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Strong Wind doesn't exist on asteroids and many planets, so I think there will be a long term need. Solar power decreases with the cube root of distance from th

Strong Wind doesn't exist on asteroids and many planets, so I think there will be a long term need. Solar power decreases with the cube root of distance from the sun,so twice the distance is 1/8th the flux

jandrese 2y ago
I'm not concerned about commercially viable space colonies in my lifetime. The real reason for fusion was that fission is not a renewable resource. In a few thousand years there will be a fuel problem with fission and we would be forced to switch to fusion if we had a fully nuclear power system.
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  Who said anything about concern? Im not in charge of making global decisions about fusion research, and I doubt you are either. That leaves low stakes idle speculation.
- BobaFloutist 2y ago
  I'm entirely content on relying on sci-fi energy production for a few thousand years from now. This might sound like the same attitude that put us in our present climate crisis, but that was on the order of decades to centuries. Thousands of years include such unbelievable potential of technological development that there seems no point in trying to predict the actual challenges we'll face.
- surfaceofthesun 2y ago
  Interestingly enough, some of the advancements in fusion research and lasers may help with fission waste fuel recycling. [1] Though breeder reactors might end up being more economical. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/4912/chapter/20 https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/4912/chapter/20
TobTobXX 2y ago
Nitpick: Radiation decreases with the square of the distance (twice the distance, 1/4 the energy). This is because the surface of a sphere (which is where energy is collected) is 2D, not 3D.
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  I stand corrected
pfdietz 2y ago
We'll let the space colonists worry about that. It provides no justification for anyone I know to pay for it. Solar decreases as 1/r^2. Cube root? Where did that come from?

jandrese 2y ago

I'm not concerned about commercially viable space colonies in my lifetime. The real reason for fusion was that fission is not a renewable resource. In a few thousand years there will be a fuel problem with fission and we would be forced to switch to fusion if we had a fully nuclear power system.

s1artibartfast 2y ago
Who said anything about concern? Im not in charge of making global decisions about fusion research, and I doubt you are either. That leaves low stakes idle speculation.
BobaFloutist 2y ago
I'm entirely content on relying on sci-fi energy production for a few thousand years from now. This might sound like the same attitude that put us in our present climate crisis, but that was on the order of decades to centuries. Thousands of years include such unbelievable potential of technological development that there seems no point in trying to predict the actual challenges we'll face.
surfaceofthesun 2y ago
Interestingly enough, some of the advancements in fusion research and lasers may help with fission waste fuel recycling. [1] Though breeder reactors might end up being more economical. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/4912/chapter/20 https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/4912/chapter/20

TobTobXX 2y ago

Nitpick: Radiation decreases with the square of the distance (twice the distance, 1/4 the energy). This is because the surface of a sphere (which is where energy is collected) is 2D, not 3D.

s1artibartfast 2y ago
I stand corrected

pfdietz 2y ago

We'll let the space colonists worry about that. It provides no justification for anyone I know to pay for it. Solar decreases as 1/r^2. Cube root? Where did that come from?