Bello
The experiment also proves that the setup, which launched on January 3, is capable of surviving the trip to space, along with the harsh environment of space itself.
“To the best of our knowledge, no one has ever demonstrated wireless energy transfer in space even with expensive rigid structures.
In its press release, the team added that the transmission setup was designed to minimize the amount of fuel needed to send them to space, and that the design also needed to be flexible enough so that the transmitters could be folded up onto a rocket.
Spacebased solar power has long been something of a holy grail in the scientific community.
This is a first,” said Ali Hajimiri, professor of electrical engineering and medical engineering and codirector of Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project (SSPP), in a press release published on Thursday.
The experiment known in full as Microwave Array for Powertransfer Loworbit Experiment (or MAPLE for short) is one of three research projects being carried out aboard the SSPD1.
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