L-5 NEWS A PUBLICATION OF THE L-5 SOCIETY VOL. 3 NUMBER 7 JULY 1978
In this issue:
Eric Drexler, Editor 1 The New Space Program: Conflict, Cooperation and Common Membership Services: Interest Former O'Neill research assistant Eric Drexler proposes ethical Janet Tarney standards for space researchers. Chris Naliwsky Flippo Bill Passes House William Weigle, Administrative Services 2 Suppose Isabella Had Said " No " ? Robert G. Nichols draws some Board of Directors: historical parallels. Gordon R. Woodcock Barbara Marx Hubbard 3 Space Habitats By Accident? Konrad K. Dannenberg Hon. Edward R. Finch, Jr. SPS Promoted to DOE Back-Burner James E. Oberg Leonard David People in Space—An ESA European Viewpoint P hill Parker J. Peter Vajk reports. Jack D. Salmon Phillip Parker David M. Fradin 4 A Social Psychologist Looks at the Space Program By Charles Romualdas Sviedries J. Divine Keith Henson Carolyn Henson 5 Boeing, ADL Outline SPS Development Plans Eric Drexler William Weigle wraps up the aerospace "party line " on SPS . Mark Hopkins Norie Huddle 7 Offshore Satellite Solar Power Receiver Studied Tom Bros Magoroh Maruyama describes an SPS receiver design that may meet even the most stringent Harlan Smith environmental limits. Carol Motts Publication office: the L-5 Society, 8 Laser Propulsion to Geosynchronous Orbit E ric Drexler reveals 1060 E. Elm, Tucson, Arizona the just-declassified details of a bold new propulsion system. 85719. Published monthly. Subscription: $12.00 per year, included in dues ( 20.00 per year, 9 Bibliography Update By Conrad Schneiker. students $15.00 per year). Second class postage paid at Tucson, 13 Sun Day Peter Mikes, Ken McCormick and Carolyn Henson discuss Sun Arizona and additional offices. activities, held May 3. Copyright ©1978 by the L-5 Day Society. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without 14 Inside the L-5 Society written consent of the L-5 Society. The opinions expressed by the 17 Letters authors do not necessarily reflect the policy of the L-5 Society. ' Membership Services: L-5 Society, Editor s Note: I would like to thank frequent L-5 News contributor Eric Drexler for 1620 N. Park Avenue, Tucson, holding down the editor's desk this month. His work allowed me to take a much Arizona 85719. Telephone: appreciated rest after the birth of my third child, Valerie Aurora, June 8. I'll be back on the 602/622-6351. editor ' s job with the next issue. —Carolyn Henson, President, L-5 Society. Change of address notices, undeliverable copies, orders for subscriptions, and Cover: The planet Earth, showing North and South America. other mail items are to be sent to: L-5 Society Membership Services 1620 N. Park Tucson, AZ 85719 THE NEW SPACE PROGRAM: Conflict, Cooperation, and Common Interest by Eric Drexler
Because you are a member of the New The goals of the NSP require large-scale large extent a single category in the public Space Program community, you share space operations. To support any goal of mind, a common political environment strong common interests with everyone the NSP is to have an interest in better lift creates powerful common interests within who supports a goal of the New Space Pro- vehicles, large space structures, power the NSP community. gram. The New Space Program com- systems, orbit transfer vehicles, tele- Despite these common technical and munity needs a better understanding of operators, space stations, solar political interests and the limited coopera- itself and of its common interests if it is to furnace/antenna surface configuration tion they have produced, a corrosive at- act effectively on the national political technology, knowledge of human mosphere of conflict pervades the New scene. physiology in space, knowledge of Space Program community. Supporters of Recent years have seen the growth of materials processing in space, and so on differing NSP goals and means to goals renewed support for space, but with a new down an endless list of space-related (i.e., the ground-launched approach to set of goals. The old space program had knowledge and capabilities. Common SPS, the space manufacturing facility ap- three sides: human exploration, auto- technologies create powerful common in- proach to SPS, etc.) commonly object to mated probes, and useful satellites. Of terests within the NSP community. each other's efforts for one or more of the these, the first has died, the second has lan- The goals of the NSP require public and following reasons: guished, and the third has passed on into political support for space. To support any 1) The goal advocated is too far-out to the realm of the accepted and routine. The goal of the NSP is to have an interest in a be credible to anyone (or to Congress, or to New Space Program (NSP) has three major public perception of space capabilities as a conservative engineers in related fields, or sides as well: space industrialization, desirable national goal, and of space whatever), and hence advocacy of the goal satellite solar power, and space coloniza- activities as an important part of our discredits the space program and my tion. Like the old space program, with its future. Such a public perception, together project. human exploration vs. automated probes with more direct political pressure, will 2) The means advocated for reaching a conflict, the NSP has its warring factions. help increase federal support for space re- legitimate goal are too far out, or are in- Fortunately (considering the sorry state of search and activities, will encourage the ferior to my proposal, and should be funding for the old space program), US to negotiate favorable treaties, and will eliminated from further consideration or enlightened self-interest provides grounds result in a more favorable situation in the greatly de-emphasized. for greater cooperation among us. federal bureaucracies. Since "space" is to a 3) Money is scarce, and my project deserves the lion's share of it. For these reasons, planetary scientists (eyeing space manufacturing as a justifica- tion for planetary exploration) have FLIPPO BILL claimed that only space manufacturing can make SPS a viable concept, SPS ad- vocates have claimed that space colonies are not feasible this century, space manu- PASSES HOUSE facturing advocates have played up the possible environmental hazards of launch- After many postponements, HR 12505 Progress in the Senate seems less certain. ing SPS systems with big boosters, and came to a vote on the floor of the House Senator John Melcher (D-MT) introduced supporters of more modest space efforts Thursday, June 22, in the late afternoon. It S 2860 (the Senate version of HR 12505) last have called for more caution lest the public passed, 267 to 96. While this large margin May, but hearings have not yet been find itself disappointed. In articles, lec- should help smooth its future course, the scheduled. Owing to a backlog of work, tures, and congressional testimony, end is not yet in sight. Melcher expects hearings to be held no spokespeople for various camps have In the House, it must now pass the earlier than late July, shortening the time failed to support each other's goals, have Appropriations Subcommittee on HUD- available to complete the legislative emphasized the cost of technologies Independent Agencies, chaired by Rep. process in this session. required for other's proposals, have taken Howard Boland (D-MA). Its prospects in If passed, the Flippo bill will provide pains to disassociate themselves from other this subcommittee seem bright, as Boland $25 million for SPS research in fiscal 1979, groups (even those working for broadly voted "aye" on the floor. In light of his permitting vitally needed technology veri- similar goals), have joked about other's previous opposition to many of NASA's fication and development work, as well as goals, and have used other proposals as planned projects, supporters of SPS owe a closer examination of SPS environ- scapegoats when their own proposal Boland a hearty "thank you". mental impacts. comes under criticism. These efforts have
