Time to get on the stump..

-and/or prepare to skedaddle.

It may be too late already but worth a try...

The argument must be that ONLY Solar Satellites can
stave off world catastrophe.

Read on, then think about it.

Did you see the recent Nova program on Global Cooling ?

-and how it relates to Global Warming..?

[Some of the critical science is less than 2 yrs old!]

-Seems there's a "tug of war" going on between the
Cooling and the Warming.

-and that an excess of either one could spell "curtains"
for Earth in Far Less Time than was formerly thought.

One scientist opines that we have less than a decade
to take action... {-and avoid the "tipping point". }

-i.e., the point at which runaway, catastrophic global
warming will be beyond our ability to halt.

[That 2012 deadline* could actually come to pass.]

[*] See: http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/1.htm

-But the Actual Culprit will be METHANE HYDRATE....

How so...? What is it..? -and why..?

Methane Hydrate can be found in arctic soil, but occurs
mainly on ocean bottoms around the world where high
pressure and low temperatures cause methane to become
encapsulated in H2O as a slushy form of ice.

The Hydrate is a solid which frequently overlays and traps
ordinary methane gas.

Methane is a 'greenhouse gas' which is about 10 times as
potent as Carbon Dioxide. It also accounts for about
2/3 of the earth's combustible Carbon, and could easily
solve our energy problem ..-if we only knew how to mine it
...Safely, that is.. ! [Corporate interests and inertia aside.]

Methane is sometimes released naturally from it's ocean
bottom Hydrate, and is thought by some to be the cause,
as it comes bubbling up, of many unexplained sinkings
of ships as in, but not limited to, the Bermuda Triangle.

When global warming progresses to the point that more
and more Methane is released from its hydrate, there will
eventually be a virtual "chain reaction" terminating, among
other nasty things, in the rapid melting of glaciers and a sea
level rise of up to 300 feet.

-It has happened many times before*, even without our
providing a "last straw" in the form of CO2 from the combustion
of petroleum, coal, etc.

-Or in the form of greed driven, premature, and ill-
advised attempts at 'mining' the Hydrate.

(*) 'Find' at:

http://people.cornellcollege.edu/b-hollis/geo105/report.htm

Back to Nova:

Climate researcher James Hansen estimates that "global dimming"
[due to air pollution particulates, (and even jet vapor trails) is
cooling our planet by more than a degree Celsius (1.8F) and fears
that as we cut back on pollution, global warming may escalate
to a point of no return.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun/dimming.html

For more data on Methane Hydrate see:

http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/gas-hydrates/title.html

http://www.utopiasprings.com/methane.htm

Resum

Global Cooling:

Lower temp. = glaciation = lowered sea level = lower water pressure,
higher temperature [from underground] = release of methane from
hydrates, also subsurface landslides = [with risk of tsunami]

Global Warming:

Higher temp. = glacial melting = raise in sea level = warming by water
of hydrate bearing arctic coastal soils = release of land locked methane
hydrate
= increased global warming = melting of ocean bottom hydrates
= release of underlying 'trapped' gas = runaway global warming.
= among other nasty things, a sea level rise of up to 300 feet.

"Too bad if you looked." *

R.K. Hardman

[*] Mad Comics re ancient Mayan symbol causing death within the month
to any who gaze upon it. ;-]

Yes, and the way to implement SSP is with Sunsat Corp. - a
public/private corporation TOTALLY FOCUSSED on building SSP. Just like
Comsat Corp., chartered in 1962, was TOTALLY FOCUSSED on building
communications satellites.

This is the subject of the second of the two papers I am scheduled to
give at the Solar Power Satellite section at the joint NSS/Planetary
Society meeting in LA May 4-7; those 2 abstracts are at John Mankins'
Solar Power Satellites session:

"Why We Must Build Space Solar Power
&
"How We Must Build Space Solar Power: Sunsat Corporation

http://isdc.xisp.net/~kmiller/isdc_archive/isdc.php?link=sessionSelectCurrentChair

The most recent chapters posted on our SSPW website (April 11)

http://www.sspi.gatech.edu

are a draft chapter on Photovoltaics and Naoki Shinohara's second
Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) draft. Naoki's SSPW chapter is longer
but extracted from the more edited SPS white paper which originated
with Naoki et al at Kyoto University, posted as URSI's SPS white paper at

http://www.ursi.org/WP/WP_SPS_051129.doc

URSI is an international "competitor" to IEEE, which has not been
active on WPT in recent years.

Will you be at ISDC? Regardless, come join our campaign to get
SunSat chartered.
Cheers,
Darel Preble
chair, SSPW
Psalms 19:4-5
P.S. Another good article on methane is
"Methane Flux From Arctic Tundras: It's The Hydrology, Stupid!"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060404200308.htm

Hi Darel,

Thank you for the terrific website
(http://www.sspi.gatech.edu/). I've been looking for
this info for myself for a while now and this has
given me all the missing parts.

My company (Gravitational Concepts Unlimited) is
currently researching Low Cost Electro-Magnet Launch
and a "Space Gas Station". Problem is that the Low
Cost Electro-Magnet Launch is only low cost to launch,
but very high cost to build. In order to build it we
would need to be assured of customers using it enough
to pay for it's construction.

