Video of press conference here:
http://www.nss.org/news/releases/pc20080912.html
Mankins has performed 2 watt demo over a
distance of 148 kilometres between two islands in Hawaii.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/visionary-beams.html
http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2008/09/12/solarsat-power-beaming-
demo-revealed/
Looks like it is included for sale in a DVD here:
http://shopping.discovery.com/product-74197.html?jzid=40588004-66-0
Project Earth DVD Set
#537692 $39.95
Estimated ship date is Nov-07-2008
Product Detail:
Watch as some of the world's leading scientists put the most
ambitious
geo-engineering ideas to the test in order to tackle global climate
change. From covering acres of Greenland's glaciers in protective
blankets to constructing space rockets to sending tiny reflective
lenses into orbit, these experiments push the boundaries of science
and technology by exploring eight creative ideas that just might
reduce global warming.
Experiments include:
Wrapping Greenland
Raining Forests
Infinite Winds
Brighter Earth
Fixing Carbon
Hungry Oceans
Space Sunshield
Orbital Power Plant
See what happens when 'what if' meets 'why not' as Discovery Project
Earth re-engineers the planet's possibilities.
Orbital Power Plant
Premieres Friday, Sept. 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
We could have a source of never-ending power and, at the same time,
reduce our carbon emissions to virtually zero. This is the
astonishing
vision of former NASA physicist John Mankins. He has a plan to send
thousands of satellites into space, which will gather energy from the
sun and then beam the solar energy down to Earth as microwave energy.
The microwave energy will be collected by antennas on the ground.
These then convert the energy to electricity. Can Mankins make it all
work?
It is or will be online here until October 10:
http://video.discovery.com/
I don't know if this episode is up yet. It's called Project Earth:
Orbital Power Plant. You have to jump some hoops (like downloading
their player) to find out.