Sigh. Or maybe, Egads! Yet another pessimistic study about the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) apocolypse and how nothing can stop it unless we all submit to vast new world-wide taxing and regulatory structures with near complete control of the world economy. We must live subsistence lives or else it is the end of the world!

It is not that the data in this most recent study is bad (although it only tabulated through 2008 which leaves some very interesting US energy usage/carbon emission data off the table), it is that the title screams pessimism. Instead of framing the topic as an interesting way to look at the economy in order to figure out how to reduce carbon emissions, it flatly states we are all screwed (AGW apocalypse) even though the economic recession has caused a dip in carbon emissions (especially in the US – a 20 year low - which I have documented before)

The reasons for the dramatic drop in US carbon emissions are multi-faceted, due in part to the ongoing recession, but also demographics, and technological progress. The recession is still here, the demographic trends continue to point toward lower population growth, and technological progress is quickening. A more comprehensive framing of the recent drop in carbon emissions (in much of the world – except the biggest polluter – China) would be more optimistic. What could be learned and promoted is a different way of looking at progress and growth. We CAN have “progress” without building huge sprawling highways,suburbs, and exurbs. We CAN have “growth” without building more parking lots and strip malls. Happiness, health, and safety are not dependent upon 20th century infrastructure and “shovel-ready” jobs designed to build more redundant stuff. Why the heck do we need more houses anyway when there are way over 10 million sitting empty right now! 

We should be looking at how we have made it through this recession thus far. How have we put food on the table when jobs have become more scarce? How are we still running the economy with lower carbon emissions? The message should be one of optimism for a cleaner environmental future, not the old and trite “carbon emissions are down in the recession….but we are all still doomed” statement.

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A couple of space exploration updates:

* The extreme skydiver who wants to break the record for highest free-fall jump and for breaking the sound barrier is now scheduled to jump tomorrow.

The SpaceX Dragon Launch

* Hooray for SpaceX! Their Dragon capsule has launched and is headed for the ISS on an unmanned re-supply mission. For those interested in space exploration, I cannot state how important this is. The US (and many advanced countries) are broke or bankrupt. The human space exploration once-dreamed of so vividly in the 20th century is not going to happen primarily through NASA. It will happen through private space firms. This is not a knock on NASA or their engineers/astronauts. It is just financial reality. NASA will continue to do great work with un-manned exploration – I am sure. But if you ever had a dream of travelling to space yourself – ala Star Trek or other space based sci-fi, almost all of our hopes rely upon the likes of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Bigelow Aerospace, Google, and many others. Support private space exploration.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Space

The weather continues to be perfect for this time of year which means clear skies over the next couple of nights, which would be great for viewing the northern lights…if they are on display. The sun let out a huge solar flare on Tuesday of this week which can sometimes lead to good northern lights. Experts don’t expect dramatic geomagnetic activity (northern lights) but forecasting such things is an immature science. From what I have seen, the forecasts for northern lights have not been too accurate in the past (although I admit I do not have any objective data to prove it). I am thinking since the official forecast is for not much geomagnetic activity, perhaps tonight and even Thursday night will be good nights to take a look to the north (taking the contrarian view). The only trouble is that we have a waxing gibbous moon right now and it will be out during most of the night for the next couple of nights. Check sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset times here. If you end up getting any pictures of northern lights this week or in the future, please send them to weather@waow.com. Keep track of space weather forecasts here.

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Here in the blog, I like to practice the seemingly lost art of the “follow-up”. Looking back through the years of blog topics there are probably too many subjects to follow-up on but I do focus on a few. For those interested in space and space exploration, I still discuss the Mars rovers a bit and I try to follow the development of private spaceflight as well. The most exciting news on this front lately is that Spaceport America in New Mexico is almost complete. It is on schedule to “launch” its first sub-orbital Virgin Galatctic flights next year.

Also, private space companies might be required in order to keep the International Space Station up and running now that NASA is without a viable space vehicle to transport humans and the Russia Soyuz recently experienced a crash.

Unfortunately, a private space company also experienced a crash recently. The very secretive Blue Origin space vehicle did not suffer a serious malfunction. It was just going off course and automatically shut off its engines. Then it crashed to the ground.

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As for a follow up on the newest cold fusion discovery/device in Italy earlier this year, I have had no luck getting a hold of the original author of the article I linked to. I guess I will have to go straight to the source and see if the Italian inventors speak English. In any case, they claimed earlier this year that “in a few months” they would be selling their device all over the world and it would be a proven technology. I am still skeptical.

