Space Resources Energy Power And Transport

Innovation has delivered humanity from the caves to the ability to access the edge of space and to send robotic explorers deep into the solar system. It is the driving force in mankind's expansion, growth and technological development. Beamed energy technology could potentially lower the cost of access to space and transportation though space, thereby lowering the cost of transporting goods and people to many destinations in the solar system and beyond. Technology spin-off from space technology investments will benefit all of humanity. Spin-offs could have a huge positive impact in the areas of electronics and instrumentation, automotive, solar energy and lower cost space transportation. In order for humanity to move into space to settle this new frontier innovation in beamed energy technologies will be required. In this book we will look at the topic of space solar energy and the technologies that can be used to generate this energy. While some of the ideas in this book go back to the original concepts many of the ideas and concepts are new. It is hoped that others will apply these ideas into even new and better approaches so that we can move into space in a really big way, but also do this in ways that are cost effective and even profitable. Access to sun power in space is the key to developing its resources and those resources are required to support large scale space settlement. We don't need to wait decades to develop the technologies for space solar energy because these technologies already exist. We are just not using them. These technologies can provide us with the means to travel rapidly and cheaply though space. They can also be used to power our industry and homes on Earth. We have only to utilize the technology. The development of space will depend on the availability of power and lots of it. Once we have mastered that, all things become possible. We will be able to transport people and cargo to many destinations in our solar system, power the earth with clean and abundant energy, and tap the resources of asteroids and comets. Once we have settled the near Earth areas of the solar system, such as, the Moon, Mars and Venus we can strike out to other star systems. As the World's need for solar energy continues to grow driven by population growth and increased industrialization, new options for this type of energy will be needed. This is especially true given that reserves of conventional energy sources such as oil, gas and uranium are rapidly being depleted and that greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere are causing large scale damage to the Earth. We find that alternatives energy sources such as wind, ground solar and biomass have physical site limitations and while they are certainly desirable from an ecological prospective, are often high cost and cannot meet the Earth's future energy needs even if fully developed. The solar energy collected by an SPS would be converted into electricity, then into microwaves. The microwaves would be beamed to the Earth's surface, where they would be received and converted back into electricity by a large array of devices known as a rectifying antenna, or rectenna. Rectification is the process by which alternating electrical current, such as that induced by a microwave beam, is converted to direct current.

Provides a comprehensive study of the basic elements of energy, power, and transportation and how they affect the world we live in. This textbook covers the resources, processes, and systems used in these industries. For maximum teaching and learning flexibility, chapter objectives are divided into Basic Concepts, Intermediate Concepts, and Advanced Concepts. Activities are provided at the end of each chapter to help the student apply the concepts covered in that chapter. Technology Links and Curricular Connections in each chapter help broaden student knowledge of technology and connect chapter content with concepts in math, science, and social studies.

The book's purpose is to provide the quantitative foundation for beginning to think about developing energy and minerals outside of Earth's atmosphere that are necessary to support scientific missions, space and extra-terrestrial scientific stations and permanent colonies, and ultimately expand Earth's economy beyond the near-earth environment to include space resources. We cannot envision a situation where all resources required for future space activities are exported from Earth, therefore, this book clearly illustrates that an effective economy is possible beyond Earth's surface when we consider the resources available in near-Earth space. Our first audience is members of AAPG, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) and other professionals engaged in energy and resource development. As energy professionals, we are concerned on a daily basis with providing the necessary energy and minerals required for our growing world population and the increasing standard of living that comes with ample energy availability. And more than anything else, AAPG members are explorers. We are the professionals who have pushed back the boundaries of our resource base, from capturing petroleum resources from surface seeps, to drilling onshore wells to extract oil and gas, and to venturing offshore into increasingly difficult and hostile environments to supply the cheap and abundant energy made available by our advances in technology. There are more similarities than differences between deepwater exploration and development, and space exploration. Beyond our own members, however, our audience is every rational human being who understands human health and well-being, quality of life, education and freedom are dependent on the energy and minerals that support our advanced civilization. Space is the next frontier, and as the world civilization expands beyond Earth's surface we hope this publication serves to illustrate there are abundant opportunities to support and maintain - and in fact, allow to prosper - civilization's expansion into space -- Publisher's website.

In March 2000, NASA's Office of Space Flight asked the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council to perform an independent assessment of the space solar power program's technology investment strategy to determine its technical soundness and its contribution to the roadmap that NASA has developed for this program. The program's investment strategy was to be evaluated in the context of its likely effectiveness in meeting the program's technical and economic objectives.

Mobility is fundamental to economic and social activities such as commuting, manufacturing, or supplying energy. Each movement has an origin, a potential set of intermediate locations, a destination, and a nature which is linked with geographical attributes. Transport systems composed of infrastructures, modes and terminals are so embedded in the socio-economic life of individuals, institutions and corporations that they are often invisible to the consumer. This is paradoxical as the perceived invisibility of transportation is derived from its efficiency. Understanding how mobility is linked with geography is main the purpose of this book. The third edition of The Geography of Transport Systems has been revised and updated to provide an overview of the spatial aspects of transportation. This text provides greater discussion of security, energy, green logistics, as well as new and updated case studies, a revised content structure, and new figures. Each chapter covers a specific conceptual dimension including networks, modes, terminals, freight transportation, urban transportation and environmental impacts. A final chapter contains core methodologies linked with transport geography such as accessibility, spatial interactions, graph theory and Geographic Information Systems for transportation (GIS-T). This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the field, with a broad overview of its concepts, methods, and areas of application. The accompanying website for this text contains a useful additional material, including digital maps, PowerPoint slides, databases, and links to further reading and websites. The website can be accessed at: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans This text is an essential resource for undergraduates studying transport geography, as well as those interest in economic and urban geography, transport planning and engineering.

"Star Wars"â€"as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is dubbedâ€"will require reliable sources of immense amounts of energy to power such advanced weapons as lasers and particle beams. Are such power sources available? This study says no, not yetâ€"and points the way toward the kind of energy research and development that is needed to power SDI. Advanced Power Sources for Space Missions presents a comprehensive and objective view of SDI's unprecedented power requirements and the opportunities we have to meet them in a cost-effective manner.