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A Mission to Earth: Global Rural Electrification

by Raymond S. Leonard, Ad Astra Ltd, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space II

Abstract:

No nation can long remain morally strong or economically competitive without an inner purpose. There are many noble projects but few which will both kindle the individual's imagination and provide economic as well as spiritual benefits to a nation. The human exploration of space has been proposed as one such project. However, unless human activity in space can provide tangible benefits to the man in the street such activity will not be funded. What is needed are missions to Earth which provide benefits that the factory worker and the suburban commuter or salaryman can understand and appreciate. Electric power from orbit as a gift from this century and the industrialized nations to future generations and the Third World is such a program. Providing electric power from orbit offers mankind a rationale for the exploration of space similar to the reasons that fueled the voyages of Magellan, Columbus and Cook.

Subject Headings: Electric power | Power plants | Solar power | Orbits | Space exploration | Rural areas | Economic factors | Ohio | United States

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