1 no1 nmic<'ahl) inc rcast·d an~om"~ funding. Second. should fe wer competing means supporting siudy or your conct'.pt. and be nor ha\'t' llwy funhen'd dn·dopnlC'nt of lih be proposed 10 achieve these goals? Fewer sides - whal better wa y to uncover the vehicles. large space structures, pow<'r means. like· fewer redu11dan1 systems. fl a ws in yorn compeiito r's ideas? systems, a nd so on. They have eve n wo uld decreilsc· tht cha n c(:' of reaching o ur 3) Mak<' sure the fl a ws in your com· poisoned 1he a tmosphere for the construc goals. a nd would weaken our case for de pe 1i1or's concept are studin l. by supplying tive technical criticism required to im velo pme nt of 1he iechno logy base common 1echn ical criticism - preferably in techni prove or weed out po01 idcas. In shon. 10 a ll la rge-seal<· space enterprises. So long cal cirdt·~ rather than lx·for(' congr<':. everyone loses. as technical n ilicism weeds out worthless ~io na l commilll'l'S. Is there a way everyone could win? Is proposals. com peting m ea ns strengthen 'I) Be o pen a bo ut uncen ainiies and dif there a way of looking at llw New Space the New Spate Program . fi culties both for credibility's sake a nd as Program which would cnc:ouragc mort• T hird. is destructive competition a n ef reason s for further s wdy. cooperation a nd less desll ut1ive forms of fenive wa y 10 help one's project? Advann·d 5) Discourage NSP comm un ity mem competil ion? Let us considt'r the sources o r space planning is a m inuie sliver of the bers from destructive behavior by friendly conflict, and possible ways or reducing i1. federal budgc1, and hence is elastic. At besi, but-critical phone calls a nd letters in First. sho uld 1he NS P ha ve· fewer goals? rlimination of a compe 1i1or m ig h1 slightly r<·s ponse w ha rmful public s tatements. Fewer goals wo uld decrease 1he ra nge o f increase the funds availa ble for o the r In hi, c·rnign·" icmal 1es'ti1110 11 y of :\pril 11. s upport. W o uld lessen c.:d in1c·1es1 in :.µan·. work - while crippling th<' case for the 1>1. l't'll'I <;ia~C't ~('t!> a good ('Xampk: colo nies increase support for SPS? I th ink SP as a whole. More realisticall y, at .. rill' S P'> dC'n·lopmc·n1 pwg1a1.11 will not. Would lessened inl l're~t in S P. tempts at destroying a compe1i1or result in focus dc·ve!opmen t effm 1s on spact increase support for space colo nies? coumerattack. \\'('akening of bo1h sidts. processing. fa brication, assembly a nd Ccnainly 11 0 1! Is the S PS a credible goal? a nd even grl' Colu m b us·~ expedition and the l ' .S. Suppose Isabella Had Said "No"? fund ing N ASA's span: explmation . ~ai n rea p ed immeasura ble ri ch es fro m bv H obnt (; . ,\ ' 11 /i o /.1 Columbus' and subscqucn1 travels w the New World. T he U.S. has llw opponunity to ga in immeasurable bt·nc:fits from its "Su ppose Isabella had said' O '". reads assi m ilalt' 1h e new 'cit·nccs a nd space program. Only a f<'w of these benefits 1h C' cap1io n on the poster hanging over my informatio n. incl uding a bit of knowledgt· have been reit lizrd bu t othC'rs will soon be· desk. T he poster shows a n illustration o f ha nded down from the t'arl y Greeks: Tlw l'Vidcnt. S pace: indus1rialia 11io n. the m·x1 the Moon bd1ind Salllrn \I al liftoff. Ea rth is ro 1111d. ste p in this nation's space efforts. will offer Be neath tht·sc is a drawing of Colum bu,· Christopher Co lumbus m11 st havr b<•t•n us m yriad products, p rocessC's a nd services. three ships a t sea. exposed to th is infmmaiion wh ile T he construction of powersats will reduce. Well , whal would have happened had studying to br a naviga101. llis idea that if not eliminatt'. th is na t io n ·~ dcpt> n dc> nce the G enot·sc· navigator failed lO p ursuade the Orient could be reached by sailing west of foreign o il. T d esats m u Id make the Queen Isabella to fina n cc: hist'xpedition to was in no way unique. ll wa' an idea whost• lt'rm "global \'illage" a reality. what he tho ug ht wo uld Ix· C hina a nd time had C(m1e. Columbu ~ \\'LIS simply the The re a rl' signs. howl'wr. that th(' l ' .S. India? O b\'io usly hisiory would be first navigalot of repul<' w h o managed 10 may he term inaiing iis all-out support of cha nged. bu1 in the long nm its course fi t o ut a n expedition to p 1m •t• it. the space program. NASA'5 funds have would h ~1 v<' hc·c·n similat. If Columbus had fa ikd to acquire tht' been cu1 rtp<'dl<'dly. At the t'lld of the l!iih cen tury, thC' needed funds. if Isabella had said "NO". Ii is as if QuC'c n lsabC'lla. having seen iis Renaissanrt• was ra pidly s preading from the n his tory wo uld n Tdi1 ano ther ri ches, discontinued expt·ditions 10 llw h a ly to 1he rest o f Euro pe. European navigator wiih 1he discovt·ry of 1he Nc· w New World. If Spa in had t'ndcd s uch traders were bringing back treasures £rom World. I le m igh1 have ht•tn fwm a nother t•xploration. other nation' \\'ould have the East: Spices. cloth and wonderous country bu1 lw would haw been arnwcl 1aken ihe lead. T he Ponugue<,<'. ihe Duich. works or an . as well as E.aMern sciences. with the sanl(' information. the British-all would haw exploited the m a them a tics a nd philosoph y. Tht The postc·1 over my desk draws th<' riches o n the wesiern side o f th<· Atla niic, European universities wt'rC' quick 10 a nalogy he t wet·n Spa in fin a n cing lea ving tlw dregs a nd castoffs 10 S pa in. 2 1.-5 Nt'\'''· J11l~ 19i8 In a like manner. should 1he U.S. reduce its erron s toward space industrializa tion. others will press on. Already the U.S.S.R. SPS PROMOTED TO has many more successrul launches than the U.S. The Russians have built a space sta tio n whe re they are c urre ntly DOE BACK-BURNER conducting resea r c.h in10 space manufacturing. Great Britain. France, by Eric Drexler West Germany and j apan a ll have active Yes, the SPS has been moved up onto the DOE now plans to request an addition space programs. A private firm. OTRAG, back-burner from the dust behind the stove of unknown si2e to the 1980 budget for has built a spare port in Zaire. They claim DOE established an SPS program office what 1hey ca ll Ground Based Exploratory to be able to deliver a payload into orbit last April. and now has an SPS group at Research, apparently to be spent primarily more cheaply than the spare shuulc. Argo nne National Laboratory. in for evaluation of microwave effects. One 1£ the l '.S. decides 10 cut back its space Argonne, Illino is. Further. OOE now has source in DOE states that this request was program. spare industria li2ation will be plans to suppleme111 its previous ··sps sent 10 OMB in late May; another states carried o n by others. It migh1 take longer. C.oncept Development a nd Evaluation 1ha1 it will nor be ready until October. but the "Third Industrial Rc·rnlution" Plan''. In response to questioning. o ne source will occur. Americans will simply enjoy This plan ca lls for DOE to spend in DOE s1a1ed 1hat the Flippo bill funds less or the· bcndits. $3,341.000 on environmental impact would be useful ror geuing long·t<•rm Suppose Isabella had said " NO." Well , studies, socioeconomic impact studies. and environmental studies under way - "if Europe· wo uld still have round its way to comparisons with 0 1h n tntrgy systems OMB will let us spend it" - while another the NC'w World. Rut the people of Mexico during £iscal '79. while NASA spends sta red 1h a t the Flippo bill was might be speaking Durch instead or $1.300,000 on system definition swclies. In " premature." and that microwave effects Spanish. fiscal ·so. DOE funding and NASA should be s1udied in great depth before funding are to drop, by $714.000 and even beginning to develop and test SPS $500,000 respectively. No money is to be techno logy. Opinion in DOE has it that spent on space-related technology work. evaluation of 1he chronic effects (if any) of which most researchers consider a high low-level microwave exposure will require SPACE HABITATS priority. 20 years. BY ACCIDENT? Speaking a t the 1978 Robert H . Goddard People in Space-An ESA European Memorial dinner in Washington. D.C. in March. Dr. Ha ns Mark. Under Secretary for the Air Force. offered his views o n the Viewpoint future of space exploration. by Phillip]. Ptnlu' r Keyed Lo tlw year 2000. Mark believed by that date "normal" people will have flown in spare. pointing out 1hat as ma ny as a With the United States busily preparing power module - which is beginning to hundred peopk siuing in a future its Space Shuule vehicle for the beginning fi gure increasingly in NASA studies of Goddard dinner will have partaken in of a new era in space activities in the 1980's future space station steps. The Spacelab orbiral flig ht. and the Soviet Union increasing the pace would be made compatible with the power Also by 2000, space will include or its spacdlighl programme IOwarcls modu le wi th respect to interfaces, permanent rtsicknts but, emphasized permanently staHed space stauons, I particularly concerning higher power Mark. it would no t take place by the recently questioned offi cials o f the levels and heat rejection. Mission duration popular O'Nt·ill concept. " It will happen European Space Agency (ESA) on how capability wou ld be increased and steps by accident. " felt Mark, believing that they foresaw European activity in the initiated to make Spacelab m ore maimenance stations wi II provide a service sphere of human spaceflight and in the autonomous from the Shuttle Orbiter. to repair and replace earth-assisting wider overarching concept of space This might include, for example, the application spacecrah . "The friendly industrialisation. deployment of Spacelab pallets from the telephone repair man will be 1here ... and as For about one year, ESA has been Orbiter and their attachment to the Power space living conditions improve, such actively defining the possible elements LO Module repair men "will vo lu111eer for extra duty" a n extension of the present Spacelab A fo urth step under consideration could concluded Mark. reusable space laboratory (which ESA is be the deployment of the Spacelab module