No one has ever explained how the energy is suppose to come back to Earth in a non-crazy fashion. Until then, this will always come off as an impossible idea.
Yeah, we already have space-based solar power. It’s called “The Sun”. The best thing is, we don’t even need to go to space to get it. The Sun beams the energy all the way down to the ground where we can easily collect it!
The sun is space-based fusion power, with photon-based transmission
Reminds me of Sim City (I forget which one… 2000?) where one of the power plants was a space based one that would beam the power down to a station. You’d then have a chance of getting a disaster where the beam “missed”.
That makes sense. In space you need to deal with free bodies and a harsh environment. What’s worse is that you need a way to send it all the way back to earth.
Solar on earth can sit near a city and is fixed.
I’ve never understood some people’s fascination with space-based solar. Why go to all that over-engineered trouble to do something you can do on Earth anyway, except in an orders of magnitude simpler way.
Also, I love to see people devote efforts to space development, but it depresses me to see people do it and waste their time. I know it’s a simplistic way of looking at things, but I wish they’d devote their time to something useful, like creating a commercial space station.
You say this like NASA doesn’t also do everything on your wishlist. And like discoveries in one area doesn’t enable progress in another.
No one is wasting their time by doing this research.
Our view of what’s “useful” also varies - a commercial space station is not that appealing IMO given that corporations will own the research as opposed to it being publicly funded & transparent.
Did this particular research yield the outcome you desired? No - lots of research doesn’t. That doesn’t mean it’s useless.
It is one of the steps to get to a Dyson swarm.
What’s a commercial space station going to do? Maybe if there was a bunch of solar panels to maintain and build out in space, but otherwise, it’s just a boring ultra wealthy hotel.
Its hard to imagine a future where humans expand into space without space stations.
Seems weird to complain about one over engineered useless thing only to be saying we should be doing another ;)
“Why ever would we move to North America when everything we need is right here?”
All the reasons people came to America will eventually be valid reasons to move to space. I don’t expect it will happen in my lifetime but, provided humanity continues to exist, it will happen.
ah yes, to exploit the peoples who cultivated mars and enslave people from earth
