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Solar power is fusion power. And if you're dealing with an asteroid you can capture it and use it with no transmission loss.
by olefoo 17y ago
Solar power is fusion power. And if you're dealing with an asteroid you can capture it and use it with no transmission loss.
- jff 17y agoSolar power is you sitting 200 feet away from a bonfire. Fusion reactor power is placing a space heater directly in front of you. If you were cold, which would you prefer?
- bjelkeman-again 17y agoWell, if the space heater is ready "in fifty years or so" and the bonfire is right here, right now, then I think I'll take the bonfire. ;)
- olefoo 17y agoA mirror is orders of magnitude cheaper than any fusion containment system you care to name, also orders of magnitude less mass. Seriously, do the math, for the applications we're talking about (asteroid mining), given that the solar constant at earths orbit is roughly 1400 Watts/m^2 a relatively modest set of mirrors could be used to heat metal up to working temperature.