Expanding his presentation 10 include producing as Europe's contribution to the and to intoduce either intermiuently or the entire universe. Mark stressed that "a USA's Space Transportation System) that permanently operations in connection new horizon of knowledge will be created" might possibly lead to a contribution LO with the Power Module. The last far-term prodt1<;ing "a new fe e ling a bout space stations. As a first near-term step, ste p under cons ide ratio n is the ourselves". The possible understanding or shortcomings of the present Spacelab applicability of Spacelab as an element of such cosmic wonders as neutron stars. design could be removed, including g iving Space Stations. Further options under black holes. quasars a nd the propeni<•s of higher power to the Spacelab payload, discussion are the contributio n of solar rnam·r will kad to a unified field theory extending mission duration beyond seven arrays to 1he Power Module (if built by Mark felt. which in turn will crea1e an days and including selected improvements NASA). missio n-dedica ted Spacelabs (e.g. "inte ll t· c tua l rc·volutio n of our in certain subsystem areas. A second and materials processing, life sciences), and u nderstanding of planet Earth in the third Spacelab follow·on development further co-operation with NASA in its uni verse". step could foresee contributions towards a studies of space stations. A Social Psychologist Looks at the Space Program b" Char/PS]. Di1•i11e world in already ust'able form. When a and weakening democracy, the limits of computer breaks in a lab. it requires growth advocates might produce the I would like to discuss some reasons speciali zed instruments to detect it. When a failures they seek to avoid. why the space program has seen opposi rocket blows up on a launch pad. a child It would Stl'm 1ha1 a determirn:d auack tion in recent years. An und('rstanding or c-c111 tell so1m·thing has gone wrong. upon some of our problems could a lso past obj<·c1ions may help us understand A runher difficulty of the space program give American society a vitality which has objcc1ions tO the new proposals for space. is the long time required to develop any been missing in recent years. We seem beset I also plan 10 explore. bridly, the impact new techno logy. Wi1h much or the by a wide variety or intractable problems- upon h11mani1y these new idras may have. development visible to the genera! public. e n ergy. unemployment, poverty, Many people o ppose these proposals on th is creates problems. A space scientist or po llution. By auacking these problems in grounds that they are impossible (Senator engineer cannot work quietly in the a forthright, imaginative manner we may Proxmire described them as a "nuu y laboratory and prest'nt his results as if by restore the hope any society needs to fantasy"). Remarkably new ideas have magic, hence progress seems compara function well and thus turn our society lx:c::11 gu:c::tc:: 4 L-5 NC'ws. July 1978 BOEING, AOL OUTLINE SPS DEVELOPMENT PLANS by Eric Drexler On April 13 and 14, 0 . C. Boilea u, that have been discussed, only fusion $173 million program ($25 million in the President of Boeing Aerospace Company. reactors, breeder reactors, and SPS are first year, as provided for in the Flippo bill) and Dr. Peter Glaser, Vice President of continuously available, non-depletable, to develop ;md test solar cells, materials, Arthur 0. Lillie, Inc. testified before non-regional sources of electric power. He structures. thermal engines a nd systems, subcommiuees of the House Commiuee points out that nuclear power research power clistribu1ion controls, microwave on cience and T echnology in support o f receives about one billion dollars per year, power transmission systems, flight contro l lhe Solar Power Satellite Research. as comparC'd to about fin' million for SPS systems. space cons1ruc1ion operations, Development. and Demonstration Act of - a factor of 200. and space environmental effects. 1978---the Flippo bill. Their testimony Reviewing past research. Bo ileau Following and overlapping this, they gives us a picture of what a vigorous SPS concludes tha t studies have shown SPS propost· ~omr seven years of flig ht 1es1s for development program should include, and techno logy to he feasible. and that t<"< hno logy 1Trifica ti on. starting in 1980. discusses some of the kss obvious benrfi1 s remaining questions revolve aro und cost This would include $50 to $100 mi ll ion for of such a program. reduction and a better understanding of a microwave interferometer experiment, The supplement to Boileau's statement system impacts. T o answer these some $675 million for shuule sorties, and begins by pointing o ut that the U.S. spent questio ns, Boeing proposes a three-phase $2.l billion for a power system test bed unit roughly S200 billion o n energy last year, technology developcment and verification in low orbit, assuming 1he preceeding and that of this sum S45 billion went program. con~isting of: work gives favorable results. overseas to purchase oil. It argues that a ---Ground-based technology verification To test the effects of long-term domestically controllable, non-depletable ---Flight tests microwave exposure in an inexpensive source of energy is vital to U.S. economic ---T echno logy verification power unit manner, they propose to string microwave stability. Of the many energy alternatives For the first, Boeing details a five-year, oven am pli trons over four acres of ground, 5 providing space for a variety o f plants, the international prestige generated by "It is difficult to quantify these types of animals, and types of la nd-use. A similar, very successful U.S. space programs. benefits. But it is clear that they may be adjacent piece of land would be pr<·pared especially Apollo. Although the scale of suffi cient to justify the level of fu nding I as a control. the SPS challenges the imagination, few have proposed for the next several years, Or. Glaser's testjmony begins by briefly will doubt the technical capability of this even without regard to the longer-term discussing the technical merits of the SPS, nation to deploy such systems in orbit. promise of the SPS. However, these then cites Or. Frank Press, White House Like Apollo, the SPS is a major benefits can accrue only if the SPS science advisor, as saying that high technolog ical enterprise which can fire the program is credible: it must be funded at a technology industries in general have spirits of people everyw here, engage sufficient leve l to d e m o nstrate shown almost three times the growth rate, i n te rnationa l participation a n d convincingly that this is a serio us twice the productivity increase, nine times cooperation, and, if it is successful, provide p r ogram. Present expendi tures, the employment growth rate, and only one <• powerful stimulus to t•<·cmomic growth. approximating one percent of the total sixth the price increase of low techno logy here and abroad. It is no t a panacea. but it 00E solar energy budget, or of the budgets industries. He further points out that SPS dot•s offer a combination of desimble for o ther advanCC'd energy sources, canno t provides the best of both worlds. in that its characteristics unmatched by any o ther be expected to achieve these goals." high technology side is complemented by proposed energy source. Dr. Glaser's lesiimony concludes by its need tor employment-generating mass discussing the goals of the Sunsat Energy production of components. In addition, " Because of these factors. a development Council (see "Sunsat Energy Council SPS could make the U.S. an energy program of the type envisioned in HRl0601 Formed," April L-5 News). exporting nation, helping to reverse the could yield these short-term benefits: Hi s testimo n y is partic ularl y drain on our balance of payments. (i) Slowing oil price inflation noteworthy for its support of a wide range After reviewing past work on the SPS, By g iving notice to oil supplyi ng of space goals, including industrialization. Glaser concludes that the technology lO nations that a viable and significant habitation, and mining. Such actions help build them exists, and that risk a nalys is a lterna tive to dependence on oil was. to build a sense of community and and prospects for economic viability under investigation, the S PS common interest among supporters of justify proceeding with the next phase of development program could lead to these goals, which in turn will aid us in development. He believes the Flippo bill some restraint i n continued becoming a more effecti ve political force would provide a vital supplement to the escalation of the world oil price. It (see "The New Space Progmm: Conflict. existing study program. permitting the should be noted that the cost to this C.oopcration, and Common Interest." in terrestrial tests and space experiments nation of imported oil is such that this issue). needed to advance the credibility of the SPS deferment of an annual increase of Supporters of the SPS could build an concept. He outlines a development