Crisewell's LPS

--- In ssi_list@... "Combs, Mike"
>
> Your situation with MULE reminds me of the situation that David
> Criswell faces. He wants to build solar plants on the moon and
beam
> the power back to Earth and has a devil of a time addressing the
> criticism of why his scheme is better than SPS. Yet he persists in
> his dream despite the facts and criticisms.
>
> I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who views Criswell's
proposals
> this way.
>
> When he saw that I was being somewhat critical of Lunar Power
Stations in my
> Space Settlement FAQ, he sent me a big stack of his papers on the
subject.
> I saw tons and tons of comparisons with Earth-launched SPS where
LPS came
> out favorable; and given the overwhelming costs of Earth launch,
he might
> even be right on that. But what I was looking for, and never
found, was a
> comparison with Gerard O'Neill's proposal: Use lunar resources
alright, but
> do the refining and assembling in HEO, and place the power
stations in GEO.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike Combs

I know I'm writing to one of the converted, but . .

Criswell has yet to address those comparison issues. For him to only
compare to Earth-launched SPS is a strawman argument, for serious
students of the subject are aware of the O'Neill proposal.

1.) Both excavate lunar resources, but Criswell needs to refine and
fabrciate on the Moon. O'Neill needs to have mass driver launch,
mass catcher and orbital refining and fabricating. What are the cost
differences between the two schemes?

2.) Criswell needs to have a lunar girdling power cable and multiple
solar and transmission sites; O'Neill only one SPS.

3.) Criswell needs to address massive thermal expansion issues
associated with lunar day/night; O'Neill doesn't.

4.) Criswell needs to deal with beam coherence from 250,000 miles;
O'Neill's microwave beam only travels 36,000 miles.

The only slack I can see that could POSSIBLY pull in Criswell's
favor is on point 1. MAYBE it could be cheaper to manufacture solely
on the moon, although I doubt it. But maybe.

Despite all of the problems of his vision, he persists in advocating
it. I'd really like to hear his defence with respect to the O'Neill
plan, without the Habitat component (drawing in the need to build a
Habitat would be a red herring.)

BTW, congratulations on reading the original posting. I'm impressed;
I thought it was just a dialogue between Jack and me.

TangoMan