Supporters of space-based solar power target Obama administration

Supporters of a plan to put giant solar power arrays in space are trying to convince the incoming Obama administration that it may be able to solve the country's energy needs.

Last month, a proposal called Space Solar Power (SSP) - A Solution for Energy Independence & Climate Change was placed in the Open Government section of the transition team's change.gov Web site. It urged "the next President of the United States to include SSP [Space Solar Power] as a new start in a balanced federal strategy for energy independence and environmental stewardship, and to assign lead responsibility to a U.S. federal agency." 

A more common acronym for the technology is SBSP, for Space-Based Solar Power.

Terrestrially-based solar panels can only produce power during daylight hours, and even on clear days are blocked by hundreds of miles of atmosphere. Orbiting panels have no weather problems and would seldom if ever be blocked by the sun. Once aloft, they would beam down their power in the form of x-rays. An advocacy video posted to YouTube explains how the plan would work:

Physical sciences reporter David Shiga, blogging at NewScientist, thinks there's a good chance the president-elect can be swayed. "One thing that surely helps [the SBSP supporters'] cause is that one of Obama's transition team members for NASA is [former National Space Society Executive Director] George Whitesides, who...helped push for SBSP research."

On the other hand, NASA employee Mack Henderson, blogging at NASA Watch, informed his readers that the space agency has ordered the termination of all SBSP work. "I don't think this came from Obama," one reader commented.

Image: National Security Space Office