Introducing: Sunshade Temperature mitigation using Asteroids and Rings (STAR) system

​Tim Bertch has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering and commanded a nuclear submarine as part of a US Navy career. He worked in defense and energy industries and directed the San Diego wastewater department. Other accomplishments include professional engineer certification, emergency medical technician, author of 10 books, and three patents.

​Tim will summarize a novel concept for SEL1 sunshade using a ‘Saturn on its side’. A central mass (‘Sunshade Base’) is moved from a NEO or lunar surface and maintained at SEL1 while two satellites seed rings of small particles (‘shadelets’) in orbits perpendicular to the Sun-Earth axis out to about 1000 km. Sunshade Base’s active positioning along with its gravitational influence on the orbiting rings maintains shading indefinitely.  The rings are populated over a century, gradually mitigating up to 1◦C of Earth temperature rise.