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In other words, whatever it is, Bruce doesn't think
it will work. I'm really getting tired of his naysaying.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2001 5:51
PM
Subject: Re: Jupiter's radiation as power
source? No...
In a message dated
11/10/2001 6:18:13 PM Alaskan Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
On rereading the panel report on Europa Exploration, I'm
retracting my
earlier surprised claim that using Jupiter's radiation
belts as a power
source for a Europa lander might prove feasible after
all -- according to
the report, even if you could absorb ALL the energy
from the charged
particles hitting Europa, it would still be only 0.1
watt per square meter.
For the life of me I can't see why they consider
this a remotely feasible
power source, even assuming trickle-charged
batterie s
We all discussed this awhile ago. We had
a few concepts:
1) spray the surface of Europa with a sort of
metallic patina, that would react with radiation and produce a limited
electric field. The small output per square meter would be countered by
the sheer scale of the metallic field, ie, 1 square kilometer has 1 million
meters in it, therefore 100,000 watts. Reduce this for the imperfect
surface, etc, and you still come up with a decent number.
2) Use
a couple of nearby chondrites to manufacture a solar sail, to absorb radiation
much as the solar wind may be absorbed by other Tsiolkovsky concept solar
sails. Again, although the individual output is small, in large scale,
output might be sufficient. Biggest problem here might be the
micrometeorites and radiation storms to tear up a free-floating sail or giant
power panel.
3) Again, perhaps it would be possible to simply
orbit Jupiter and drop a long metal cable down into the radiation field,
generating power as it travels through the field.
The point is,
Jupiter has plenty of power... we just have to figure out a workable means of
using it.
Of course, it's not gonna happen this next mission, or the
one after, but sooner or later, for an extended mission, someone has to come
up with a means for generating power, not merely taking along batteries to do
work 4 AUs from Earth.
Besides, with the sheer number of resources in
the local Jovian community, and a little bit of innovation, there's no reason
we couldn't start producing probes there remotely... ie, send along a micro
factory to manufacture a bigger factory to manufacture a simple probe, etc.
Time is not a constraint, nor is gravity, or any of the other things
that make production on Earth so expensive... so once we build that first
remotely built construction, the follow-ups would be simple, and might create
a geometric progression of infrastructure in orbit around Jupiter.
--
JH Byrne
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