Eric Swanson wrote:
> That phrase "active control" is the problem. Control implies structure
> to keep the mass together while force(s) are applied to counter the
> effects of solar wind and solar pressure. Those forces must be
> produced by reaction, ie, rockets that throw away mass. Even electric
> propusion requires some source for the mass being thrown overboard and
> some additional mass to produce the electricity, perhaps PV cells.
> Supplying all this mass would require servicing and constant
> maintenance for as much as 1,000 years after the fossil fuels are gone.
This and proposals like it really put all our eggs in the one basket of
plentiful cheap energy, and if it turns out there is no magic bullet to
replace the squandered gift of oil we now rely on, we would be really
cooked.
There is one other absolutely essential point to make about
geoengineering and that is that we are working without a net, no second
chances, no trial runs. What are the realistic odds of such a huge
endeavour working right out of the box? How many tries did it take to
land a human on the moon?
There is also the time factor. It seems to me that such a project
would be decades in the planning and making. In the meantime we
continue to burn all the bridges behind us trusting that nothing will
go wrong. Seriously, what do we do if after all that, we get the
sheild in place against all odds and then along comes one large coronal
mass ejection knocking it out of orbit. Or a close pass from a large
asteroid pulls it out of its orbit? Or some unforeseen interaction
between the material of choice and a particular solar radiation causes
rapid degradation. Or....
Coby
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