Citizens for Space Based Solar Power

When Joy Billings contacted me with this infographic about food in space, developed by labeley.com, I imagined a few workers enjoying a meal with their robotic counterparts in the Maintenance Cafeteria on one of the dozens of multi-national solar power satellites in geosynchronous orbits. The robots were getting a charge out of their lunch break …

From Joy:

Journey to Mars preparations are becoming a global issue, with millions of people following what NASA and the astronauts on the ISS are doing. Picking up on this hot topic, we created the infographic hoping that many people will be interested in learning how astronauts deal with one of the most important human needs – eating.

Click the infographic to read more about the evolution of food in space, and to view the full resolution image.

It is an age-old reality that nations must be prepared to defend their assets. This reality is the same in space, where communications, weather, Global Position System, and eventually, solar power satellites provide critical services, and must be defended.

Winston Beauchamp, the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space, and the director of the Principal Defense Department Space Advisor Staff said of the USAF’s commitment, “We have an obligation to provide, not just space resiliency capabilities for our defense space, but for this global commons.”

Thank you, Mr. Beauchamp, and your USAF colleagues, for having America’s back around the world, and in space.

Read the complete story at AirForceTimes.com

… solar satellites provide Earth with unlimited, clean power …

I literally fell off the couch when I heard these words coming from my television yesterday. I replayed this Boeing TV spot several times, with goosebumps on my arms. For the first time, I was hearing the game-changing idea of space-based solar power on national television, as a future reality.

The Boeing Company is celebrating their first 100 years in July of 2016. Congratulations on their upcoming anniversary, and on their innovative outlook for the next 100 years that includes space based solar power!

On March 2, 2016, the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, and USAID director held a competition to uncover the very best ideas for improving planet Earth. Of over 500 ideas submitted, six teams were selected to present their vision for the future. The Space Solar Proposal Team won four of seven awards: Innovation, Presentation, Collaboration, People’s Choice.

Here is the winning D3 Space Solar Proposal (D3SSP) Presentation, presented by Dr. Paul Jaffe, Electronics Engineer and Integration and Test Section Head, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory:

Learn more about this winning proposal at the D3SSP website. There, you will be able to read about:

• Problem Background & Potential Impact
• The Big Idea
• Ideal End State
• Five Critical Next Steps
• Proposed Metrics
• Resource Requirements
• The Proposal Team

You can also join in the discussion on the D3 Space Solar Proposal Public Group on Facebook.

In a March 9, 2016 article, Reaching For The Sun: Space-Based Solar Power Could Be The Answer To Climate Change, Namrata Goswami writes about the D3 Space Solar Proposal that won several top prizes for for the best ideas to advance U.S. Diplomacy, Defense and Development at the March 2, 2016 D3 Summit held in Washington, D.C.

About the idea of space-based solar power, Goswami writes:

Could this idea be as revolutionary as the Wright Brothers’ paper plane that gave us modern aviation? Perhaps!

In the rest of the article, Goswami does a good job of explaining the fundamental principles behind space-based solar power, and then she goes on to talk about Japan, China, and India already being heavily invested in the development of space-based solar power.

As noted in a 2008 C-SBSP post, 21st Century Space Race, our nation is once again behind, and once again in a position to catch up. It is a race we must lead, and if not win outright, at least cross the finish line arm-in-arm with our friends and allies.

While business commitments caused me to put my advocacy for space-based solar power on hold for the past few years, affirmatively answering a personal request from U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Peter Garretson to re-energize my advocacy efforts has brought Citizens for Space Based Power back online.

Today, rather than mourn the final chapter of NASA’s Space Transportation System (STS) program, I choose to look to the future of America’s continuing, global leadership as a spacefaring nation. Whether it be the establishment of a permanent lunar outpost, manned missions to Mars, mining of near earth objects, the establishment of space-based solar power satellites, or all of the above and beyond, the next chapters in America’s exploration of space will definitely inspire many generations of our citizens, both young and old.

I was under the flight path of the Space Shuttle Endeavour OV-105 this morning, as it passed over Redwood City, California. The Endeavour, atop the specially outfitted 747, had flown over the Golden Gate Bridge and was on its way to a low flyover of Moffett Field, in Mountain View, to honor the employees and their families at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

The Endeavour was built to replace Challenger, and from 1992 to 2011, flew a total of twenty-five missions. The Endeavour’s final destination is the the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.