Another Missile Defense Success

Hopefully this research will continue over the next 4 years and systems will be implemented when possible. Our enemies don't care about the philosophies of the political parties in charge, other than how they can use them to defeat us. We need many different arrows in our quivers - missile (and/or warhead) defense systems are one of them.

Boeing-led Missile Defense Team Intercepts Target in Most Complex Test to Date - MarketWatch:
"VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Dec 05, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- The Boeing Company (BA:Boeing Co.) , working with industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, today completed the successful intercept of a target warhead in the most challenging test to date of the United States' only long-range ballistic missile defense system.

'This test demonstrated that the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system can defeat a long-range ballistic missile target,' said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. 'This intercept is further proof that GMD can provide our nation with an effective defense against the threat of long-range ballistic missiles.'
. . .
'Data gathered from multiple sensors gave us a clearer picture of the incoming threat, enabling GMD to achieve the shootdown of a complex target,' said Greg Hyslop, Boeing vice president and GMD program director. 'Integrating sensors separated by thousands of miles is a major engineering challenge, but we overcame this challenge by working together as a team.'"

UPS Low-Emission Hybrid Vehicles

One of these hybrid delivery vans just delivered a package - it looked and sounded pretty much like any other UPS truck (except for the UPS Low-Emission Hybrid Vehicle logo). This is a great way to evolve technology - get it in use daily and see what squeaks - then fix the problems, and do it again. UPS seems to do a good job of incorporating appropriate new technologies more quickly than other large companies - kudos to them!

UPS: Press Release:
"ATLANTA, May 22, 2007 - UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced its fleet of alternative-fuel vehicles - already the industry's largest - had expanded with the deployment of 50 next-generation hybrid electric delivery trucks.

The 50 hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) will operate in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix. These new trucks join roughly 20,000 low-emission and alternative-fuel vehicles already in use.
. . .
The new hybrid power system allows UPS to use a smaller diesel engine than would be required in a conventional delivery truck, thus saving on fuel and pollution-causing emissions. A battery pack, motor/generator and power control system are added, which allows electric power to be fed into the powertrain when conditions demand it, providing further savings.

The hybrid electric vehicles also use what is known as regenerative braking, meaning the energy generated when stopping the moving vehicle is captured and returned to the battery system as electrical energy. The efficient, computer-controlled combination of clean diesel power, electric power and regenerative braking allows dramatic improvements in fuel savings and emissions reductions."

Obama Project: Space Solar Power (SSP)?

Space Solar Power (SSP) suffers from a chicken and egg problem. It is too expensive for NASA to divert research funding (although they will conduct experiments from the space station soon), and it isn't conventional enough to qualify for traditional investment & funding. Hopefully, as we ramp up to build more Nuclear Reactors some entity will try spending the equivalent amount on an SSP demonstration. (Bill Gates maybe?)

An interesting idea in comments following this article is the use of a beanstalk that can be built with conventional materials IF it ends 1 Diameter of Earth from the surface. We could use conventional (but reusable) chemical rockets to get materials to this low orbit, and then use beanstalks to lift them into the high orbits - saving a large part of the transportation cost, and do-able with today's technology. Another benefit is that such a beanstalk would be much less vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Political transitions are a time to reflect and change policies - now is the time for the new administration to consider kick-starting the SSP industry. It would cost us less than many of the bailouts currently in the news, and provide enormous on-going benefits. The jobs created for such a program would be high-tech, and the product (energy) would be exportable.

Obama-Biden Transition Project: Space Solar Power (SSP) -- A Solution for Energy Independence & Climate Change | SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens:
"A National Security Space Office (NSSO) study concluded in October of 2007 that 'The magnitude of the looming energy and environmental problems is significant enough to warrant consideration of all options, to include ... space-based solar power.' This NSSO report also concluded that SSP has 'enormous potential for energy security, economic development, improved environmental stewardship, advancement of general space faring, and overall national security for those nations who construct and possess a (SSP) capability.'

We urge the next President of the United States to include SSP as a new start in a balanced federal strategy for energy independence and environmental stewardship, and to assign lead responsibility to a U.S. federal agency.

SSP Falls through the Cracks as Nobody is Responsible: No U.S. federal agency has a specific mandate or clear responsibility to pursue SSP. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says SSP is a space project, and thus NASA's job. NASA says SSP is an energy project, and thus DOE's job. The NSSO-report found that SSP ''falls through the cracks' of federal bureaucracies, and has lacked an organizational advocate within the US Government.'

SSP has Significant Long-Term Advantages: SSP is unusual among renewable energy options as it satisfies all of the following criteria:

Immensely Scalable -- SSP can scale to provide the energy needs of the entire human civilization at America's standard of living. Most other near-term renewable options are strictly limited in scalability. As the NSSO report states "A single kilometer-wide band of geosynchronous Earth orbit experiences enough solar flux in one year to nearly equal the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today."

Safe Global Availability -- Nuclear power technology cannot be safely shared with most of the countries on this planet because of proliferation concerns.

Steady & Assured -- SSP is a continuous, rather than intermittent, power source. It is not subject to the weather, the seasons, or the day-night cycle.

No Fundamental Breakthroughs -- SSP does not require a fundamental breakthrough in either physics or engineering, such as those required by fusion.

Highly Flexible and Optimal for Export -- SSP could enable America to become a net energy exporter. We could be the world's largest exporter of energy for the 21st and 22nd Centuries, and beyond."