pulsed beam having pulses less energetic, and hence safer, than the quite dangerous pulses considered in the abovementioned calculations of blooming. RECOMMENDATIONS Of the above key issues, it is recommended that, in any further research, highest priority be given to the following three: beam degradation by clouds, induced clouding, and perception of the laser as a weapon. Acknowledgements — For helpful discussions, the author wishes to express his thanks to F. Koomanoff and M. Riches of the Satellite Power System Project Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, C. Sandahi of the Argonne National Laboratory Satellite Power System Project Office, B. LaMar, S. Ruby, and J. Lee of Argonne National Laboratory, and W. Jones, M. Hunter, and L. Morgan of Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Inc. For technical editing, the author thanks M. Tisue of Argonne National Laboratory. This work was supported by the SPS Project Office. REFERENCES 1. U.S. Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Satellite Power System: Concept Development and Evaluation Program, Reference System Report, DOE/ER-0023, Oct. 1978. 2. J.D. Anderson, Jr., Gasdynamic Lasers: An Introduction, Academic Press, New York, 1976. 3. M.J. Beesley, Lasers and Their Applications, Taylor and Francis, Ltd., London, 1978. 4. J.L. Emmett, Frontiers of Laser Development, Physics Today 24, 24-31, 1971. 5. J.P. Reilly, High Power Electric Discharge Lasers, Astronaut. Aeronaut. 13, 52-63, 1975. 6. C.N. Bain, Power from Space by Laser, Astronaut. Aeronaut. 17, 28-40, 1979. 7. C.K.N. Patel, High-Power Carbon Dioxide Lasers, Scientific American 219, 22-33, 1968. 8. J.D.G. Rather, New Candidate Lasers for Power Beaming and Discussion of Their Applications, in Radiation Energy Conversion in Space, K.W. Billman, ed., Progr. Astronaut. Aeronaut. 61, 313-332, 1978. 9. R. Taussig el al., Design Investigation of Solar Powered Lasers for Space Application, prepared for NASA-Lewis Research Center by Mathematical Sciences Northwest, Inc., Nov. 1978. 10. R.E. Beverly, III, Final Technical Report on Direct Solar Pumped Lasers for the Satellite Power System, Rockwell International Corp., Downey, Calif., June 2, 1980. 11. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Researchers Achieve Direct Solar Power Laser, press release, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, Dec. 19, 1980. 12. P.F. Holloway and L.B. Garrett, Utility of Technology for a Space Central Power Station, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., AIAA-81-0449, Feb. 1981. 13. W.H. Christiansen, A New Concept for Solar Pumped Lasers, in Radiation Energy Conversion in Space, K.W. Billman, ed.,Prog. Astronaut. Aeronaut. 61, 346-356, 1978. 14. O. Yesil and W.H. Christiansen, Solar Pumped Continuous Wave Carbon Dioxide Laser, in Radiation Energy Conversion in Space, K.W. Billman, ed., Progr. Astronaut. Aeronaut. 61, 357-367, 1978. 15. W.B. Colson, One-Body Analysis of Free Electron Lasers, in Physics of Quantum Electronics, Vol. 5, Novel Sources of Coherent Radiation, S.F. Jacobs, M. Sargent, III, and M.O. Scully, eds., Addison-Wesley, 1978. 16. E.T. Gerry and J.D.G. Rather, The Laser Future, Astronaut. Aeronaut. 17, 60-67, 1979. 17. W.B. Colson, Rice University, personal communication, June 1979. 18. R.E. Beverly, III, Final Report on Solar Powered Satellite (SPS) — Laser Environmental Impact Study, Rockwell International Corp., Space Systems Group, Feb. 15, 1979. 19. J.B. Gerardo, Sandia Laboratories, personal communication, Nov. 1979. 20. B.D. LaMar, Argonne National Laboratory, personal communication, Nov. 1979. 21. Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., Inc., Laser Power Conversion System Analysis, Vol. II, Sept. 1978. 22. E. Morrison, Institute for Telecommunications Sciences, Boulder, CO, personal communication, June 1979. 23. E.J. Britt, The TELEC — A Plasma Type of Direct Energy Converter, in Radiation Energy Conversion in Space, K.W. Billman, ed., Progr. Astronaut. Aeronaut. 61, 421-436, 1978. 24. C.F. Hansen, NASA Research on Laser Power Transmission in Space, NASA Ames Research Center Report, 1976.
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