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The last follow-up is in regards to getting meteorological seasons officially included on standard calendars. No luck in this regard. I contacted three of the top calendar companies in the U.S. by email but did not get any real replies. One of the companies said they respond within 24 hours. Sure, I got a response. It was a cut-n-paste answer to a question I didn’t even ask. Such is the state of customer service in the 21st century. Maybe a phone call will get better results – although a person needs great investigatory skill to find a phone number on many big company websites nowadays.

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Alternative Energy, Nature, Seasonal Items, Space

Being that it is August 31st, it is time to bring up the definition of the season’s once again. I am still on my crusade to redefine the season to follow how it feels outside, instead of the position of the sun in the sky. The astronomical definition of the seasons was a reasonable course of action….for cavemen. In the millennia since the first semblance of a calendar emerged, we have learned that the position of the sun in the sky does not correspond to any real weather on the earth – it just kind-of follows how temperatures and weather change throughout the year.

A better way to define the seasons, which meteorologists and climatologists have adopted, is by temperature. If we want to divide the year up into 4 seasons based on temperature (which essentially only makes sense in mostly continental areas outside of the tropics, where we actually have four distinct seasons), then the 3 warmest months of the year in the northern hemisphere are June, July, and August. We can call those Summer. The three coldest months are December, January, and February, and those would be winter. In between we have Fall and Spring.

I have contacted a few major calendar printing companies to see if they would consider including the meteorological seasons on their standard offerings. I will let you know what they say.

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Just a few random interesting tidbits to round out the blog today. One of the developing cool technologies that I have been following since 2006 is the development of cloaking devices (yes, real cloaking ala Star Trek and Harry Potter). It is one of those things that I always thought would be developed in the far off future and I am excited to see it being developed today. I am surprised that it hasn’t garnered more mainstream media attention. I suppose it is not yet a commercial product, it is not political, it doesn’t bleed (so it doesn’t lead), and it does not yet have any entertainment value. Still it is very interesting. Here is some of the recent progress:

1. Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a printing technique that should allow for easier mass manufacturing of super-lenses and invisibility cloaks. 

2. Invisibility cloaks could be made more practical for more wavelengths of visible light by using an invisible sphere to slow down light.

3. University of Texas Austin researchers have developed the first cloak to work in “free space” (but only for polarized microwave radiation).

4. Although a device has not been built yet, researchers in Spain have proposed an invisibility cloak for magnetic fields.

5. A couple different research teams have developed visible spectrum cloaking devices that work for small objects, often termed carpet cloaks.

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In a follow up space news item, if you are following the Mars rover Opportunity, it has now reached the edge of the very large crater Endeavor.

Also, NASA is now working with SpaceX to develop a mission to Mars to search for life. Which reminds, given all the expensive technology (with the usual government cost overruns), why is the Mars Science Laboratory NOT going to have the capability to search for life?

Of the reasons SpaceX wants to be involved in future Mars programs is not only to search for life but to possibly establish life on another planet – for humans to inhabit another planet. They feel that the survival of the species is highly dependent on getting off the planet earth. Having every human on one planet is like having all your eggs in one basket. If a great tragedy befalls the basket (earth) then all the eggs (people) could be destroyed.

Have a good Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Seasonal Items, Space, Technology

It is that time of week for the latest U.S. Drought Monitor. If I had to gues, I would suspect some parts of Wisconsin slipping into the “abnormally dry” category, just judging by how dusty my garden has been getting in the last couple of weeks. I would be wrong. The official tabulation (made on Tuesday) show Wisconsin 100% drought free. The main determining factor that is probably keeping us out of any drought classification is our yearly precipitation. Here in Wausau and in most cities around the state, our precipitation for the year is still a bit above normal. So even though the weather has been dry in the short term, things are still ok. The worst part of the country drought-wise continues to be the Deep South, Texas, and New Mexico.

Despite what the Drought Monitor syas, much of the area could still use a good soaking sometime soon. Some isolated showers or thunderstorms are possible today and tomorrow but a better chance of heaver, more widespread rain will be on Sunday. Sunday will be a very warm and muggy day so there is also a possibility of severe thunderstorms. With all of the outdoor concerts and festivities going on (every Summer weekend) you should keep in mind severe weather safety. Personnel at outdoor events almost always have a severe weather safety plan. Just ask them, and then you will be prepared.