only 0.1 % (or about a pen ny per • even stronger sense of common interest by program consisting of three overlapping barrel) would pay for the program planning to devote a few percent of SPS phases: concept feasibility studies (in proposed here. funds to studies of how and when non progress s ince 1972), technology (ii) Changing public perceptions of the terrestrial materi als should be phased into advancement, and demonstration projects. future SPS production. NASA finds such studies For the second phase. he proposes a five Because of its dramatic character a nd credible (see " Lunar Resources Study year program with a total cost of profo und implications. the SPS llnderway,''May L-5 News). as does. $200 million---roughly 10% of the fu nding development program can help Congress (sec " High Fro ntier Rill for advanced nuclear energy options. engender positive a11itudes towards Introduced," April L-5 News). In addition Or. Glaser then discusses some long· the future in a way that could not be to broadening the base of support for SPS term implications and short-term benefits: expected from, say, a commitment to, funding and providing the overall "Although studies to date ha\'e indicated coal gasification. In particular, it proposal with more flexibility, such an that the SPS may indeed be one of the could modify the common opinion action would increase one of the short· most promising options for generating that nothing much is being done term benefits of the SPS program cited by electrical power which could be available about the energy crisis. Moreover, a Or. Glaser: it would help in changing in the post-1990 period, it would be prerequisite for deployment of the public perceptions of the future for the premature to propose today a national SPS is development of a truly better. 0 commitment lO actual deployment and eco n omical capability f or operation of the system on a scale transportation lO orbit and for large commensurate with energy needs. All that scale construction in space: the possibility therefore arises of o ther is needed now is a limited development Sta1ionary earth orb11 bcation is sunh1 over 99% of the year. forms of space industrializa tion ;ind, program. as discussed above. aimed at 24·H0tJR SOLAR ! HEAGY resolving those outsta nding issues which eventually, of h uman settlement off ~ Ol!t17 P£fl (U TNE$ MOAE OTHER SP$ 10o 1$ <<>c PEA YEAR THAN will determine the eventual priority to be Earth. The consequences for the 'lf~o t. OH AVEJllAGE given the SPS in the overall national future of man may include the oe.,..., U.S. lOCATIOH) - .,lt·s ,,o.,"4,. .... energy plan. indefinite postponement of limits 10,. imposed by terrestria l resource - " In addi tion to providi ng the exhaustion. Even in its early stages, - informa tio n needed for timely decision, the SPS program may thus help - · this program could contribute signifi the current gloom and restore the cantly to the achievement of much more classic American confidence in the immediate policy goals. Even in its early future. Like Apollo, the SPS can - phases, a serious study of the SPS would be serve the social purpose of "getting - a most dramatic energy initiative. Unlike this country moving again"; but, - other energy R&:D efforts, the SPS unlike Apollo, the program can be - development program would capitalize on justified in q uite pragmatic terms. SPS is a solar dam Once bu1ll no tunher tuet •S reouired 6 L-5 News. July 1978 smaller supporting structures since it need be placed only a few feet off the ground. Offshore Satellite Solar Ships do not need to pass underneath (though automobiles might), and it does not need to resist oceanic winds and waves. Power Receiver Studied A land-based stucture would be built on by Tom Brosz the much cheaper principle of a chain-link fence rather than an oil-well pla tform. An o Hshore structures division of a (difficult with such a large object) or built This cost must be balanced against the major Texas corporation is studying a on high suppo rting towers to allow ships increased costs of the land-based system's proposal suggesting the possibility of to pass a long underneath. The height and need for much longer transmission lines to constructing an offshore antenna to receive width of the largest ship required to pass the power users. Transmission costs may energy from solar power satellites and under the structure's "roof" would dictate be reduced somewhat by using DC deliver it to coastal cities. the major dimensions of the antenna. This transmission, though installation costs The solar power satellite system uses a extra height would also keep the antenna would not be greatly improved. large satellite placed in an orbit which clear of high waves and most spray, Other rosr f::irrors to be examined: makes it appear to remain over a single although the operation of the antenna is • increased lishing production clue to position on the earth's surface. This only slightly hampered by rain and "artificial reefs" of o£fshore antenna satellite collects energy from the sun night moisture. support towers and day, and transmits the energy in the Initial designs show the fla t antenna • possible use of support towers for o il form of a tight microwave beam to a point array supported on a field of towers drilling structures beneath the below it on the earth. resembling those used in oil well antenna's shielding effect, saving The microwaves are collected by a large platforms, and using similar structural money on platform construction receiving antenna on the ground, and techniques to anchor them to the shallow • increased shipping costS due to having converted into electricity for use. bottom of the coastal sea. Heavy structure to pass through the rows of towers The ground receiving antenna is a flat is required to protect the antenna from parallel to the rows instead of making surfaced array which is spread over several damage during high winds, common in a passage along a possibly shorter square miles to intercept as much of the southern and eastern U.S. coastal waters. route through the area. microwave beam as possible. Some designs Studies will need to be made to research • Decreases in efficiency of microwave cover a roughly circular area 7 kilometers effects, if any, on shallow water wildlife transmission due to passage through across. and fishing. The antenna itself would moister ocean air rather than dry, clear Despite the enormous size of the seem to have little effect, as mentioned air over land-based system (usually antenna, it is actually quite lightweight. earlier, and the tower structures may even assumed to be in some type of desert The antenna surface is made up of enhance sea life by providing shelter for area due to criteria of low land value) receiving e lements placed ha lf a fish and plants in the manner of natural It is likely that costs not involving the wavelength of microwaves apart (about 10 reefs. If the structure is placed so as to be antenna, such as launch costs and cm.). This grid of elements receives the between the coastal cities and the construction costs for the power satellite microwaves, converts it to electricity, prevailing direction of storm activity, it itself. will be nearly identical for both rectifies it to DC power, and funnels it into may even be possible that wind and wave offshore and land a ntenna systems. transmission lines. This grid intercepts action could be reduced by the maze of almost a ll of the microwaves, a llowing towers and antenna structure. This could Ut'pri11tt'd fro111 The Foundation Report: very little to strike the ground below the resu lt in reduced damage from frequent Ad va nces in Commercial and General antenna. However, the grid allows most of tropical storms. Space Developments. A 1•a ilolJI<' for SI; yr. the normal sunlight and rainfall through The flaw in the offshore system would /rnm Fo1111da1 ion. 85 r:as/ (;{'Yfl II i11111 its chickC'n wire-like strucLUr('. appear to be costs. A land-based antenna 1h•f'111u•. St. l'a11/, MN 55117. This artidt• The· efficiency of the system can would have to be placed in remote areas of a11d il/11stratio11.\ <"<>/Jyrighl Fo1111datio11. approach nearly 1003 in conversion, and little used land, but would require much JC)/l/. the large area of the antenna permits leftover heat to be slowly released into the air around it. Hence, very little thermal pollution results. The major problem with the a ntenna system has been locating the ~ys1em far enough from major useful areas so as not to use up valuable landscape, yet have it close enough to the electrical customers to reduce the length of energy-wasting transmission lines. The offshore structures division feels that one answer may be to locate the receiving antenna in shallow water offshore from coastal cities. Landspace would then be located close to the users of the electrical power. ;,..... ,. ~ Since most coastal cities are major 11 bird's-eye l'iew of 1111 11flshorf' rrreit•ing 1111ten1111 for n .rntrllitr .wlnr power sy.