrived from Afghanistan just over an hour before the ceremony began. "You will leave with great pride, lasting pride."

Minutes earlier, the last US commanding general in Iraq, Lloyd J Austin III helped wrap the USFI banner around a flagpole, then cover it in camouflage.

Panetta, previously CIA chief, said the war was worth the enormous price in blood and treasure – about $750bn (£484bn), 4,500 dead, 32,000 wounded, and that's just on the American side.

Iraqi casualties are far higher, with civilian deaths well over 100,000, many more maimed and up to several million people displaced at the height of what became a vicious two-year sectarian war.

...

Assad Mohammed, 48, a spare parts shop owner said. "I don't have any emotions about the events of today. I'm not happy and I'm not sad.

"Whether they are here or not, it's the same. Stability isn't in the hands of the government, or the Americans. It's in the hands of the Iraqi people.

"Sovereignty is not something that will be given to us. Sovereignty is when the people step forward and take it."

FULL:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/15/us-exit-iraq-withdrawal-ambivalence?newsfeed=true

SPACE SOLAR COULD BE DONE (Of the above):

@ 1/5 the COST
/w No cost in lives
/w Creation of 10,000s of domestic long term jobs
/w Eliminate the risk of Nuclear Radiation from Nuke Power Plants (Japan's) built on fault lines ;)
/w Eliminates the CO2 emissions of Coal Power ( China's )
/w Lowering of rocket launch cost to point that mufti-planetary lifestyle is feasible.
/w Reduction in overall Carbon Emissions ( though to late to stop Global Warming)
/w Use of Domestic Shale Oil, Tar Sands, Desert Solar Energy and Natural Gas resources as bridging fuels IS perfectly feasible.

LEARN MORE: ->> HERE

"The say the definition of insanity, is to do the same thing, over and over again expecting different results" - Dr Strangelove so Endth the Rant

[BRIC-G RISING 2.0] China projects it new naval power over seas

2011-12-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

CHINA RISING 2.0

Beijing says it may accept an offer from the Seychelles to host its navy ships, in a further sign of the Chinese military's expanding global reach.

China and India will each have JThree Aircraft Carriers

A Defense Ministry statement said the Indian island nation's government invited Chinese ships to visit for rest and resupply. It said China will consider the offer.

China has contributed ships to a multinational force conducting anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia since late 2008.

China beautiful J-20 fighting plane dissected, and its only 1/3 the cost of a J-35
Those vessels have visited various ports to allow their crews to rest and to take on supplies, including in Yemen and Oman on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.

Russian TV fans the flames of fear over Germany and China. Truthly though the US needs a new super power threat in order 2 focus.Shades of Dick Cheney here... FULL STORY:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/china-mulling-seychelles-naval-hosting-offer-15142412

[WAR3.0] RQ-170 Drone told it self to land in Iran. Can't make this stuff up.

2011-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

While intelligence officials are investigating a handful of scenarios to explain the lost CIA drone now held in Iran, Fox News has learned that a leading scenario is that the drone went into a default setting for an automatic landing pattern.

But the pressing question remains what triggered it.

"The forensics are ongoing," said an official.

One U.S. official said the landing was in line with an "internal or system failure" that would be consistent with the "default setting" theory.

Two intelligence sources, who work cyber issues, say the other scenarios include a catastrophic or navigational malfunction that caused the RQ170 to break contact with its base.

But that scenario is problematic, the sources said, because it does not fully explain the "soft landing, one where it lands and lands well, not scratched up."

Video : http://video.foxnews.com/v/1316714358001/iran-releases-video-of-reported-downed-drone?playlist_id=86857

UPDATE!

Iran successfully extracts/decodes data from Drone!

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2102084,00.html

[PWSP2] If a first u don't succeed, Try, try again. Spacex to Dock ISS Feb 2012

2011-12-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

It will be the first commercial company in history to dock at the ISS

NASA has announced that American space transport company SpaceX will embark on a journey to the International Space Station (ISS) in February 2012.

After retiring its Space Shuttle Program in summer 2011, NASA has had to purchase seats on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in order to send American astronauts to the ISS. According to Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator, the cost per seat is expected to increase to $63 million by 2015 and the U.S. will be forced to pay the Russians $450 million per year in 2016 and beyond for every year that the U.S. delays its own commercial crew vehicle.

