this technology does not appear to be a long tent-pole. Further, earlier space platforms may adopt this same technology and develop it further. Only in microwave power transmission is there a need for SPS-specific research now. Power transmission imposes unique technology needs, including extremely high-precision phase control systems, very high efficiency conversion of electricity to microwaves and vice versa, and unprecedented levels of noise and harmonic suppression. Questions regarding effects, if any, of chronic low-level biological exposure to continuous-wave microwave radiation have not been cleared up; the nature of the needed research is that it takes a long time. Without research in these areas, we could one day find ourselves in the position of needing SPS technology and having all of it within reach except an adequate knowledge base in power transmission. SPS should not push space technology. It should be an integral part of the evolution. SPS should come in its own time, when a growing and maturing space industry can take it on as a logical next step. This will happen sooner than almost anyone now believes. We do not need an SPS program office or more concept studies at this time. What we do need is research into the critical issues of microwave power transmission technology. The energy crisis has not gone away. The CO2 problem will not either. In our long-range future, renewable nonpolluting energy is a must. The timetable is very unclear; complacency is irresponsible. We need alternatives. SPS does not need to be very plausible to be as plausible as our other options. REFERENCES 1. A.C. Clarke, Profiles of the Future, Popular Library, 1977. 2. E.C. Okress, ed., Microwave Power Engineering, Academic, New York, 1968. 3. P.E. Glaser et al., Feasibility Study of a Satellite Solar Power Station, NASA CR-2537, 1974. 4. Department of Energy, Environmental Assessment for the SPS Concept Development and Evaluation Program, DOE/ER-0069, 1980. 5. Office of Technology Assessment, Solar Power Satellites, OTA-E-145, 1981. 6. National Research Council/NAS, Electric Power from Orbit: A Critique of a Satellite Power System, circa 1980. 7. G. Woodcock, Large-Scale Space Operations for Solar Power Satellites, A1AA/EEI/IEEE Conference on New Options in Energy Technology, 1977. 8. F.S. Barnes and C.J. Hu. Model for Some Nonthermal Effects of Radio and Microwave Fields on Biological Membranes, IEEE Irans. Microwave Theor. Tech. MTT-25, No. 9, 1977. 9. R.J. MacGregor, A Possible Mechanism for the Influence of Electromagnetic Radiation on Neuroelectric Potentials, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theor. Tech. MTT-27, No. 11, 1979. 10. Department of Energy, Workshop Proceedings on Modification of the Lipper Atmosphere by SPS Propulsion Effluents, DOE/NASA CONF-7906180, 1979. 11. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Satellite Power System, Concept Development and Evaluation Program, Reference System Definition, 1980; also Reference System Report, DOE/ER- 0023, 1978. 12. D.M. Rust, Solar Planes, Proton Showers, and the Space Shuttle, Science 216, No. 4549, 1982. 13. R.H. Nausen and O.E. Johnson, Economic Aspects of Energy from Space, AAS Paper 79-236, 1979. 14. J. Scott-Moncle, P. Stella, and P. Berman, Space Applicable DOE Photovoltaic Technology — An Update, JPL Pub. 81-91, 1981. 15. CO2-Climate Models Defended, Science 217, No. 4560, p. 620, 13 August 1982; This article summarizes an NRC report, Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Second Assessment, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1982. 16. G. Kukla and J. Gavin, Summer Ice and Carbon Dioxide, Science 214, No. 4520, 30 October 1981; also Revelle, Carbon Dioxide and World Climate, Scientific American, August 1982. 17. E.E. Davis, Future Orbital Transfer Vehicle Technology Study, NASA CR-3536, 1982. 18. D.G. Andrews and W.R. Snow, The Supply of Lunar Oxygen to Low Earth Orbit, Princeton Space Manufacturing Conference, May 1981.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==