pstarr wrote:I've occasionally heard engineers described as blah blah blah etc. Some personality type? KJ fits the bill.
KJ you denigrate scientists as fuzzy-heads etc, whereas (implication being) you, an Engineer (capital B) are a down-to-earth, practical, feet-firmly-planted-on-the-ground, crew-cutted, get-things-done kind-of Space-Cowboy dude.
But Dude . . . 'serious proposals' are often political proposals. "orbital powerplants that beam energy to Earth on microwave beams". (Seriously? Americans are afraid of microwave ovens.) Political proposals are tossed out as diversions, bait, false-flags. You apparently have too much faith in the bureaucracy.
Did you note my mention of Japanese pilot microwave power broadcasts? There is a new island under construction in Tokyo Bay, complete with a ring of surrounding microwave detectors to cut the beam if it goes off target. (But next time Godzilla shows up, he's a cooked lizard.)
Do you think Americans might become interested after the Japanese demonstrate commercial success?
Now I'm NOT aware of anybody who has moved to implementation phase on the He-3/Deuterium fusion scheme, because there is no planned Earth-Moon transportation system. But if Elon Musk succeeds with his proposed Mars colony, we have the technology we need.
NASA itself is seeking funding for the orbital mirrors to illuminate Earth's darkside. There is still basic R&D on the construction of such mirrors in Earth orbit. The ESA also has such a program.