Dan Piponi @dpiponi@mathstodon.xyz
Public

I thought I'd read AC Clarke's original article on communication satellites from Wireless World in 1945

worldradiohistory.com/UK/Wirel

Many interesting details like the fact that German engineers had suggested that orbiting communication satellites might feasible in "50-100" years.

Anyway, a nice reminder that the article was published in 1945 is:

"In space beyond the atmosphere, a square metre normal to the solar radia tion intercepts 1.35 kW of energy. Solar engines have already been devised for terrestrial use and are an economic proposition in tropical countries. They employ mirrors to concentrate sunlight on the boiler of a low-pressure steam engine. Although this arrangement is not very efficient it could be made much more so in space."

Of course solar concentrators are used today, but I don't think any satellite is steam powered :)

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