To remedy this issue, NASA is looking to California-based private commercial company SpaceX to send supplies to the ISS. NASA has set a date of February 7, 2012 for the SpaceX launch.

"SpaceX is excited to be the first commercial company in history to berth with the International Space Station," said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president. "This mission will mark a historic milestone in the future of spaceflight."

FULL STORY :

http://www.dailytech.com/SpaceX+to+Make+ISS+Endeavor+in+February+2012/article23491.htm

[UAV2 ]Downed by Iran RQ-179/RQ-170 UAV Technology Already Dated

2011-12-05T16:24:00.001-08:00

Downed by Iran RQ-179/RQ-170 UAV Technology Already Dated

By David A. Fulghum davef@aviationweek.com

Even if Iran has, as it claims, shot down a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 unmanned aerial system (UAS), the single-channel, full-motion video capability that made the stealthy flying wing so invaluable when it debuted in Afghanistan about two years ago is considered outdated, potentially limiting the intelligence fallout.

For now, U.S. intelligence- and surveillance-related sources only will say the downed aircraft was “possibly” the RQ-170 Sentinel. One source tells Aviation Week there is a “50-50” chance it is the Sentinel.

Nonetheless, both assessments put the aircraft that was in operation over Iran as well as Afghanistan. From the beginning of RQ-170 operations, indications from the intelligence community were that Iran’s missile program was one set of targets of interest, as was its nuclear weapons program.

But even if it is the RQ-170, systems now moving into an operational role are scores of times more effective than the Sentinel’s full-motion video (FMV), assuming that technology has not been significantly upgraded or replaced covertly.

Perhaps the most important data point to have emerged from the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan was its reliance on activity-based intelligence. Bin Laden was never seen, but the coming and going of other important players revealed that he was there. The information was gathered by the FMV sensor system on the U.S. Air Force’s RQ-170, and the data were analyzed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

The need for a more activity-based intelligence capability is underscored by NGA. “We’re moving into more of an anticipatory [style of operations],” a senior agency official says. “We look at key intelligence questions and bring as many pieces of information together as we can, using multi-intelligence fusion and nontraditional sources.” The bin Laden residence was identified by “pattern of life activity and [NGA] worked with the assault team to look at the best way to get there,” the official says ...

RQ-170/RQ-179 the expendable UAV

FULL STORY:

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awx/2011/12/05/awx_12_05_2011_p0-401894.xml&headline=Downed%20UAV%20Technology%20Already%20Dated

[PWSP2] NASA SLS Heavy lift rocket, the laws of economics do not apply here. And never will...

2011-11-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

NASA HEAVY LIFT 2015 vs SPACEX on COST

Orion MPCV 2014 by Boeing, et al
...

NASA [HD] Heavy Lift SLS rocket Launch animation

...

The SLS: Is it TOO EXPENSIVE for exploration?

by John Strickland
Monday, November 28, 2011

http://thespacereview.com

"Too expensive?..Yes, A single launch failure/ vehicle loss would end the program :(" - Dr Strangelove

Many members of the space community have spoken out strongly against NASA’s plans to develop the Space Launch System (SLS), disparagingly called the “Senate Launch System” by some and the “Franken-Rocket” by others. It should be noted for fairness that, to a large degree, this wrong design has been forced on NASA by a Congress bent on keeping current space jobs in their current locations. Most of the reasons currently debated for opposing the SLS are short-term, such as single-source contract legalities, but there are even more important long-term reasons. There are several reasons why I conclude that the SLS is unaffordable for its main intended purpose of landing crews and building bases on the Moon and Mars and that its continued development and implementation will probably be catastrophic for NASA and the human spaceflight program.