~tem. /)rtnil shows shipping ports, the antenna would either r11do.wrt• for rlrctro11ir <'0111po11t'11ts which tum mirrowm•rs i1110 t>lertrirnl energy. "Chicke11wir<"' have to be placed out of shipping lanes grid pre1•e111s 111ioowm•rs from /J (Q)[f[Q)o~ by Eric Drexler The laser propulsion concept, de tion favor a bank or small lasers over a and other valuable components were in ve loped by Arthur Ka ntrowitz, chairman single big one. High -power laser develop cluded in detachable reusable packages, of AVCO Everett Research Laborat0ry, ment is classified, and the Department of one m ight readily believe the cost projec offers a promising alternative to chemical Defense has not owned up to having a laser tion on the lower vehicle-cost line of figure rockets as a means of getting off Earth. Al larger than 0.2 million watts (MW) - a de 6: a mere S20/ ki logram to geosynchronous though still in a very early stage of develop velopment now quite a few years old. A orbit, for a traffic model typical of ground ment, the o utlines of a system concept have declassified phot0graph of a large launched SPS conslruction. This possi begun to firm up. The results are im C02 laser, together with standard scaling bility makes laser pro pulsion well worth pressive. relationships. suggests that tlw l '.S. now further investiga tion. Rockets work best when their exhaust has lasers of some tens of MW. a quite ade Laser propulsion work is still at a velocity is not much less than the velocity quate size. comparativC'ly primitive stage or develop they must rrach. llnfortunately. theenrrgy The atmosphere poses problems to the ment. Calculations haV<' been performed to per unit mass available from chemical propagation of laser beams, including answer most of the obvious questions, and fuels limits thr exhaust \'docity or absorption and Lh ermal blooming. Both experiments have been pcrformc•d at )the c hemica l rockrts t o about 11.!'i water and carbon dioxide absorb carbon AVCO Evcn•tt Rc·scarch Laboraiory on kilometers second. while the \Tlocity thl'Y dioxide laser ligh t. T o escape most of the srna II model t•ngi rn·s. Classi ried work has must n·arh 10 c·scape Earth or achit•\'t' a former, the laser launching sta tion would apparen tly answerc•d many or the qu l'~ high orbit b about 11 kilometers second. be located on a mountain top. The effects tio ns rela ting to the laser and beam It is this mismatch bt·twe<'n 1·xhau~1 of the latter are reduced by elevation as propagation. While ASA has \'irtually \'elocity and mission ,·eJocity that drive~ ,,·t·ll. hut tlw pht·11011H·11 0 11 of atmosph<'ric rock('( cksigners to multipl<' s tag1·~ hleaching-mo111t•n1arily ~aturating th<' INJECTION TO GSO TRANSFER Et.1.IPSE containing vast amounts of fuel in thl· ahsorhing C:02 with light so 1ha1 it light<'st possihl C' tanks and structmcs. becomes transpan·111 - hdps t·1·t· 11 mc~n'. This. in turn. m<'ans larg<'. expensiw Thermal blooming results when laser \'<•hi ck s which arc· difficult to reuse. While· heating of the air makes it shift, destroying z 0 r,,,eos uc t: 600 the focus of the beam by refraction. The lERO BEAM/THRUST chl'lnida rockets can he greatly impro,·c·d 3: ANGL..£ 1hrn1tgh mlntnn·cl designs (i.1· .. fully Department of Defense has taken an " ...CZ: reusable shuttles and ~i ngl e -s 1 ag<·-w-orhi1 interest in this problem , and workers in the 3: ,·e hici«s). alternati\'<'S S<'<'tn worth field believe that it can be compensa ted for ~ ~ •00 comickring. by use of actively controlled , flexible :::> ..:z: >< Laser propulsion would sidestep the mirrors at the laser launching station. A w limits of chemical rockets by supplying good focus at a distance of 1000 kilometers ;;u power to the vehicle from a station on the and as much as 60 degrees from the zeni th u r zoo ground. Laser heating of an inert propel seems achievable. "' lant such as water can produce exhaust The favored vehicle engine design velocities around 8 kilometers/ second. a involves a block of solid propellant (or a good match to the task of carrying pay porous plate moistened with liquid pro 01-~~~-'-~~~-1.~~~--' 0 $00 1000 1$00 loads (such as power satellite components) pellant) surrounded by a short meta l skirt RANGE AT BURNOUT, Km to geosynchronous orbit. This, in turn, (see figure 4). A weak laser pulse would va cuts the ra tio of propellant to payload. per porize a controlled amount of propellant, Figure l mits sing le-stage vehicles, and makes which would then expand in a fraction of a 'f'ht· t•xhau't po\\TT pc:r unil bun1nu1 n1a~\ uc.·u·,~ t1 ) lightweight structures far less important. second into a layer about seven cen timeters 10 injt'< I :.i 'in~1c.· '':tJ.:t' H·hi< It· in10 a ~C."<>,\IU humuu' tr.uhh·r c.·1hp"'' j, 'huwn.'·: The laser power needed to launch a thick across the bottom of the vehicle. A Launch fro m eanh at a 0 60 anglr from the 1enith is vehicle into space scales directly with its powerful laser pulse would then heat the assumed . LA·ss powc·r i< n t'f.'d<·d if th<' laser can accd1·r:111· mass. the ratio being approximately one vapor to a high temperature, and the vapor the \'t'hiclt• ov<·r longt•r rang<'s. hut this requires bt•t11•r billion watts ( I GW) per ton of payload. would expand at high ~ p; ·1 ·d. giving the· optics and/ or a larg1·r (and ht'llct' hight•r drag) rt•t't'i\'t'r o n che rockt·t. Since the cost of the system depends mainly w hicle an impttlsc of thrust. Tlw cycle The· IH'<'<'S 1.-5 Nrws. July 1978 PROPELLANT SELECTION L ASE R SUSTAINEO OETONAT ION WAVE ROCKET ENGINE 0: tXPAN$10N w $KlftT ~... :> 51V h At.Otltft.V:C V l tll JIA$l-A1l$A lllt.t.$UlllONllOU!llOf .... "' l'll\Nrt Cl.U fl\Qlot A IOl..•0 "'°"lU.AA1 SVllf"" Cl'! fAOM A UCIVIO I U. .. :r.. 1;'.; 2 0 ~ :;.. PLASMA A8SORP'tl0N 0::" FRONT 0z ltl.' • • _.. lflM,lW!'V\'41CfW ITU•1,.ASUI S1•1..... co0& 1Q01AtlOOl'W•vt ., , ... \l#llACL •••otn 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY UPDATE #N00014-76-C-0646. to be released by Conrad Schneiker Feb '78. 3. J.D. Daugherty, "Electron Beam "Mining The Moon And-Asteroids And concept. The substantial advances made in Ionized .Lasers" Cha pt. 9 in Principles Living in Space" this concept in 1977 are listed. The or Laser Plasmas, George Bekefi ed .. Brian O 'Leary problems of promoting this concept as a J ohn Wiley & Son. N.Y. 1976. Astronautics & Aeronautics, March 1978 program and the uncertainties facing it are 4. H.H. Legner and D.H. Douglas Commentary on striking color paintings mentioned. In reply to the oft'ed asked Hamilton, "CW Laser Propulsion" illustrating k ey facets of space question of whether he will be swayed Paper 77 -657 AIAA 10th Fluid& Plasma manufacturing studied at the 1977 NASA from his research if the Executive Branch Dynamics Confrrcnce. Albuqunq11c'. Ames SummPr S111d y. auempts to stamp out research into the NM June 77. High Frontier. O'Neill gives a solid "NO." 5. G .A. Simons and A.N. Pirri. "The "The Low (Profile) Road to Space Fluid Mechanics of Pulsed Laser Manufacturing'" IEEE Book Review of Propulsion," AIAA Journal 15, G erard K. O 'Neill The Zapping or America 1977 p. 835. Astronautics 8c Aeronautics. March 1978 P. Brodeur 6. A.N. Pirri, M.J. Monsler and P.E. The article we (at L-5 NEWS) have all been D.R Justesen Charles Susskind Nebolsine, .. Propulsion by Absorption waiting for. It ckscribt·s an exciting new IEEE Spectrum, May 1978 of Laser Radiation" AIAA JOURNAL possibility for spc·eding up space 12, Sept. 1974 . industrialization. This involves This excellent review of the book on 7. H .A. Rosen & C. Richard Jones, ··sTS powdering the Shuttle's external tank for "deadly" microwaves and the microwave Optimized Satellite Concept." solar-powered mass-driver propellant, "cover-up" fills large gaps of relevent Astronautics 8c Aeronautics Vo l. 15. yielding a 'breakthrough in space information ommiHed by the book's No. 6 June '77, p. 48 transportation economics. T his and a uthor. The book's p lausibi li ty 8. ··initial Technical. Environmental & other developments cited greatly reduce plummets as the n·viewers present case Economic Evaluation of Space Solar the " ignition poin1" time (where dollar after case of such gaps. Here are some Power Concepts." NASA Rpt. income exc:eeds dollar investment). A examples. In reviewing the Moscow JFC I !568 Aug. 31 '76. Sc('. 6. wealth of technical data is presented to embassy microwave incident the author bring the readc·r up to date on tlw latest ignores the possibility that " revelent" developments in the High Frontier Soviet " findings" are about as genuine as TRANSPORTATION COST TO GS~ concept. the recent Soviet "expose" of OTRAG's activities - i.e. scare tactics and propa " High Frontier-Technical Progress. ganda. Other possibilities exist: micro A Resolution, Commitments" waves bouncing off microwave-reflective Gerard K. O 'Neill surfaces subject to sound-induced vibra Astronautics & Aeronautics, March 1978 tions may be used to listen in on conversa Introduces a special section in this tions from a long distance. the ll.S. may be magazine devoted to the High Frontier using lhe alleged low-level microwave ' ~t0'--'---'--'-'- ..,'-.