• SUNSHILD

Astronomer and professor Roger Angel thinks he can diffract the power of the sun by
placing trillions of 2-foot lenses in space. He wants to create a 100,000-square-mile
sunshade using electromagnetic propulsion to get the lenses into space.

Angel has produced a diffraction pattern that will be etched onto each lens. The pattern
will cause the sun's rays to change direction, lessening the amount of harmful rays
hitting the Earth's atmosphere.

Test 1: Visual Light Refraction

Show light refraction ability of etchings using larger lenses, lights, smoke and lasers.

Test 2: Drop Tests

Drop a cradle holding lenses from a tall building to see whether the lenses survive.

Test 3: MEMs Demo

Demonstrate MEMs technology at NASA's microdevices laboratory.

Test 4: Centrifuge
Experiment in a centrifuge to see whether the lenses will withstand high g-forces.

Test 5: Coil Gun

Launch lenses from a coil gun, a form of magnetic propulsion, to test the viability of
using this method to put the lenses into space.

Test 6: Rocket Test

The team will launch a 43-foot-high rocket to an altitude of around 11,000 feet. The
payload will be released from the escape tower and the cradle will return as a lander
vehicle on a parachute. The lander will contain a cradle that will hold the lenses. The aim
is to keep the lenses intact.

Experiment Assumptions

* Why not use mirrors instead of lenses? In theory, a mirror would do exactly the same
job as the lenses. However, sunlight (solar radiation) exerts a small force, and as a mirror
blocks/reflects light back, the mirrors will be pushed out of position. A lens (i.e.,
something that will alter the light but allow it to pass through) is more suitable as the
sun's energy will not push them out of position.

* As light passes through the lens, a special microscopic pattern made of up of thousands
of holes would diffract light waves away from dead center. The plan would be for the
lenses to be placed directly between the sun and Earth, causing the lenses to diffract the
sunlight away from Earth.

* The lenses should be placed at a position known as a Lagrangian or L1-point, 1 million

miles away from Earth. An L-point is a position in space where there is no gravitational
influence from any planetary or solar bodies — in this case the sun and Earth — so an
object will not be drawn toward either through the effect of gravity. In other words, it
will stay in position.

* This means that the lenses — as well as not being pushed by solar radiation — can
"hang" in space for many years without being driven out of their important climate-
saving position.

* The lenses will require coordination to get into position, and to make sure they don't
overlap or bunch up together. Three tiny devices called MEMS (micro-electro
mechanical systems) attached to the circumference of each lens using solar power will
"drive" each unit. Additional spacecraft will offer GPS coordination to allow the lenses
to adjust their position.

* Once delivered into space, the lenses will form a "cloud" 62,000 miles long and a
height roughly equal to Earth's (8,000 miles). Sixteen trillion lenses with a diameter of
around 2 feet each will be required. The cloud will cover a million square miles.

* The lens cloud will only be partially covered by the lenses — only 1.8 percent.
Therefore, 98.2 percent of sunlight will pass through the cloud unhindered, while 1.8
percent will be diffracted. This is the predicted amount needed to mitigate climate
change.

* In order to keep costs down, the lenses will need to be as light as possible. They will
therefore have to weigh around .04 ounces (1 gram).

* Space is a tough environment; the lenses need to be able to survive the 24/7 heat of the
sunlight without changing its properties (becoming opaque) or breaking. The material
needs to be light, inorganic and crystalline in structure so it will be tough enough for the
task.

* The most easily sourced material that has these properties is silicon nitride, which can
be manufactured as part of the process in the silicon wafer industries (i.e., microchips and
transistors).

* The lenses (or membranes, as they are called) are manufactured by placing a photo-
resistant mask on top of a very thin layer of silicon substrate. Roger Angel's pattern is
illuminated onto this mask, and then the pattern etched onto the lenses by means of an
acidic solution. Timing is crucial — if the lenses are left too long in the alkaline solution
they will be destroyed; not long enough, and the optical properties will be wrong.
* So far, the only way humans have escaped Earth's atmosphere is by using rockets and
fossil fuels. The approximate cost of getting any payload to a position like the L1 point is
currently $20,000 per kilogram (2.2 pounds). This would make the space sunshade
economically unfeasible. Angel thinks a coil gun is the answer.