Discovery Project Earth

Orbital Power Plant (1x7)

: 03, 2008

We could have a source of never-ending power and, at the same time, reduce our carbon emissions to virtually zero. This is the astonishing vision of former NASA physicist John Mankins. He has a plan to send thousands of satellites into space, which will gather energy from the sun and then beam the solar energy down to Earth as microwave energy. The microwave energy will be collected by antennas on the ground. These then convert the energy to electricity. Can Mankins make it all work?