Aphs.226
net.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!duke!phs!dennis
Wed Feb 10 09:28:38 1982
Re: watmath.1678: Mooning Around
A synchronous powersat would NOT be in earth's shadow
half the time; it's much less than that. The shadow
goes directly away from the sun, not outwards at the terminator.
Planar platforms wouldn't tend to tumble; they would tend to
align the long axis toward the planet; some sort of stabilizing
thruster would be needed.
A better thing than putting two power stations on the Moon is putting
three at 120 degree intervals. That way somebody always has a
good angle on the sunlight.
If the moon were exactly in the ecliptic, there would be a lunar
eclipse every full moon. It's pretty far off, but my books
are far, far away and I can't give the right number.
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