When
Available in person and via zoom (see email for link)
Abstract
A new proactive effort called the Earth Cup L1 project has emerged with the purpose of preparing the technology and workforce for a whole earth means of cooling against unmitigated warming. It is designed as a non-governmental internationally collaborative mechanism to promote planetary stewardship. The steps described in this talk will provide a robust deep space cooling solution available to reaction-prone decision makers in the future.
Rogers’ technology adoption theory, combined with both neo-luddite resistance and political friction, suggests that a multi-decadal technology development model may be prudent. What is more, the trillion-dollar cost of a solar shield at the Earth-Sun L1 point necessitates a multidisciplinary workforce exceeding 100,000 people —a scale that requires decades of cultivation through new university-based programs.
To address this, the Earth Cup L1 project has announced Race 1 — an opportunity for universities and other non-governmental organizations to participate in a low earth orbit space challenge. Participating students will gain real design and launch experiences, preparing themselves for complex challenges associated with space travel. By maintaining a consistent cadence for these challenges, the project will steadily build a trained workforce while simultaneously planning deep-space races toward L1 to drive continuous technical advancements. The scale of the L1 goal presents immense challenges, including the launch, deployment, and formation flying of sun-shade constellations covering over 100,000 square kilometers. However, at this point in time, neither the engineering feasibility, the economic cost, nor the environmental impact are show stoppers. Ultimately, human nature itself may prove to be the greatest challenge.
Bio
Grover Swartzlander received a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University in 1990, an MSEE from Purdue University in 1985, and a BS in Physics from Drexel University in 1982. Between 1990 and 1993 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the US Naval Research Laboratory. Before joining the Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he held academic appointments at the Worcester Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (now Optica), a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Fellow, a Cottrell Scholar, and Wakonse Fellow. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Optical Society of America, B from 2013-2018. His research interests have spanned a range of topics in optics including radiation pressure, advanced imaging concepts for terrestrial and space application, optical vortices, nonlinear optics, coherence, geometric phase, and metamaterials. His research has been cited more than 9,000 times and carries an h-index of 43.