[en] According to the author the power requirements are going up. The author reviews some recent studies, and looks at future prospects in terms of an actual technology base, and talks about the technology opportunities for the future and the challenge that they really represent

[en] Future space missions were hypothesized and analyzed, and the energy source of their accomplishment investigated. The missions included manned Mars, scientific outposts to and robotic sample return missions from the outer planets and asteroids, as well as fly-by and rendezvous missions with the Oort Cloud and the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. Space system parametric requirements and operational features were established. The energy means for accomplishing missions where delta v requirements range from 90 km/sec to 30,000 km/sec (High Energy Space Mission) were investigated. The need to develop a power space of this magnitude is a key issue to address if the U.S. civil space program is to continue to advance as mandated by the National Space Policy. Potential energy options which could provide the propulsion and electrical power system and operational requirements were reviewed and evaluated. Fusion energy was considered to be the preferred option and was analyzed in depth. Candidate fusion fuels were evaluated based upon the energy output and neutron flux. Additionally, fusion energy can offer significant safety, environmental, economic, and operational advantages. Reactors exhibiting a highly efficient use of magnetic fields for space use while at the same time offering efficient coupling to an exhaust propellant or to a direct energy convertor for efficient electrical production were examined. Near term approaches were identified. A strategy that will produce fusion powered vehicles as part of the space transportation infrastructure was developed. Space program resources must be directed toward this issue as a matter of the top policy priority

[en] This paper assesses baseload and above-baseload (alert, active, pulsed and burst mode) power system options, places them in logical perspective relative to power level and operating time, discusses power systems technology state-of-the-art and trends and finally attempts to project future (post 2000) space power system capabilities

[en] In the pursuit of faster, better, cheaper, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is scaling down all of its missions. Just about every spacecraft subsystem has gone through a shrinking process. The only heavy spacecraft component that has resisted change is the power source. JPL, earlier this year, studied the feasibility of Mars Network Mini-Met stations and micro rovers. These space vehicles will have very limited missions unless a device like the Powerstick is developed. These missions shy away from Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) because of the unavailability of small units and the high costs of develop them. The Powerstick satisfies all the demands for a power source for these small missions at a potentially very small price. Powerstick is a miniature power source that consists of a Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU), a thermoelectric thermopile and a bank of small batteries. The RHU is a spot heater produced by DOE and commonly used on spacecraft. The RHU is used in the Powerstick as a source providing heat to a thermoelectric element. It appears that the powerstick, using a single RHU and a bismuthtelluride thermoelectric converter, is capable of producing 42 milliwatts at 15 volts at the beginning of life. This would reduce to 37 milliwatts at 14 volts after 10 years of operation. This electricity would trickle charge the lithium batteries providing peak power to a micro rover, a mini meteorological station or a micro spacecraft. The attractive feature of the Powerstick is its potential for low development cost. The final design of the powerstick must assure that there is no need for requalification of the RHU. Without such a requalification, the development cost of the Powerstick will be quite low

[en] There is an increasing concern that exposure to extremely low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) may cause or contribute to adverse health effects. To assess exposure to ELF EMFs, electric and magnetic field spot measurements were performed extensively at the workplace of a worldwide uninterruptible power supply (UPS) factory. The measurements were carried out in order to get the electric and magnetic field exposure results in real working situations in test areas, production lines and power substations. The electric and magnetic fields reached up to 992.0 V m^-1 and 215.6 μT in the test areas, respectively. The fields existed up to 26.7 V m^-1 and 7.6 μT in the production lines. The field levels in the vicinity of the power substations did not exceed 165.5 V m^-1 and 65 μT. The data presented are useful in determining the occupational exposure levels of UPS industry workers. The measurements are below the reference levels recommended by the guideline published in 2010 by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection and action levels of the directive adopted in 2013 by European Parliament and Council. (authors)

[en] The common architectures of UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) system in data center were expounded in detail. Take the case of UPS design on data center in grade A, the process for UPS system design was introduced and the recommended schemes were put forward. This paper has certain reference significance for similar design work. (paper)

[en] The papers from this symposium, that was held at the NASA Lewis Research Center on April 3-4, 1990, are presented. The theme selected for the symposium was space travel for the next millennium. It was hoped that the participants would allow their focus to consider possible advances in technologies for space travel not just for currently envisioned projects, but for possibilities beyond the next generation and the next thousand years. About half of the contributed papers focussed on propulsion and the other half on other issues related to space travel

[en] The papers presented in this book include Space power: key technologies - forecasts and opportunities

[en] The P78-2 satellite, which is also called the SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging At High Altitude) satellite, was conceived as the flight test portion of a joint U.S. Air Force/NASA spacecraft charging program. The satellite flight had two objectives. One was to obtain environmental and engineering information, while the second objective was concerned with the collection of scientific data of interest to each experiment sponsor and the scientific community. Main areas of scientific investigation are concerned with the understanding of plasma-wave interactions, substorm studies, and further studies of the energetic ring current. The satellite was launched on January 30, 1979. The orbit of P78-2 covered the near synchronous region close to the geographic equator. The satellite has already brought new results important to a better understanding of the outer magnetosphere

No abstract available