The expensive SLS

The SLS would initially consist of an expendable core vehicle and two five-segment solid boosters that could orbit 70 tons. Refurbishing the solids after each use will cost about 80% of the cost of a new solid booster. A later version of the SLS is slated to use lighter, filament-wound solid boosters that would not be reused, making the entire vehicle expendable. The very large expendable core stage is based in part on the Space Shuttle’s expendable external tank, but this new stage would be a complete, monolithic, and very expensive rocket stage, which, along with all of its expensive engines, which would be destroyed after each launch as it impacts into the ocean. The upper stage (used only on the 130-ton version of the SLS) would use a variant of the Saturn 5’s upper stage J-2 engines and would usually be sent into solar orbit after a launch and also not re-used. If the SLS design logic is the reuse of “existing” shuttle parts, why is the SLS projected to cost so much more and take so much more time to develop than private alternatives?

The crucial fiscal issues for the SLS are the development costs, the cost per launch (not including the payload), and the annual operational costs. The high cost of each launch (refurbishment or replacement of the solid boosters, replacing the core stage and sometimes the upper stage, pad and launch operations, and the prorated costs of refurbishing and maintaining the old Apollo-era launch facilities to operate the system) will add up. They will ensure that, just as during the shuttle era, annual operational costs will be very high. These costs will continuously sap money from the NASA budget that is desperately needed for new technology that could actually advance our ability to operate in space.

One estimate of individual SLS launch costs (not including the payload) can be obtained from private launch cost projections, which are now about ten times lower than the current prices for government-sponsored launchers like the Delta 4 Heavy, which are actually increasing due to reduced launch rates. If the projected cost for the Falcon Heavy is about $850–1,000 per pound, or $100 million per 53-ton launch, for about four launches a year, then the cost per pound for an SLS payload would be about ten times higher at $8,500 to $10,000 per pound to low Earth orbit (LEO). This would equate to about $1.3 billion for the 70-ton payload version and $2.45 billion for the 130-ton version. Projected launch costs for the proposed Falcon Super Heavy (150 tons to LEO) are about $300 million, giving cost per pound that are comparable to the Falcon Heavy or still about ten times cheaper per pound than existing costs or projected SLS costs. Some estimates for the SLS test launch costs are as much as 25 times more per pound ($25,000 per pound) than those for the Falcon Heavy. These estimates are based primarily on the development costs. If we include a typical government payload, the cost per mission (vehicle costs, operational launch costs and payload costs) approaches $5 billion or more per launch. It is thus probable that the cost of each SLS launch with payload will be much more than the cost of a shuttle launch, which recent calculations have shown to be about $1.5 billion apiece. The Shuttle did recover the “upper stage” (the Shuttle itself) with all of its expensive rocket engines....

FULL STORY : http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1979/1

UPDATE 12.18.2011

NASA begs please do not over charge. big denfence contractors, we are your friends. Oh vey.

FULL STORY:

http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/12/nasa_asks_heavy-lift_rocket_co.html

[PWSP2 ] This is good for the price of Oil.

2011-11-30T08:08:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 14.35 GMT. Markets are soaring after the world’s largest central banks announced a co-ordinated move to boost

liquidity to the global financial system and China moved to ease monetary policy.
Equities have spiked higher led by Germany’s Dax index which rallied almost 3 per cent in ten minutes and is now up 4 per cent on
the day. The S&P 500 index in the US is up 2.7 per cent just after opening.

The central banks of the US, the eurozone, the UK, Canada, Japan and Switzerland announced that they would cut the cost of dollar
swap lines in order to ease a liquidity crunch in the financial system.
The move is aimed to “ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to
households and businesses and so help foster economic activity”, according to a joint statement.

Oil prices, as measured by the Brent benchmark, have reversed earlier losses and are now well above $111 a barrel, while copper has
jumped 4.5 per cent to $7,810 a tonne.

In currency markets, the euro briefly broke through $1.35 and was last trading at $1.3479, up 1.2 per cent. The Aussie dollar has
spiked 2.6 per cent.

Adding to the bullish sentiment at the US open is a stronger than expected ADP employment report, which put the private sector
payrolls increase in November at 206,000 compared with expectations of 130,000. The report raised hopes of a bullish surprise when
the US releases its official employment report on Friday.

The combination has sent 10-year Treasury yields up 8 basis points to 2.075 per cent.

[CLIMATE CHANGE DURBAN & SBSP ] The time 2 act is now to re-mediate global warming

2011-11-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

'...with the exception of a brief period of global cooling { Caused by La Nina and Solar Activity }last winter, the worlds avg temperature continues to rise dramatically.