-'---'--'-',....,._,...... __._.._.,.•.o"'oo::--'--~-!:,.~o.ooo· 'ffiAN"1C TO GSO, METRIC TONS/'l'C.AA Figure 6 Due to the large: capital costs u f the; lasers and the captive electrical generating facility. the full t'conomic bt'nefits of laser propulsion an· only realiied at la rg<' rraffk levels. The 10' ton/ year launch capability is suf rtdc.·n1 IO t·mpJan: a 1111111hc:I of :> (; 1\'all Saldlit<' solar powc:r srn 1ion ~ per yc.·ar. Thus 1ht· t'f h' l'f~~· payhacl.: rime: on tlw ·I (; w ~ 1u a\'c:r~1gc.· l:u11wh po,n·r is shon. Even at a low traffic level of 100 tons/ year, the laser propulsion system is competitive with the shuttle. Actually two systems are mmplememary sirwe 1h1· shuttle c·an carry thos1· loads which could not possibly be broken down into one ton masses. The shuttle c·osts an· based on payload optimi1.a tion'. The cost at low traffic le\'l"ls shows tht· eU....-t of Orbital Transfe r \lehid1·i amcmi1.a1ion. At very high traffic levels. economies of production would undoubtedly reduce· the shuttle costs. The HLL\I c·ost projections are also from Rd. 8. An il/11str11tio11 from "'illi11i11g lh1• il/0011 /Ind .·ls/noids and l .it•i11g i11 Splle<'. ·· 10 1.-r> N('\\'s, July 1978 12 L-5 News. Ju Iy 1978 HCP/ M2693-02, provide more detail. Market Announcement: For 1979 Publication These two volumes arc expected to be available from NTIS in the near future. Anthology: Working Title "The High Frontier" A new guide to DOE's solar energy programs contains informa tio n on program act iv ities a nd structure, procurement methods and sources o f solar energy information. V11ritten in non Theme anthology of stories involving As in my past anthologies, authors arc technical language, the guide describes permanem colonies not on p lanets: invited to write stories for this collection techno log ies being emphasized in the "O'Neill Colo nies", oth er artificia l and market the serial rights for publication various programs of the Division of Solar environments for permanent habitation. prior to publication of the collection. Technology: thermal power, p hot0- including asteroid civilizations but with Higher advances will be paid for original volta ics, fuels from biomass, ocean major stress on artificial nature of stories, but pro-rata shares will not be thermal energy conversion, wind and environment (which presumably becomes diff~rent. Sufficient time will be a llowed satellite power systems. It also covers the ··natural" to the inhabitants). for serial publication. following programs under the Assistant Nominal advance against p ro -rata share Previously · ~eria l izecl or antho logized Secretary for Conservation and Solar of 503 of all royalties received by author. stories also welcome. Applications: heating and cooling appli Book will be represented by Lunon Stories shou Id use the non-planetary cations, agricultural a nd industrial Blassingame Agency and agent fees will be habitation as an integral pan of the story. process heat and technology transfer. deducted. The book wi ll be marketed although a sufficiently good story in Guide to Solar Energy Programs, DOE abroad, some overseas sales already which the h;ibitation is merely incidental publication ET-0036, is available from the assured, pro rata royalties wi ll be paid on will be considered. Send with ms. SASE Superintendent of Documents, U.S. a ll foreign sa les. US publisher is ACE and business-size SASE for editorial reply G overnment Printing Office, Washing Books. to J erry Pournel le. 12051 Laurel T errace t0n, D.C. 20402 (ask for Stock No. 061-000- Rights bought: no n-exclusive world Drive, Studio City. California. 91604. 00042-9 ). Price: $2.40. anthology rights only. Ro land for San Antonio; a nd Tim problems will take a back seat to an energy ~a tt errna n for Ra le igh. NC. Rice solution. While no single solar technology University in Houston. Texas put on a is going to solve our energy problems, the display which included a working model combination of all solar technologies can of an SPS. complete with microwave handle many of our needs. And Sun Day transmission. can make people aware of the scope and In some communities, most notably potential of solar energy." - Sen. Charles Philadelphia, solar power satellite Percy be/ore the Senate in support of the proponents were met with active hostility joint resolution (H.J . R es. 715) by local Sun Day organizers. The reason /Jroclniming iWny 3, 1978, ··sun Day" given for their SPS antipathy was w hich was passed. opposition to centralized and "high tech nology" power sources-of any Zuni Chant nature. Howc·vcr. in most communities the solar Fails Ottinger power satellite proponents were accepted as pan of the "kgitimate" solar energy In one o f Sun Day's first ceremonies, community. Our thanks to a ll of you who Rep. Richard Ottinger (well known to L-5 worked together on the Sun Day project! readers for his anti-SPS activism) and James Jeffords led 1,500 solar power For morf' information about Sunsat, devotees to the peak of Cadillac Mountain write or call: 111 Maine to greet the rising sun. The Sunsat Energy Council and the L-5 Sunsat Energy Council Un f ortu n a te 1y, the weather was Society jo ined forces to make presentations 600 New Hampshire Ave. NW uncooperative, with clouds blocking the and hand out solar power satellite Suite 480 view. The crowd tried a sunrise call used by literature at Sun Day festivities May 3 in 17 Washington, DC 20037 the Zuni Indians, to no avail. communities. 202/ 338-8874 Unfazed, Ottinger announced ··we're Local coordinators were Charles A. Carr here to celebrate the dawning of the solar for Los Angeles; Gary Barnhard £or age and bring the Administration kicking Washington, D.C.; Peter Vajk fo r San "SUN DAY" and screaming imo it." Francisco; Ro bin Snelson for New York RESOLUTION We recommend that Ottinger try his City; Bill Wheaton for Boston; Julia Tracy Zuni chant in geosynchronous orbit next for Sea ttle: Chuck Lundgren for "May 3. 1978. is going to be Sun Day, a time. We can guarantee the resuhs.-CH Sacramento; Peter Mikes for Dallas; day of celebration for solar energy. If the Michael Shields for San Diego; Lawrence public's reaction to it is anywhere near as Boyle and Jim Seevers for Chicago; Debby enthusiastic as the Congress, Sun Day will Even if the organizers of the Sun Day are Byrd for Austin; Ken McCormick for be a very popular event indeed .... Sun opposed or even hostile to anything which Philadelphia; Riley Bishop for Kansas Day is not anti-anything. It is simply and may "smell of high technology" such as City; Bill Gardiner for Atlanta; Jon solely prosolar energy. For one day energy SPS, we a t L-5 should restrain ourselves 13 from any activity which may be interpreted have been any presentation at all. Rich also . . . .. , ..,: ;·. . as a negative auitude toward SP terrestrial made arrangements for our lecture hall . - .. (SPT). and information booth, and was really the Last thing we want is to create in the driving force behind all ou r Sun Day Inside· the ~ .-~ :... public mind an image of SPS and SPT as activities. Our slide show was prepared by two opposed or competing concepts. SPT Jon Alexander, with assistance from L-S8ociety· · ~·· ... · . . . . may have been over sold, but it is myself, Eric Laursen, Ron Smolin, Marc . . - . nonetheless needed and it is in line with Hess, and Paul Hess. public senti ment. I delivered a short speech before the slide Peter Mikes show, which was presented by Jon Dallas. Texas Alexander; Ro n Smolin then spoke about Call for our organization, and Eric Laursen a nd I fielded questions. Ron Smolin and I both Papers sent out press releases for Space Futures, Sunsat, and AIAA. Ron designed and The American Astronautical Society's printed our advertising posters; a ll active 25th Anniver>a ry Conference, "The Future members of our group distributed the United States Space Prog ram" will be held posters. T he L5/ Sunsat informa tion booth October 30 through November 2 in was manned in turn by Ron Smolin, Houston, Texas. myself, Paul Hess, Marc Hess, and Rich T he L-5 Society, a co-sponsor of the Bowers. conference, is organizing a session for the Because the above mentioned people afternoon of October 30 titled "Social worked just as hard or harder than I did to Aspects of Space''. Topics which fall under Thi' L-5 Sp11C'I' Ft1f11rn Socit•/y lablr during S1111 Oa)' festit•itirs in Pliilndrl/1hia. bring about our presentation. and because this heading include (hut are not limited other members of o ur group have p ut on to) internal social and political structures local presentations at other times. it was that might be fo und in space seulements; somewhat of an embarrassment for me to social/ po l i tical/ envi ronmen ta I effects of be singled out for mention by LIS. I would large scale space industries, power be most grateful if you would, if it is a t a ll satellites and space settlements on the possible, rectify the situation. Earth; possibilities for private space Jon Alexander and I joined Bruce Bon