Space Power Systems?Radiation: Energy Conversion

by Bobby D. Jones, West Mesa High Sch in Albuquerque, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

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

Abstract:

Pair production is a way to change a photon, a gamma particle, into matter or energy. It is found that if a photon of energy greater than 1.02 MeV strikes a foil containing a large number of protons, high Z, the photon disappears and in its place an electron-positron pair is formed. A position has the same mass as an electron, but the opposite charge, e⁺. It may be possible to utilize the photons of radiation and use the process of pair production to create useful energy. This conversion of radiation to energy would be inexpensive considering that radiation is readily available from a variety of sources.

Subject Headings: Solar power | Power plants | Electric power | Energy conversion | Solar radiation | Electrical systems | Space exploration

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