This is one time that the term "World's First" seems to insufficiently capture the intent.
Years ago when I first heard of the idea (beaming energy back to Earth from space) it made me wonder what would happen if such a device were to be hit by a bit of rock or space debris. If even for a split second the beam was knocked out of alignment, would it fry everything in its path? A 1-degree jitter from that distance would cover quite a lot of area on the ground.
Also, what about aero flight paths? Although, I suppose this could be a similar issue to the realization of a space elevator. You'd probably have to implement a no-fly zone to prevent serious damage.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 16.5 ms ] threadYears ago when I first heard of the idea (beaming energy back to Earth from space) it made me wonder what would happen if such a device were to be hit by a bit of rock or space debris. If even for a split second the beam was knocked out of alignment, would it fry everything in its path? A 1-degree jitter from that distance would cover quite a lot of area on the ground.
Also, what about aero flight paths? Although, I suppose this could be a similar issue to the realization of a space elevator. You'd probably have to implement a no-fly zone to prevent serious damage.