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Elon pretty emphatically isn't a believer in orbital solar generation as a way to power planetary infrastructure. More here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/ho
by dasmoth 14y ago
Elon pretty emphatically isn't a believer in orbital solar generation as a way to power planetary infrastructure.
More here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/elon-musk-on-spacex-tesla-and-why-space-solar-power-must-die-13386162 http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/elon-musk-on-spa...
- stephengillie 14y agoWe're not naming the Dyson Sphere after him, then. ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
- jacquesm 14y agoI don't think he needs to worry about that, he's concerned with nuts, bolts and engineering not with science fiction.
- stephengillie 14y agoYou believe humans won't build one around this star?
- sneak 14y agoNo, we won't. The machines that make us extinct will, however.
- jacquesm 14y agoYes, I believe we will not. Materials science is a bitch, you can fantasize all you want but in the end if you can't build it it doesn't matter much.
- n3rdy 14y agoWe will come up with a solution that's little more elegant long before we have the means to build one of those.
- dasmoth 14y agoWell, clearly not! But I don't think his objection is using solar power for space-based infrastructure. Quite the contrary! (Dragon is solar-powered, but could fairly easily do everything except maybe long-duration Dragonlab missions on batteries if Elon really didn't like solar). I think the objection is to the complexities and transmission losses of beaming orbital solar power back to Earth. Of course, if you start moving your energy-intensive industries out of the gravity well...