enterprises and their impact; and the and Ray Hoover of the Maryland Alliance political problems of funding space to dis1.ribute L5 Society literature and projects. space colonization books at a recent science We hope tha t this session will inspire fiction conve ntion in Washingto n D.C.. As some controversy. If you have an interest in a t the NC'w York c·o1wt•n tion which J on g iving a paper which contradicts wha t yo u Alexander and I also attended, the blue, feel is the space colony "party line", by a ll one inch L5 buttons sold very well. means send us an abstract! Papers which Thank you for your kind mention in the bring up historical parallels. discuss LIS newsletter of the National Action treaties and bills under consideration, CommitteC' for SpacC'. \<\le are not explore recent research findings, or a ttempting to recruit members of the L-5 propose innovative concepts are dC'sired K1•11 1\/t'Cormif'k drlirwrs i111rod11rlory /prf11rl' Society into the National Action generali zed tomes on 1he virtues of 011 SI'S for S1111 Day af'lh•itu•s 111 Philtu!f'lphia. Committee because they already have a capital ism , he teroge ne ity, feminism, I \\' ould like w remind you of the fac t very fine legislative information service- "ecology", etc. are not desired. tha t. altho ugh I did my best to coordina te your own. You have done an outstanding Please mail your abstracts to the L-5 the efforts of the Space Futures Society job so far, and it has never been our Society, 1620 N. Park, Tucson , AZ 85719 with those of the Sunsat Energy Council intention to compete with you. I fear that before Aug ust 30. The session will be and the local cha per of the AIAA, I was by we would look somewhat the worse in chaired by Carolyn Henson; co-chairman no means the local coordinator for Sun comparision, anyway. is Don Hervey. Day, as was reported in the LIS newsletter. The main purpose of the National I was just one of the severa I members of the Action Committee at this time is to provide Boston L-5 Space Futures Society who worked hard to lor people who arc no t LS Socie ty m em bers put on <1 prC'sC'nta tion in Philadelphia a legislative information service such as we " Why it is urgent that we look which drew more of a crowd than the rc·st both began to advertise last November. out into space at the present of the solar energy groups combined. We feel that there are many members of I think the mention of anive L-5'ers in other organiza tions who are eager to take time, is that the prophets of your newsletter is a n important morak action to support an enlarged space doom may be right." booster for those mentioned. but LO si ngle program, but who, for one reason or The Boston Chapter of the L-5 Society o ut onC' person for mention in an arC'a another, have not yet joined the L5 Society. celebrated its founding at a May 17 wine where many are active can be an and cheese social. T he celebration was inadvertent slight to those not rnemioned. Ken McCormick sponsored by SPACE. a Boston-based If a nyom· should receive nt'dit for our very Birchrun\'i llc·. PA educational organization concerned with successful presentatio n here. it is Ri ch increasing public awareness of the Bowns. without who. since lw organized potentia ls of space industria li zation. the local group, there probably would not Among the forty -plus people in attendance 11 L-5 Ne\\'s. Julr 1978 were former astronaut, Phi l Chapman; wai 1 un 1 i l \\'C' ~h;m· 011 1 t lw rn kt· . . . if llw Mn'I adora1ion 10 my household gods. Anhur Kantrowitt. IJirenor of R('search <11 goods of 1ht' \\'01 Id. llw p1T~e·11 1 gros~ \\'Orld When I am gone. He work, his work. I mim-. Avco·Evere!l Lab:.: Elie Orcxlcr. Kevin produc1. is dis1rihu1nl 1·\'l'11ly auo:.:. lh(' Tht•rt· lit·s 1he pon: 1hr n·ssd puHs hn sail: Fine. Marc H opkin:. and Bill Wheaton. world. lht'n you would find drn1 da•n· i~ The·re gloom 1hr dark. hroad st'as. My marirwr,, Souh 1ha1 haH' toil'd. and wroughl. Way11e Jefrerson. founder of SPACE. \'ery liulc ~urplu s. Indn·d. to feed opened the· en·ning by announcing that .idcquately 16 L-5 News, July 1978 . . . . .·. . . about that lunar dust? I would think quite As Lo the growing of plants in lunar soil, a lot of something would have to be added that was already demonstrated some years to it to make it behave like soil as we know ago during the Apollo project. As is .LettefS . ;: ~ .:/ it on the surface o f the Earth. How deep is obvious and as I have detailed in The High . . . .',. that dust? And what is underneath it? I Frontier, it is necessary to add water would guess no1hing but ha rd rock. An and nutrients (i.e. nitrogenous chemicals). "Nothing but Hard Rock" exceptionally unpromising environment T he lunar soil is already well supplied for an y kind of construction. with most of the necessary trace elements, In O'Neill's a rticle in your March '78 John Holt because they have not been leached away issue I run across a puzzling statement: Boston , MA by centuries of farming and water runoff, " But no opportuni1y waits as much of our soil has been. forever, and the chance we now have Jn reply to Mr. H o lt's question , the The final sentence is puz1.ling: " . . . can be lost within a rew years." reference was to an economic rather than a nothing but hard rock. An exceptionally I don't understand this at a ll. What military time-window. It has been pointed unpromising environment fo r any kind of chance is he speaking of, and why can it be out by a number of observers that within construction." The highest buildings in lost within a rew years? Surely he is not one or two decades the economic position the world, those of New York City, are suggesting that if the Russians get into of the Uni1 ed States may be even more built on the bedrock of Manhau an Island. space in a large way before we do, it will be unfavorable than it is now for the Gerard K. O ' Neill impossible for us to get there. After a ll , we initiation of any major new long-term Princewn. NJ are told that space is so large and rich that venture to improve the econom y. The there is room for everyone out there and approach to zero-popu latio n -growth According to an unreliable source, some more. So what difference does it make who results in a rise in the average age of our of those plants grown at ]SC were of a gets there first? populatio n , with a corresponding variety commonly grown in closets There seems some kind or implication increasing welfare and social security tax hence the o rigin of the " high" frontier. tha t if the Russians get there fi.rst they can load and a decreasing work force in the On the suitability of rock for a prevent us from coming out. Is this prime earning years to pay the necessary construction base, we quote no less an implication intended? It would follow Laxes. Rising energy costs combine with authority than Jesus: " . . . a wise man who then , that if we got there first we could our losing, year by year, more and m ore of built his house upon the rock . . . " prevent 1hem from getting out. Is this the the share of the worldwide market to (Matthew 7:24). Even in those days, rock hidden message? industrial newcomers who still reLain the foundations were FHA approved.-KH If O'Neill's words do not mean this, sense of vigorous forward motion that we what do they mean? have, to a great exten t, lost. Our balance I' m really not asking rhe torica l of payments deficit ran 4.5 billion dollars "Wet Diapers Leftism" questions here. I would like an answer. On in one month alone this Spring a nd is the outside chance that you may not feel p rojected to rise 10 $ I 00 billion per year by In re the Mother Jones article quoting inclined to give me one, I am going to pass 1985, with a consequen t even more severe Dr. Aden Meinel against L-5 editor these questions a long to Senator Proxmire inflation and erosion of disposable capital. Meinel's SPS's, it appears Daddy has let a nd others, who may ask somewhat more Already the weight of these increasing creeping Andy Youngism into the Garden insistently, if you know what I mean. problems has become so overwhelming of Aden . . . Suggest the office send A small point. O 'Neill ta lks about lunar that successive adm inistratio n s in someone over to have a word with him, if "soil". I understand something about the Washington spend most of their time you know anyone who has a ny contacts. processes by which soil is generated on the coping with day-to-day crises; there is none Parents should be seen and not heard. surface of the Earth- the action of wi nd of the sweeping youthfu l confidence and One amusing feature o f Mother Jones' and rain. of water freezing and thawing. vision that spurred the country on to such ridiculous clutching about for a Relevant a nd various biological processes. None of past ventures as the transcontinental Issue: the main .gestal t of the I 960's wet 1hese exist on the Moon. ls O 'Neill talking ra ilroad a nd the Panama cana l (both of diapers leftism, of which Mother Jones is a great economic benefit in their time, warmed over example, was