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I don’t cover space news very much nowadays but I was saddened to hear that the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) is now on the chopping block. The JWST was supposed to be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. As is typical within the government, even NASA, cost overruns and delays have been significant. The project has not been cancelled yet, but it is being looked at. I would like to see the new telescope in action. It would have even more capability and be able to look deeper into space that Hubble. It would likely be a boon for scientific discovery. However, word on the street is that it is already billions over budget. The question has to be asked, how many more billions can we afford to spend in this era of insolvent governments.

It is interesting that this news came out during the same week as the final launch of the space shuttle. One might think that NASA will be doing nothing in the near future. This is not the case as they have a lot of exciting unmanned missions planned. However, it is nice to see that private space companies continue make inroads into the space business. The replacment space “vehicle” for the Space Shuttle is being developed by private companies. Virgin Galactic is planning on sending people on short trips to the edge of space. SpaceX even has plans of going to Mars.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Drought, Space

The storm has arrived and so far (at the time of this writing), wind gusts have been as high as 44mph in Madison, 48 mph in Oshkosh, 52 mph in Mauston, and 47 mph in Wausau (at 9:19am). A few trees have been reported down in Marinette county Wisconsin and in a couple spots in the U.P. of Michigan. There is still a good possibility that wind gusts could go over 50 mph this afternoon. The wind will continue tonight and tomorrow but I expect the highest wind gusts to occur this afternoon. We will continue to update conditions throughout the day. For the latest, you can follow “StormTrak9″ on Twitter or any of our individual accounts (Justin, Kristen, Brian). You can also follow “StormTrak9″ on Facebook. Additional interesting historical information can be found at the NWS Duluth website.

Also arriving today, as if on cue, “Global Warming to Bring More Intense Storms to Northern Hemisphere in Winter” Is it coincidence that this headline is out today as a near record-breaking storm moves through the Midwest? Maybe. The potential for more intense storms (driven by AGW) has been studied in the past and I have reported these findings in the blog. The theory (condensed version) is that the contrast in temperature between the tropics and the arctic will increase (during the winter) if we experience AGW over the next century. A greater temperature contrast usually means more intense storms in the mid-latitudes. Computer models have now added a little more validity to the theory. However, if AGW happens to a significant extent, the Arctic might warm just as much or more than the tropics. In that scenario, it is harder to see how more intense storms could develop. For reference: My AGW position.

Also arriving today is the perhaps the first “environmental salvo” aimed at the fledgling commercial space tourism industry. Scientists are worried that flights to the edge of space could produce a large amount of soot in the stratosphere. Computer simulations indicate this soot could accelrate any AGW occurring over the next few years. It is a hypothetical scenario but something I am sure Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and a few others are paying attention to. Private space exploration is a daunting enough task without having to worry about lawsuits from environmental organizations. I hope private space travel is not banned before I have an opportunity to try it out.

As if I haven’t reported enough bad news, AGW could bring more widespread lengthy drought to the developed world.

I hate to end on a depressing note so how about this: the largest solar power plant in the world has been approved for implementation in the U.S. Hooray for the U.S.! This installation had been stalled by environmental regulations (kind-of ironic, eh?) for a good portion of this year. I am glad to see it pass muster, although I am wondering how much political wrangling was going on behind the scenes. For further reading, here is a nice article on the state of solar energy progress in the present day and another about how China (due to low wages and near zero effective environmental regulations) is becoming the solar power leader of the world.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Severe Weather, Storms, Winter Weather

As Brian mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, the recent rain has been perfect for the area. Yesterday’s rain was the best yet because most of it fell in the northwoods. Many locations in the north picked up 1 to 2 inches of rain. Our weather watcher Kieth in Conover reported 1.70 inches. Here in Wausau the total reached 0.91 inches. Most locations south of Wausau had less rain but our weather watcher Marianne in Scandinavia had 1.2 inches. The last couple of rains have come nice and slow so that they soaked in. The rain total for the month of June so far in Wausau is 2.04 inches, so we have had more rain in the first 8 days of June than we had for the entire month of May. I am quite happy for the farmers and for the fact that I don’t have to water my garden for a while. I suppose there might be a few farmers just getting to their first crop hay (although I did see quite a few harvesting before the rains set in) and they are probably not so happy with the rain. Overall, it would be nice if we could see another 3 to 4 inches of rain during the month of June, especially in the northwoods. Two or three months in a row with above normal rainfall and we will put a good dent in the Northwoods drought. The next chance of significant rain in most of the area will be on Friday and Saturday. I could rave about the rain all day long, but there are some other topics of interest:

Time travel! How is that for a radical change of pace (pun intended). Ronald Mallett of the University of Connecticut has once again brought headlines to the world of physics by keynoting a recent engineer’s conference. He detailed his plan for time travel using a light ring to warp time. His ideas were also covered a few years back and here is a good article that explains Mallet’s ideas a bit better. I haven’t read a thorough enough description of his “light ring” to evaluate the legitimacy of the idea and perhaps my understanding of physics is not up to par for the job, but I hope he gets a little more funding to test it out. A few years ago he said he only needed funding and then he could test it out. I see today he is still searching for funding. If the idea had merit, I would’ve suspected the US military would be funding him by now. Perhaps the idea is so revolutionary that most physicists don’t understand it or accept it.

If you are satisfied with just regular space travel and not time travel, then there is also some good news: The SpaceX Falcon 9 recently launchedwithout a hitch. SpaceX is a private space company that hopes to launch humans into space, including future NASA astronauts. They expect to charge $20 million per passenger when they are finished testing their launch system. Besides potential tourists and NASA, someone else keeping a close eye on SpaceX is Robert Bigelow of Bigelow Aerospace. His company is the one creating inflatable space stations/hotels. Bigelow has already launched 2 inflatable mini-space stations and hopes to have the bigger ones launched in 2014 and in 2016. The 2 larger stations/hotels combined could house up to 36 people at a time. The problem is that Bigelow is not building rockets to take customers to space, and NASA is way behind on a shuttle replacement. They will have to rely on companies like SpaceX and perhaps Virgin Galactic.

Have a good Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Science, Space

First and update on the weather for today and this week. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for Price county through 4pm today.A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect for Ashland county through 6am Tuesday and for Iron county until noon Tuesday. Snow amounts could be around an inch or two around Phillips, Park Falls, Three Lakes, Eagle River, and Arbor Vitae. Far northwestern Vilas county and the north half of Iron and Ashland counties could enf up with 4 to 7 inches of snow – most of which will come in the form of lake effect or lake enhanced snow this evening and overnight. For the rest of the area, the weather still looks mostly dry. Sorry snow-lovers. There might be a dusting up to a half inch in central Wisconsin this afternoon and evening, otherwise no major storms are in the works for the foreseeable future (through next week). The next chance of measurable snow will be Monday of next week. Right now it looks like an inch or so is possible.

The biggest news of the week is the cold weather heading our way. The coldest day we have experienced thus far this winter occurred on January 2nd  – seems like a long time ago doesn’t it? The low temperature was -10 and the high temperature was 5. Coming up this Thursday I am forecasting a high of only 4, and that is looking generous. There might be enough wind for wind chill advisories as well so get ready to put on extra layers of clothing. At this point, it doesn’t look like the extreme cold will last very long. By Sunday highs should climb back up into the 20s.

Updates, Updates, Updates.

First some space news updates. I have been following the development of private space ventures for some time now. One company in particular that has gotten off to a good start is Bigelow aerospace. Here is a recent article from a reporter who was allowed into their manufacturing facility. It is nice to know that they have built and are already testing their “large” space hotels – the ones that will hold 6 people. They are also thinking outside of the box by plying their wares to NASA as cheap instant inflatable moon bases. Just attach three of them together and you end up with a lot of living space. Such a set-up could also be moved around to different spots on the moon. The bad news, it appears they have delayed the launch of their biggest “hotel” until 2015 at the earliest. Originally, they projected a couple of years earlier.

A rocket that could help Bigelow launch their space hotels is the Falcon 9 from SpaceX. This particular rocket passed its final safety test recently and should be making its maiden voyage in a couple of months.

Something else that SpaceX might be launching in the future are space solar power panels. I blogged about Japan’s ambitions to develop space solar power in the past. “Space Solar Power” is the concept of putting large solar panels in space and then ”beam” the energy back down to earth. The Japanese are eyeing the use of microwave radiation to beam the energy back down to the surface. Unfortunately, I think they are going to run into some resistance. Even if it can be proven “mostly” safe, I don’t think that will matter in a lot of citizen’s minds. People will not like to hear that the atmosphere and the planet is being “microwaved”. The microwave beam would be focused like a laser and would be beamed down to the surface in unpopulated areas, but the beam will still likely be a few kilometers in diameter, but I am unsure if that would be enough information to dissuade much of the public from objecting. Perhaps beaming infrared energy back down to earth would be better. EADS Astrium, Europe’s largest space company is proposing just that. This would probably be viewed as safer. They hope to put a demonstration satellite in orbit by 2015, which is a much more aggressive time frame than the Japanese who are projecting a functional space solar power plant by 2030. One problem I can envision for space solar power plants – something that is not talked about much – is space junk and meteorites. There are so many small objects orbiting the earth that there could be significant degradation of the solar panels due to tiny collisions.

