Senator Ford. Thank you, Dr. Glaser. Your testimony was very interesting. Having read much of your statement and listened to your presentation, I'd like to get some hackground information. You are really the father of this concept of obtaining solar power from satellites, are you not? Dr. Glaser. Yes, sir; I believe I am. Senator Ford. How long have you really been developing the idea? You mentioned 1968, when you presented it. How long have you been developing this idea? Dr. Glaser. Well, my first assignment when I came to Arthur D. Little, Inc., in 1955 was to develop a solar furnace for high-tempera- ture research. Soon thereafter, I realized that whatever we do on Earth with the sun will be limited, and thus we cannot quite fully utilize all the benefits that solar energy can provide. In 1961, at the United Nations Conference on Solar Energy in Rome, it became clear to me that we cannot use just small-scale devices alone, as important as they may be, whether they be solar stills or solar cookers, which you have heard about, but that we have to take a giant step so that industry can see a challenge and so that we can achieve larger applications on a worldwide basis. This realization was strengthened during the Apollo program when I was privileged to be involved in the numerous science experiments on the Moon, thus allowing me to bridge the gap between solar energy utilization and space science. It was this background, which, in 1964, allowed me to address the National Power Conference on using satellites in space and was the genesis of this concept. Senator Ford. Mr. Glaser, you obtained, I believe, in 1973, a patent cn satellite systems of this kind, is that true? Er. Glaser. Yes, sir. Senator Fofd. Is that patent going to be an obstacle to our developing fclai power frcm satellites if we choose to do so? I certainly am rot implying any criticism here, it's just that the question naturally pops up. Dr. Glaser. I do not for a minute believe it is an obstacle. On the contrary, I believe that industry patents are usually a very important step tcwaid developing new technology. Most of our major corporations that we see today were based in some way on patents—Polaroid, 1EM and so on. I believe that this patent, shared among industry and developed in full support of the Government's objectives, will, on the contrary, be one of the prime motivations for realizing the objectives of this concept. Senator Ford. How often do patents have to be renewed, if we are talking about 1990, the year 2000—are you in a position to protect that patent? Dr. Glaser. Well, I am not a patent lawyer, but I believe that Dr. Land's first patent for his Polaroid camera was issued somewhere in the early 1930's. Senator Ford. Is the technology available now to build a solar power satellite that you described? Dr. Glaser. I believe that all of the components that I described are known in principle. We can demonstrate them in the laboratory—
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