Posted on 05/10/2020 5:23:39 PM PDT by BenLurkin
According to a Space Force press release, which went out on May 6, another payload aboard the X-37B will be an experimental system designed by the Naval Research Laboratory that is capable of capturing solar power and beaming that energy back to Earth in the form of microwaves.
Naval Research Laboratory’s head of beamed power has explicitly stated in the past that this system has enormous implications when it comes to long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In addition, it could allow satellites to provide reliable power anywhere on the planet or even to spacecraft or other satellites in orbit.
In October 2019, the NRL conducted a three-day long demonstration of the Navy’s latest power-beaming capabilities at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In the demonstration, the NRL transmitted a completely silent, invisible beam of 2-kilowatt laser power over 300 meters through the air over attendees' heads.
As far as the aforementioned applications of this capability, research or military outposts in remote locations would no longer have to rely on low-power solar systems or haul heavy generators and large amounts of fuel, but instead could bring a rectifying antenna, or rectenna, to capture energy in the form of microwaves beamed from satellites overhead. In addition, areas ravaged by natural disasters could use the system to generate electricity to aid in reconstruction efforts long before traditional electrical infrastructure is rebuilt. It could even power autonomous ships at sea.
Using lasers to beam power to small UAVs has been a subject of research for some time....This new concept is different, though, in that the beamed power UAVs the Navy envisions will feature traditional propulsion systems (such as rotors or propellers) and instead have rectennas that capture the energy from directed energy beams to constantly replenish their electrical power reserves.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
Thanks For the article.
I need a photoshop of a beam going all the way through the earth. (with an ut-oh) caption
Zero gravity popcorn. We’re going to need a lot of it.
Are we talking Nikola Tesla tech here?
What happens when some unsuspecting aircraft passes through the laser beam?
Read articles 30. -40 years ago of the feasibility,on a grand scale, by beaming enough microwave energy from an orbiting platform to receiving stations ( in the Canadian wilds for safety) to power much of North America l.
Laser beams....but no frickin’ sharks?!?!
What's a little mircrowave go'in to do?
s/
But then there is also the effect of microwaves on metallic objects like satellites.
It is also the name of Elon Musk's next child.
Maybe this power beam has EMP capabilities.
How hard would it be to adjust the intensity of the beam a little to fry some ISIS stronghold from space when it’s not being used to make coffee in the officer’s mess in Mosul?
Goldeneye?
Tesla didn’t do solar. He didn’t need the sun. He extracted energy out of the ether and converted it into usable power.
Everybody wants to rule the world, ya know.
Sounds like a nice little device to aim at Chinese satellites once they decide to go to war with us. Hopefully they haven’t already stolen the technology from us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.