Hi Peter - did they publish this letter? Even if not - do you think we
could run it by Marianne and Cliff for posting on the NSS letters page?
- http://chapters.nss.org/letters/

Take care,

Arthur

Peter Schubert wrote:

>Hello Arthur,
>
>Here's the text of a Letter to the Editor I sent to Business Week,
>responding to their cover story. I thought you might like it.
>
>Peter
>
>
>In "GLOBAL WARMING" the uncertainty over how to achieve lower-carbon energy
>sources begs the question: "what is the ultimate solution?" The sun
>blankets the earth with far more energy than we need (170 terawatts received
>vs. 22 estimated consumption in 2025), and is inexhaustable on the scale of
>human history. Forty years ago, Dr. Peter Glaser of Arthur D. Little
>proposed solar power satellites that beam low-density microwaves to
>receiving antennae linked to our power grid. NASA studies to date have
>questioned economic viability due to the large number of launches required.
>A less well-known approach is to fabricate solar panels directly from lunar
>soil, which is 21% silicon. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said earlier
>this year: "The moon can be made into a major asset." David R. Criswell of
>the University of Houston has popularized one such approach. In the 1960s,
>beating the Soviets to the moon spurred the greatest engineering feat of all
>time: the Apollo project. Now, it is global warming which threatens
>geopolitical stability, economic prosperity and the world's food supply. It
>is time we develop a comprehensive energy solution with power derived from
>the sun, and stored using hydrogen. Apollo took less than 9 years. Now, we
>can use the moon to bring the sun to the earth. Learning from Mr. Carey's
>excellent article, we should begin at once.
>
>Peter J. Schubert, Ph.D.
>President, Space Manufacture, LLC
>www.spacemanufacture.com
>310 W. Greyhound Pass
>Carmel, IN 46032
>day 765 451 5925
>eve 317 843 9822
>
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