Speaking of collisions with metorites, here is an amazing story. A meteorite crashed into a doctor’s office in Virginia. You can read about it ands see a picture here. It weighed a half a pound and was about the size of an adult human’s fist. As amazing as this sounds, I am surprised that more meteorite impact are not observed every year -  given the large human population and all of the recording equipment we have employed around the world.

Scientists do expect more meteorite impacts in the future, particularly from large meteors/asteroids. They are on the watch for these because they could have wide ranging planetary effects if they hit the earth. The goods news is that they are looking for these near earth objects. The bad news is that they require more money in order to identify the close to 90% of the asteroids (500 feet wide size range) that have gone undetected.

One weapon in the endeavor to protect the earth from asteroids/meteors is the new WISE satellite. It has only been in operation a couple of weeks and has already spotted some new near earth objects.

Lastly, no sign of life yet from the Mars Phoenix lander. More listening efforts will be conducted in February and March.

Coming up tomorrow, new news on the IPCC and the Himalayan Glacier scandal.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Space, Winter Weather

I ought to update the AGW list one of these days. I am procrastinating because it is quite a chore. It is getting so long that it takes a while to cross reference any new headlines with the past ones to make sure there is no duplication. Well… one of these days, but not today.

Also, in case you haven’t checked it out lately, I have been recording a longer weather show for our webchannel. Check it out here: Let me know what you think.

How about a little space news to start out. The Cassini spacecraft is still orbiting Saturn and still returning interesting scientific information. Yesterday it made another dive through the plumes of ice (and water?) emanating from the south pole of Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). Here is a JPL blog post about it and an article from Newscientist. So why did mission planners send Cassini through the geysers once again? They are trying to get closer to see if they can detect any organic molecules. Some scientists think there could be liquid water in the interior and where there is water there is at least a slim chance of life – anyway, the carbon based life we are familiar with. If you polled astrobiologists or any astronomer 10 years ago, Enceladus would be one of the last places anyone would have suggested that life exists outside of earth. Now it is the object of intense study and gives a little hope that there might be liquid water present on other moons and planets as well.

In private space news SpaceX has set a launch date for the debut of its Falcon 9 rocket. It is scheduled to launch on February 2nd of next year- not written in stone though because you know how schedules can change depending on the weather or other launches occurring near that date. SpaceX hopes to get new contracts from NASA to launch payloads including future crew capsules. If you remember, SpaceX had quite a bit of trouble in prior years getting their Falcon1 off the ground. It seems they have worked out the kinks and I am happy to see them moving forward with the Falcon9. If regular folks are ever going to have a chance of exploring space, we will need to see continued success with private space companies.

The Leonid meteor shower coming up this month might be particularly strong on November 17th. The bad news is that Asia will be in night/dark during the expected peak of the meteor shower. Here in North America we will get the tail end of the peak but you might still be able to see some of the falling stars early in the morning if the skies are clear. Sometimes you can see a few meteors the night before or the night after as well – you just have to be a bit more patient.

When you are looking at the sky for meteors, you might also notice the milky way. If the view with your naked eye is not so great then you might want to take a look at the latest detailed panorama view stitched together by Axel Mellinger. You can click on the image and pan and zoom to see millions of stars that were not visible in past panoramic views of the Milky Way, check it out.

Lastly, the future of spaceflight could involve wings. Here are a couple of stories about secretive recent tests of supposed space vehicles. One occurred back on October 15th at Spaceport America in New Mexico and the craft was built by Lockheed Martin. They aren’t saying who or what it is for, but I wonder if it is related to the secret Air Force project, the X-37B. The “military space plane” will supposedly make it first trip to space on April 10th of next year.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Space

As expected, it rained last night. As expected, the heavier showers and storms produced a quarter to half inch. As forecast, many areas missed out on the heavier rainfall. Most of Marathon county (including Wausau- 0.05″) and Central Wisconsin ended up with a tenth of an inch or less. The quarter to half inch fell north of Marathon county. Radar estimates indicate as much as three quarters of an inch in a few spots in Vilas and Oneida counties. As expected, this was our best chance of significant rain for the entire week. All that I foresee for the next 5 days is some isolated showers or sprinkles late Thursday and during the day on Friday. Amounts will be a few hundredths of an inch at best. Looks like I will be watering the garden again this week. Turns out to have been a bad year to expand my garden(s). I am spending a lot of time watering and the plants are not growing as good as most years – partly due to the cool temps.