In my work on the "Space Gas Station", I've found a
new material that you might be interested in: "Diamond
Thermionic Electric Generators that gets 60%(did I
copy that right?) efficiency when powered by 100X Suns
(from inflatable reflective solar collector)". - given
to me by Phil Chapman, (www.transformspace.com).
Later I found sources that say over 90% of the Carnot
efficiency.

regards,

Dave Handwerk

> Yes, and the way to implement SSP is with Sunsat
> Corp. - a
> public/private corporation TOTALLY FOCUSSED on
> building SSP. Just like
> Comsat Corp., chartered in 1962, was TOTALLY
> FOCUSSED on building
> communications satellites.
>
> This is the subject of the second of the two papers
> I am scheduled to
> give at the Solar Power Satellite section at the
> joint NSS/Planetary
> Society meeting in LA May 4-7; those 2 abstracts are
> at John Mankins'
> Solar Power Satellites session:
>
> "Why We Must Build Space Solar Power
> &
> "How We Must Build Space Solar Power: Sunsat
> Corporation
>
http://isdc.xisp.net/~kmiller/isdc_archive/isdc.php?link=sessionSelectCurrentChair
>
> The most recent chapters posted on our SSPW
> website (April 11)
>
> http://www.sspi.gatech.edu
>
> are a draft chapter on Photovoltaics and Naoki
> Shinohara's second
> Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) draft. Naoki's SSPW
> chapter is longer
> but extracted from the more edited SPS white paper
> which originated
> with Naoki et al at Kyoto University, posted as
> URSI's SPS white paper at
>
> http://www.ursi.org/WP/WP_SPS_051129.doc
>
> URSI is an international "competitor" to IEEE,
> which has not been
> active on WPT in recent years.
>
> Will you be at ISDC? Regardless, come join our
> campaign to get
> SunSat chartered.
> Cheers,
> Darel Preble
> chair, SSPW
> Psalms 19:4-5
> P.S. Another good article on methane is
> "Methane Flux From Arctic Tundras: It's The
> Hydrology, Stupid!"
>
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060404200308.htm
>
> -- In ssi_list@... "R.K. Hardman"
> >
> > Time to get on the stump... -and/or prepare to
> skedaddle.
> >
> > It may be too late already but worth a try...
> >
> > The argument must be that ONLY Solar Satellites
> can
> > stave off world catastrophe.
> >
> > Read on, then think about it.
> >
> > Did you see the recent Nova program on Global
> Cooling ?
> >
> > -and how it relates to Global Warming..?
> >
> > [Some of the critical science is less than 2
> yrs old!]
> >
> > -Seems there's a "tug of war" going on between the
> > Cooling and the Warming.
> >
> > -and that an excess of either one could spell
> "curtains"
> > for Earth in Far Less Time than was formerly
> thought.
> >
> > One scientist opines that we have less than a
> decade
> > to take action... {-and avoid the "tipping
> point". }
> >
> > -i.e., the point at which runaway, catastrophic
> global
> > warming will be beyond our ability to halt.
> >
> > [That 2012 deadline* could actually come to
> pass.]
> >
> > [*] See: http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/1.htm
> >
> > =====================================
> >
> > -But the Actual Culprit will be METHANE
> HYDRATE....
> >
> > How so...? What is it..? -and why..?
> >
> > Methane Hydrate can be found in arctic soil, but
> occurs
> > mainly on ocean bottoms around the world where
> high
> > pressure and low temperatures cause methane to
> become
> > encapsulated in H2O as a slushy form of ice.
> >
> > The Hydrate is a solid which frequently overlays
> and traps
> > ordinary methane gas.
> >
> > Methane is a 'greenhouse gas' which is about 10
> times as
> > potent as Carbon Dioxide. It also accounts for
> about
> > 2/3 of the earth's combustible Carbon, and could
> easily
> > solve our energy problem ..-if we only knew how
> to mine it
> > ...Safely, that is.. ! [Corporate interests
> and inertia aside.]
> >
> > Methane is sometimes released naturally from
> it's ocean
> > bottom Hydrate, and is thought by some to be the
> cause,
> > as it comes bubbling up, of many unexplained
> sinkings
> > of ships as in, but not limited to, the Bermuda
> Triangle.
> >
> > When global warming progresses to the point that
> more
> > and more Methane is released from its hydrate,
> there will
> > eventually be a virtual "chain reaction"
> terminating, among
> > other nasty things, in the rapid melting of
> glaciers and a sea
> > level rise of up to 300 feet.
> >
> > -It has happened many times before*, even
> without our
> > providing a "last straw" in the form of CO2
> from the combustion
> > of petroleum, coal, etc.
> >
> > -Or in the form of greed driven, premature, and
> ill-
> > advised attempts at 'mining' the Hydrate.
> >
> > (*) 'Find'
> at:
> >
http://people.cornellcollege.edu/b-hollis/geo105/report.htm

> My company (Gravitational Concepts Unlimited) is
> currently researching Low Cost Electro-Magnet Launch
> and a "Space Gas Station". Problem is that the Low
> Cost Electro-Magnet Launch is only low cost to launch,
> but very high cost to build. In order to build it we
> would need to be assured of customers using it enough
> to pay for it's construction.

You might be interested in this funding thats available for EM launch
research. The call for proposals is here:
http://lifeboat.com/em/flyer.pdf

The target audience for the solicitation is college students working on
design projects; however, anyone with an interest is encouraged to
apply. Although the amount of the grant is small, the length of the
proposal is only 5 pages, and if you've already started working on an
idea, most of your proposal will probably be cutting and pasting.

Maybe you could use the money to build a demo launcher to show
investors.

Phil Putman
Research Assistant Professor
Texas Center for Superconductivity and
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4006
713-743-9481
pputman@...