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imafraidofmuricans t1_ixn9ya2 wrote

Reply to comment by darkshark9 in China’s space station will run high-energy beam experiment for controversial solar power plant: chief scientist by Soupjoe5

What would the power loss in atmo be like, and what effect would dumping 1 gw of energy into a concentrated area of the atmosphere have?

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darkshark9 t1_ixnedgj wrote

You can use longer wavelength microwaves that essentially render the atmosphere transparent in terms of losses. So even a 1gw beam would barely lose anything if the right wavelength is chosen. So it wouldn't affect the atmosphere in any relevant manner.

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jseah t1_ixouxlb wrote

US has a science facility that does that sort of thing. They put GJ worth of power into atmosphere to see the effects on the ionosphere.

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