zerodivine

hey everyone, you have raised some interesting points to all of this. friction, mass and what not. but if you were to build a turbine in space the simplest plausible way to turn it would have to be magnetic repulsion. a frame with magnets, rotating over magnets then the generator turning from that. then friction wouldn't be a problem as there was a continued force gently turning it. (especially if you used magnetic bearings) and there wouldn't be any problems with solar sails as there aren't any. as for getting something useful down to earth i would use a 2 part power station. the turbine would produce the electricity and run focused microwaves leading to a water power station that was based somewhere on earth. the focused microwaves would heat the water instead of using coal or nuclear. thats my 5p worth