Lunar solar power
Wis harder than rock? What is softer than water? yet hard rocks are hollowed out by soft water.
THAT What does that mean?
This is a neat statement about the power of persistent, as well as consistent effort. Over time, those drips can do some very amazing things. This statement is about how, over time, the softest and most compliant of things, water, can break down some of the hardest stones. We also see it in the beauty of canyons, such as the Grand Canyon, carved out of rock. But there are three things the statement doesn’t mention. The first is the amount of time necessary to carve out the rock.
That’s the bad news. But there is also good news. The other two things not mentioned in the statement are that you are far stronger and more capable of changing things than mere water and that very few of your issues in life are anywhere near as hard as rock.
Why is being consistent important?
Doing the same thing over and over again, not only do you become better at what you do, but you also begin to grind down the obstacle before you. If you do something often enough, even if the results are small and the task is very hard, you will get results. If, however, you are inconsistent, you will not get the results you hoped to achieve and they will take a greater length of time. In the times between you are forgetting.
That forces you to spend some time re-learning some of the skills necessary, rather than moving forward and through your obstacles.
By being consistent, you not only improve, you drive home that improvement so that the next time you start, you start from a better place. Each repetition, when done consistently is better than the last and better and more effective techniques become part of who you are and how you work.
And by working over and over again, with consistent and effort you will wear down anything which stands in your way. In this manner, even soft water can wear down the hardest rocks. It will take time and consistent effort, but it
are so many things happening in the astronomical world that the headlines start looking like science fiction.
However, the Financial Times’s platform TNW published a story this week that really had me wondering where fantasy ended and reality began, at many levels. The article was all about the European Space Agency’s plans for space-based solar power, or SBSP.
You may remember the Bond movie ‘Die Another Day’ where this is tried – a huge mirrored satellite beams down intense sunlight and gets used as a weapon of mass destruction by a mad villain.
The real-life effort towards spacebased power is gaining traction in the context of the energy crisis in Europe. The ESA has set up a programme called Solaris to help make a final decision on SBSP in 2025.
In the meantime, the ESA is already running several projects in this field. A group in Belgium is looking at the
HERE Flowing water.
can be done.
Where can life? I apply this in my
This statement is about encouragement and about remembering that you can make a difference even if you think that you are but a drop of water. The question then becomes where in your life do you feel that you are helpless or unable to make any significant difference? Where in your life do you have these feelings? In your family? With some of your friends? In some of your social groups? What about at work or in other parts of your life? Where is your confidence running a little low? Can you put your finger on it and say exactly what is wrong?
DROP
Why is it you believe you are less than the drop of water, or that your obstacle is harder than a rock? What preconceived notion are you stuck believing which says you can’t do anything? The Grand Canyon didn’t carve itself it was carved by drops of water consistently over time. Consider a diet where you only watch what you eat from time to time.
The rest of the time, you don’t. That’s not very consistent, is it? How well will the weight come off? How frustrated will you become? Will you hollow out that rock, or will you give up? Being consistent, it is that important.
Is there an issue at work? Is there
in-space assembly of massive satellites, bigger than anything that has been built before.
“An SBSP system is typically extremely large in comparison to anything ever put in space by humans, having a span of kilometres, whereas the largest systems assembled in space are no larger than a football field,” team leader Diego Urbina told TNW.
Multiple launches will be required to put the components into space, but the cost of these launches is falling, making the scheme viable.
ENERGY
However, Swiss company Astrostrom is focused on solar energy from … the moon.
“Instead of building massive solar power satellites on earth, which must be highly efficient and expensive, and launching them from the surface of earth at great cost, our proposal is to install the industrial capacity on the moon to build solar power satellites from mostly lunar materials and to robotically assemble these in orbit,” said CEO Arthur Woods.
The first step is to install power on the moon for further industry, and then scale up these operations to construct solar-powered satellites that will beam power to earth.
Woods elaborates, “This must be a highly automated process than can be controlled or supervised by tele-operations something you need, but you can’t seem to get a response? Have you given up? You can try to wear them down, but that can irritate them. You can use another property of water and seek an easier path to follow, and flow around that obstacle, right?
By being consistent, as well as taking action and being persistent you can find a way.
Examine the results and adjust where you are rubbing the obstacle until you can get it to move. The same goes for interpersonal issues, although that can take a little more time. Have you ever found yourself without the proper tool, and had to do something in a very slow and inefficient manner?
Have you had to try to remove a small tree with just a hatchet (a very small, one-handed axe)? done. What your issue is and what you need to do to be consistent, as well as persistent, is not the point of this statement.
The point is to keep at it. The point is to adjust what you do, and to continue to move forward, trying new routes or options each time.
It is up to you. Do you want to cry, and imagine you are as helpless as the tears, or are you willing to take action, consistent action, determined action and carve away at your issues until you have made the difference you desired in your life or in the lives of others.
from earth and only requiring a minimal human crew on the moon for troubleshooting and some maintenance. Once the operations reach the mass-production level, the automated system should continuously output the elements for transport to lunar orbit.”
But there’s more: Astrostrom is looking into the lunar space elevator (LSE), a cable up to 200 000 km in length, stretching from the surface of the moon towards earth. “Payloads would travel by electricity. As such, an LSE would become a very valuable space infrastructure project that could lead to further economic developments in the region of cislunar space,” Woods explained.
This term ‘cislunar’ sounds quite ominous. Is the whole of near space to be turned into a vast construction site, with industrial elevators from the moon churning out fleets of robot-constructed satellites to beam solar radiation at our planet?
The ESA is promoting start-ups and research in this arena, aiming to position Europe as a strong player in the space-based power race. The agency appears focused on establishing an early lunar solar power station, as basic infrastructure for industry in the moon. If the ESA can stake the claim, investors may wish to claim a stake in the whole enterprise.
Is it just me or is this sheer lunacy?