Climate accords that can't be enforced won't have significant impact however switching to Space Solar Energy would.

-----
The time for a full technology demonstrator is now...' - Dr. Strangelove so endeth this rant.

-----

Climate change: 2011 temperatures the hottest ever during La Nina

Climate change studies show rising global temperatures – the 10th highest ever – and shrinking ice caps. This year saw the lowest volume of Arctic sea ice ever recorded, due to global warming, say scientists.

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

The world is getting hotter, with 2011 one of the warmest years on record, and humans are to blame, a report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Tuesday.

It warned increasing global average temperatures were expected to amplify floods, droughts and other extreme weather patterns.

"Our science is solid and it proves unequivocally that the world is warming and that this warming is due to human activities," WMO Deputy Secretary-General Jerry Lengoasa told reporters in Durban, where almost 200 nations are gathered for U.N. climate talks.

IN PICTURES: Rising seas

The WMO report was released to coincide with U.N. climate talks which run until Dec. 9 in Durban aimed at trying to reach agreement on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Prospects for a meaningful agreement appear bleak with the biggest emitters the United States and China unwilling to take on binding cuts until the other does first. Major players Japan, Canada and Russia are unwilling to extend commitments that expire next year and the European Union is looking at 2015 as a deadline for reaching a new global deal.

There has been an emerging surge of support for an EU plan to have a new global deal reached by 2015 and in force by 2020 that includes countries not bound by the Kyoto Protocol.

"Not only the EU but other countries share the same goal in one way or another," chief Japanese climate envoy Masahiko Horie told a news conference.

Japan is looking at a single, comprehensive legal document. Horie did not say Japan was on board with the European Union but signalled that Tokyo agreed with the principles of the plans laid out by Brussels.

TEMPERATURES RISING

The WMO, part of the United Nations, said the warmest 13 years of average global temperatures have all occurred in the 15 years since 1997. That has contributed to extreme weather conditions which increase the intensity of droughts and heavy precipitation across the world, it said...

STORY:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/1129/Climate-change-2011-temperatures-the-hottest-ever-during-La-Nina

Concepts for demonstration of wireless power transfer for Space-Based Solar Power

...

[Trouble just Walked In2 Town ] So many rockets and ships, not enough launch pads...

2011-11-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

So many rockets!

By Brid-Aine Parnell

Private rocket company SpaceX is looking around for new launch sites to take care of all the commercial customer demand it's getting.

Space Exploration Technologies already has a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida and is currently developing one at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but it says it needs more.

"Our growing launch manifest has led us to look for additional sites. We're considering several states and territories," CEO Elon Musk said in a canned statement.

"I envision this site functioning like a commercial Cape Canaveral," he added.

The private sector upstart said it had received 14 new orders for its Falcon 9 rocket in the last year alone and has sold 40 missions for the bird booster, "over half of which are for commercial customers".

The news is perhaps a bit of a "So, there!" to NASA, which has a less than comfortable partnership with the rocketing start-up to replace some of the work of the shutdown Space Shuttle programme.

SpaceX is making the agency, and traditional buddies Lockheed and Boeing, look bad by developing rockets that are way cheaper because they use kerosene instead of hydrogen fuel and because the company employs fewer people.

Last week, reports suggested that the first flight of Dragon, the cargoship intended to sit on a Falcon 9 rocket and carry supplies to the International Space Station, had been delayed and NASA's funding for contracted work like that mission would be cut back.

MORE : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/23/spacex_seeks_new_launch_sites/

-- The BOTTOMLINE on why we remain EARTHBOUND ---

QUESTION : Who killed Roger Spacex?

ANSWER : US Congress

WHY : To gives these guys a shot...after all Boeing builds in key votings states. ( You listennig Elon)

NASA deep-space ship ORION (Boeing) gets 2014 approved unmanned test flight

'We're still going to the Moon, not listening to Obama'

NASA has announced that it will test-fly its pork-tastic Orion spaceship, conceived under the Bush administration for the purpose of carrying astronauts to the Moon once more and now rebranded as a "deep space" vessel for trips to asteroids and perhaps one day Mars. Concept pic showing Orion Crew Exporation Vehicle docked with …

FULL STORY: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/08/deep_spaceship_test/

---TAKE THE BLUE PILL, PWSP2 ---

The mainstream media was declaring continually "OWS has no message". Frustrated, I simply asked them. I began soliciting online "What is it you want?" answers from Occupy. In the first 15 minutes, I received 100 answers. These were truly eye-opening.

