EVALUATION OF EYE HAZARDS FROM THE SATELLITE POWER SYSTEM by H. G. Sperling, Ph.D. 1 .0 Summary and Recommendations A worst case analysis of the maximum safe viewing time from earth of elements of the Space Power System has been made. The results for the three worstcase elements based on the three highest illuminance values from the Boeing Co. analysis (14), are as follows: (1) The Orbital Transfer Vehicle misaligned to reflect the sun to earth while in Lower Earth Orbit allows 42.5 seconds of safe fixation time. This could be reduced to as little as .84 seconds if it were tracked by hand held binoculars or a small telescope. (2) The aluminum paint on the back of the Orbital Transfer Vehicle while in or near the Lower Earth Orbit reflects enough sunlight in normal operation to allow 129- seconds of safe viewing time, which would decrease to 2.52 seconds with 7 power magnification. (3) The third highest irradiance on earth is from the Solar Power Satellite in Geosynchronous Orbit, where its orientation is assumed to be misaligned to allow specular reflections from the front surface. Due to the very small solid angle subtended at the earth and the averaging effect on small images of the eye's saccadic movements a nearly infinite safe viewing time was found in this case. Considering the very brief safe gaze time in the worst case especially when viewed with binoculars and in the second case with binoculars, it is recommended
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==