that Daddy whatever their faults). Washington has reall y should be seen and not heard. Guess Errata forgotten that no nation gets rich just by that point of view disappears a long with Credit for the artwork on the May and savi ng money; it must go out and make it one·s imagination, spirit, and hairline. June covers belongs not to Johnson Space as well. T he danger is that even if a Note that Robert F. Allnutt, formerly Center, but to Denise Watt. of Houston Presiden t with that kind of visio n were to one of the big wheels on one of the two Texas. appear, if he c>r she arrives later tha n c> nc or m ajor space committees 0 11 the;: H ill, is now In the May issue, the article "Astronaut two decades rrom now the economic chains dirccwr of Legislative Coo rdination in the to Lead Site Visit G roup" states tha t Philip of crisis may be so tightly locked that there C.om rollcr's Office. Department of Energy. Chapm an flew on the Apollo 14 mission in will be no disposable capital to fund any David Murphy 1970. Apollo 14didnotflyuntil 1971.and, major new initiative, and that the C..artcrville, Ill. owing LO a shortage of seats, did not carry increasing conservatism of an aging Dr. Chapman . population will not support new ventures In the June issu e, the article in a ny case. England has already travelled "Dirty T-Shirts" " Intrinsically Valuable Materials in that road, and we are not far behind. Every Space" sta tes that H group chondritic businessman knows that "you have to Really, Carolyn. I thought it was bad meteorites conta in 5 to 9xl06 grams of spend money to make money," but enough when you published pictures of L- platinum per g ram of metal. The correct rea lizatio n o f that fact, based on 5 volunteers in d irty T-shirts a nd Groucho exponent, unfortunately, should have experience, may c;ome too late if it arrives masks, but this; this is the pits! How can been " -6." ten or twenty years from now. you expect anyone to take us serio usly 17 when you stoop to print a grotesquen e like that microwaves do not share the dangers budget is still marbled with too much fat. Paul Siegler's " Be Your Own Astronaut?" of nuclear radiation because the former are For example, why proceed with the $40 It was especially disconcerting to find this much lower in energy may be more million teleoperator retrieval system now? ugly blemish in the center o f what was an difficult than by telling him they are It is foolish to embark on a $14 million otherwise outstanding issue, with qualitatively different, but, if we are to program, the search for extraterrestrial excellent articles by James Oberg, Eric attempt to make our point on the basis of intelligence, with a first year cost of $2 Drexler and yourself. incorrect information or oversimplifica million in a time when we are running a If Siegler's article were some sort of a tions, we can expect our opponents to be huge budget deficit. New starts such as the gag, I wouldn't mind so much, but he very quick to charge that we hide solar polar mission and the proposed earth actually seems to be touting Robert unpleasant facts-or don't know what we radiation budget satellite may not be Truax's proposal to place Eve) Knievel or are talking about! essential to the nation's well-being. And, some other hapless "astronaut" atop a Marjorie A. Walz of course, the shuttle itself may turn out 10 makeshift sounding rocket and blast him University, MS be a multi-billion dollar boondoggle." or her to the edge of space. As the vehicle Microwm1es and gamma rays are indud I rest my case. would tumble uncontrollably (as Truax bolh for ms of PlPClromag11Ptic radiation Robert Lovell admits it would) toward a splashdown but W<' df'tect 011<' by th<' oscillating Shawnee, KS hopefully somewhere near Truax's currenls it sets up i11 an a11t('l111a a11d thP ridiculous recovery " fleet" of one boat and ollur by thp shar/J dicks it prodt1CfS in a thret> aircraft, the rocket's "pilot" would geiger cmmter. Ph)•sics tells us that Space Program Jobs doubtless find comfort in the fact that e11erythi11g has both a wall<' a11d a particlt> Truax has estimated his or her chances of aspert: th<' simplificatio11 I mad<' is I have a job with the Link Division of the survival at 90 to 98%. standard, for good f>hysira I rPasons. Singer Company, as a principal systems All of this, of course, would be a travesty Microwat1e /Jhotons hm1f' roughly J00,000 engineer. The pay is not as good as it of early NASA launches which sent times lPss p1u•rgy than photons of 11isiblP should be, perhaps, but at least I'm chimpanzees and monkeys a loft for light. a11d roughly 10.000,000,000 times working in the aerospace field. As you purposes of research, ra ther than public less enPTgy tha11 ga111ma ray photons. know, Link is building the Space Shuttle spectacle. Aside from the fact tha t Truax's Thnmal agitation of th<' molPtulPs in Simula tor. I've been working here about "astronaut" would pay one million dollars your body generates infraTPd photons with six months, and Singer-Link is going to participate in this misadventure, there 10.000 times th<' <'IU'rgy of microwat1P through a reorganization and plans to are only two reasons for Truax to place a photons. For this rpa.rnn, microwm1P increase the number of employees here person in his sounding rocket. photons are sp/dom of practical inlfrfst from about 270 to around 500. There are First, the use of any creature but a unless so 111any arp ganged 11p that thP some positions available for persons with human being for the passenger in this TPsult may be dPscribrd as a wm•e. no work experience with a degree in vehicle would surely invite interference A numbPT of book rr1 1iPws hat1e attackPd computer science, math, physics, and from the S.P.C.A. Paul 8rodn1r's T he Zapping of America: engineering. T here a re also secretarial and Second, the prospect of the fiery death of Microwaves, Their Deadly Risk, and the technician positions open a1 this time. a mere dumb animal would not draw the Cover-up as se11.rntionalis tic and I hope you can mention this in the L-5 crowds of leering spectators which Truax i11acrnrall' (Sl'f Bibliography l 'pdate). News. I would rather see people here that hopes 10 auracl. WhilP this lulps our position somewhat, are dedicated 10 a career in space, instead of Siegler seems to think this "Project tlu microwat11' i.u1u' is not about lo liP people just holding down a job, and this is Private Enterprise" is a good example of down and go away. As TPportPd 011 pagr 7 one of the few aerospace related firms that what can be accomplished with our of lhf ./ l\tay 1978 Nature, lhP U.S. are hiring al this time. capitalist system. If that were really the Congress General Acrou11ting Offic<' has Singer plans 10 have the new employees case, I would have to regard Soviet efforts released a report which co11clt1dPs that the hired before August, so if there are some to exclude private companies from space as lei•els of microwm1Ps to which th<' public is readers who can qua I ify, the opportunity is being most commendable. exposed could bP da11gaous. Rfgardlfss of here now. I will be happy to correspond Ken McCormick th<' physical fads. th<' politirnl situation with any interested party, and help them in Birchrunville, PA will lik('[y worsr11. Our /Jpst policy is still any way I can. Those T shirts were clean!-CH to argue that SI'S can lllf<'I th<' strict<'sl The jobs that exist here, in general, will standards y<'I proposPd, and is .rnf<' l'l'Pn not, u nfortunately, qualify a person for Microwave Debate assuming tlu worst aboul thf effects of mission specialist, but it does make you low-lfl'l'i microwai•e ncposurP. S<'I' visible and accessible to the companies that In response to the a rticle, " Microwaves: "1\1/CROWA l'f;S: SI'S HA7.ARD," /\lay can and to NASA. SPS Hazard" (L-5 News, May 1978), I L-5 News.-F..D. T he best job opportu nities exist for would like to challenge the statement on those with experience or a master's or page 6 that nuclear radiation differs from higher degree. The pay is not as good as microwave radiation by virtue of coming "Enemy of Space" can be obtained with firms not in the in particles. aerospace field (or even some that are), but Nuclear radiation includes gamma rays, Commenting on Tom Heppenheimer's it does get your foot in the door. It seems a form of electromagnetic radiation like and Tim Kyger's letters: Proxmire is an strange 10 me that the aerospace firms pay microwaves and an exceedingly dangerous enemy of space. The man's mind is closed so poorly, but, if you're as interested in form in terms of genetic damage and on the subject, as this quote testifies: space as I am, it doesn't really mauer that carcinogenicity becau se of its " Although the Carter Administration much. penetrability. deserves high marks for rethinking the size Troy Welch Convi ncing Joe Blow in Arkansas, Los of the shuule orbiter fleet, cuuing it from 110 Woodlawn #4 1 Angeles, and all the other places he lives five to four orbiters, NASA's fiscal 1979 Friendswood, TX 77546 18 L-5 News, July 1978