No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.

Occupy LA and Financial Crisis : Post-Mortem by the Young Turks

MORE @ Bloomberg News : http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html

....

FULL STORY : http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/25/shocking-truth-about-crackdown-occupy

[CLEAN ENERGY FROM SPACE] - Academic and Professional presentations for 2011

2011-11-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

"Yes Dorthy, we can re-mediate Global Warming and create Thousands of Jobs using Space Solar Power...If we wanted too... " - Dr. Strangelove

Space-based solar power (SBSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in space for use on Earth. It has been in research since the early 1970s.
SBSP would differ from current solar collection methods in that the means used to collect energy would reside on an orbiting satellite instead of on Earth's surface. Some projected benefits of such a system are:

Higher collection rate: In space, transmission of solar energy is unaffected by the filtering effects of atmospheric gasses. Consequently, collection in orbit is approximately 144% of the maximum attainable on Earth's surface.
Longer collection period: Orbiting satellites can be exposed to a consistently high degree of solar radiation, generally for 24 hours per day, whereas surface panels can collect for 12 hours per day at most.^[1]
Elimination of weather concerns, since the collecting satellite would reside well outside of any atmospheric gasses, cloud cover, wind, and other weather events.
Elimination of plant and wildlife interference.
Redirectable power transmission: A collecting satellite could possibly direct power on demand to different surface locations based on geographical baseload or peak load power needs.

Space Solar Power: Advantages of Space Solar Power - Darel Preble

....

THE FULL REPORT ( for the really really bored )

Mark Hopkins, CEO of the National Space Society - 12 minutes [slides in PDF]
John C. Mankins, President of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions - 28 minutes [slides in PDF 5MB]
George Dietrich, President of SPACE Canada - 3 minutes

SPACE REVIEW ARTICLE
Making the case, again, for space-based solar power
by Jeff Foust
Monday, November 28, 2011

Space-based solar power (SBSP) is one of those ideas that, on the surface, looks particularly attractive. Harnessing sunlight in space—where it’s not limited by the day-night cycle or weather, as on Earth—and beaming that energy to Earth could provide effectively limitless amounts of power to meet the growing needs of humanity without the resource limitations or environmental impacts of alternatives like fossil fuels. However, SBSP’s beauty may be only skin-deep: once you start to dig into the details, from the technical challenges of building massive structures in space to the costs of doing so, it’s easy to understand why the SBSP concept has made little progress since first conceived by Peter Glaser over four decades ago.

However, a small element of the broader space community continues to restate the case for SBSP, seeking to leverage advances in various realms of technology to show that, with enough time and money, generating power in space will at least be feasible, and eventually economical. The latest effort to demonstrate the potential of SBSP is a new report by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), formally rolled out earlier this month at a press conference in Washington, DC. The report’s authors and other SBSP supporters hope that the report’s findings will trigger new interest in, and funding for, SBSP research.

“Ultimately, it was the judgment of the Academy study that space solar power is technically feasible, and there is a very reasonable prospect that it can be economically viable within the next one to three decades,” said John Mankins, who chaired the IAA study, at the November 14 press conference at the National Press Club.

Mankins hastened to add that although SBSP could be economically viable in that timeframe, the report does not guarantee that it will. “There’s still a lot of work to be done in terms of engineering research and development, and technology demonstrations, in order to validate the performance of these technologies in operational space solar power system concepts,” he said.

Those areas of technology development span a wide range of topics familiar to previous SBSP studies, from the in-space assembly of large structures to the conversion of sunlight into electrical power and its transmission to Earth. The biggest technological obstacles are not necessarily the best-known ones, though. Mankins noted that for one favored approach for an SBSP system, a “sandwich structure” of many small modular components that convert sunlight into microwave power, “the single biggest tall pole to an initial system is thermal”; that is, getting rid of the waste heat such a system would generate.
http://thespacereview.com/article/1978/1