Power Beaming for the Moon and Mars
Could the technologies of space solar power serve exploration before they serve Earth?
Chapter summary
yes, and perhaps sooner.
Key takeaways
- 1
A lunar base faces nights of about 14 Earth days, which require heavy batteries or nuclear power (Study S8 found a 5 kW base needs about 15 tonnes of solar arrays and batteries to survive the night, against under a tonne for fission).
- 2
Beaming power from a satellite in lunar orbit, or from a sunlit crater rim to a shadowed crater floor, could supply rovers and bases in darkness.
- 3
Permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles, where water ice may lie, never see sunlight; power beaming over a few kilometres could run mining equipment there.
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