Speaking of cool temps, today is still feeling like summer but the next 3 days will feel more like fall. The coldest day will be Friday when high temps will only be in the 60 to 65 range. With mostly cloudy skies and a few sprinkles, it will feel like late September. The record coldest high temperature for Wausau on July 17th is 66 set back in 1984. If Wausau breaks a record on Friday it looks like most cities in the area will follow – except Marshfield where the record is 63.

Now some follow-ups on a few news items I have covered in the past. The first one is on a subject I covered just yesterday – bad headlines. Since I cover the latest developments in alternative energy I have gotten more adept at spotting hype vs. reality. Here is one headline that caught my eye “Solar Approaching Grid Parity in U.S.” As a headline it is not that bad, although a bit bereft of meaning since solar has been “approaching” grid parity for a couple decades now. Worse is the first sentence of the article. “By 2015, two-thirds of the U.S. will have achieved grid parity, the point at which electricity generated from photovoltaics is equal in cost or less expensive than grid power, an analyst said Monday (July 13).” Followed by “At that point, solar power will be no more than 5 cents per kilowatt hour MORE EXPENSIVE than grid power for 99 percent of the country.” My definition of grid parity is equal cost. Grid parity means that solar and other alternatives would be EQUAL to the cost of other sources, primarily fossil fuel. Not one cent more and certainly not 5 cents more. Sure, 5 cents more expensive would be fabulous, but it is not “grid parity”. Other than nitpicking the grid parity issue, this would be a great development. Right now, almost all alternative energy projects in the U.S. are subsidized by the government. Without taxpayer money they would nearly all go broke. This cannot continue indefinitely into the future if we hope to move away from fossil fuels. Grid parity means that people would be just as well off (or better) financially choosing alternative energy. Add in the fact that fossil fuels pollute the air and water and the decision might even become a no-brainer. The article linked above mentions manufacturing efficiencies as one method of bringing the cost down. What is really needed is new breakthroughs in the fundamental design of the solar cells themselves. If efficiencies of 60 or 70% can be reached then we would be talking a pretty quick adoption of solar power. Higher efficiencies would also mean less space would be needed for industrial scale solar power plants. This is another thing that is not talked about too much. For a power company to replace a coal-fired plant with solar panels requires A LOT of land, and land is not cheap. I wonder if land purchases and property taxes are factored into the grid parity calculation. Here is a follow-up on the testing of stirling solar power generationI have covered a couple times in the past. In the article it is stated that for stirling solar to produce as much energy as the Hoover Dam, it would take solar panels covering 11 square miles of land! And that is probably an optimistically small estimate. There is certainly enough land in the U.S. to generate all of our power needs from solar, but a lot of that land has restrictions, is expensive, or protected. Wind energy proponents have already found out how tough it is to install new high voltage powerlines. Again, the key to solar power is ever increasing efficiencies.

Now a follow-up on the mock Mars mission that was held in Russia. If you remember, 105 days ago I reported on the trial where 6 people would be locked in a mock space capsule to simulate a long trip in space. They just finished and by all accounts the test was successful. In reality, a trip to Mars and back would take at least 520 days. That is the next goal of this program – a 520 day simulation. I think I could make it through the 105 days, but 520 would be quite difficult, especially since you know that you are not going anywhere (in the simulation). During a real Mars mission there would be the anticipation of reaching Mars to keep your mind occupied on the way there and then the anticipation of getting back home to earth. In the real situation, the 260 days (there and back) might seem to pass by a bit quicker.

Lastly a follow-up on the SpaceX rocket company. If you remember, I sadly reported each time their privately built rockets failed (3 times), so I should report when they have a success. They just successfully launched their first commercial payload into space. Congratulations SpaceX! Now we need them to start taking tourists and scientists into space – so exploration can really get going. I hope that is not too much to ask.

Have a fine Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Alternative Energy, Records, Space