Magic Carpet Ride
Caltech's Orbiting Flying Carpets Scientists from California Institute of Technology and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab are wishing on Aladdin's Lamp for a magic carpet ride. Their solar energy research project involves launching 2500 "magic carpets" tightly side by side into space orbit to absorb the sun's energy. The carpet system would beam the energy back to earth ground-stations to generate electricity. Orbiting Carpets to Light the World The carpets will fly over an area the size of 1,670 football fields or 3.5 square miles. The carpets are only one inch thick. They're designed to precisely beam energy back to earth to targeted locations. Primary targets would be global areas in need of energy, particularly in the third world. It would be the largest space structure ever built. And the targeted beam precision is provided by technology called "phased array" and is currently used in radar systems. The principle is controlling th