There have been other Mars Society Studies analyzing using Mars resources to make more efficient colonization. The first unmanned missions need to bring the solar panels and automated equipment to move the solar panels around. There is needs to be mining, excavating and other automated machines. There needs to be automated exploration equipment. We have …
When looking at the rise of renewable energy, it would surprise some people to know that since 2000, global hydroelectric power additions almost match the increase in wind power and both have increased more than solar energy. The global energy mix has shifted slightly away from coal power. Wind and solar power are continuing to …
SP Global forecasts that more of the solar battery storage projects will be completed in the next two years in the US and the world. There are some 160 utility solar with battery storage projects with planned completions in 2022 and 2023. There are projects with 4.5 GW of storage capacity in 2022 and 6.9 …
There is some mostly empty talk from Germany about reducing imports of Russian energy.
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) and Northrop Grumman’s Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR) Project used components for the “sandwich tile” to convert solar energy to RF (radio frequency). The power will be beamed to a receiving station at the base on the ground, and the energy is collected by a rectifying …
In the 2020 US Bureau of Labor National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report, the data shows roofers accounted for 111 of the 5,333 fatal injuries that occurred in 2019. This is up 15% from 2018’s figure of 96. In 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that roofing contractors had a …
SpaceX is scheduled to fly a cargo Dragon 2 to the space station starting June 3. Crew Dragon’s system of SuperDraco abort thrusters and other gear were removed from the human flight Dragon 2 to enable more cargo. Falcon 9 booster B1067 will take more than 3300 kg of cargo. They will bring new roll …
Australian photovoltaics researchers have made a ‘cool’ discovery: Singlet fission and tandem solar cells which increase efficiency and lower operating temperatures and keep devices running for longer. Tandem cells (combining silicon and perovskite nanocrystals) have a larger bandgap than silicon and capture more of the solar spectrum for energy generation. Singlet fission produces twice the …
Zachary Manchester of Carnegie Mellon University has received a phase 1 NASA NIAC grant and will study how to create mechanical metamaterials to design lightweight deployable structures with unprecedented expansion ratios of 150x or more. A structure could be launched inside a single Falcon Heavy rocket fairing and then be deployed autonomously to a final …
Dr. Rich Madonna gave a talk on Caltech’s SSPP (Space based solar power project) this past week. Attendees of his talk are the leaders in the Space Based Solar Power community. · Dr. Paul Jaffe (UMD) · John Bucknell (Virtus Solis) · Dr. Al Globus (UC San Jose) · Skylar Hoffert (student) · Dr. John …
The US military tested a pizza box sized solar power module – Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Module (PRAM) in space. It was first launched in May 2020, attached to the Pentagon’s X-37B unmanned drone. Orbital Demonstrations for Large-Scale Deployable SPS The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is executing a major demonstration project with the goal of …