Value chain · CLM-0044
In plain terms
Every mention of the figure in the whole collection can be traced back to the same 1978 American report, restated at least nine times over 48 years, and no source arrives at it independently.
The claim as recorded
Every occurrence of the 23 mW/cm2 or 230 W/m2 figure found across the whole corpus traces back to the 1978 NASA and DOE Reference System through an unbroken chain of restatement, with at least nine links: the 1980 DOE and NASA environmental assessment, the 1992 International Space University report, a 2000 NASA document, Mankins in 2001, a 2009 SSP finance report, Cash in 2017 and 2019, Frazer-Nash in 2020, and RAF036/2425 in 2025; no source states the figure on independent grounds.
Scope and limits
A negative finding over the 97 sources held, not over the literature. An independent derivation may exist in a source not in this corpus.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
This is the project's own working, shown in full:
Full-corpus search for "23 mW", "230 W/m" and "mW/cm2" across both ingest directories, 2026-09-02, tracing what each occurrence cites. The 1992 ISU report is explicit, describing "the 23 mW/cm2 limit ... used by the NASA/DOE study".
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-001 not published in this releaseQST-005 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0044
CLM-0044, Energy Aperture, as of 2026-09.