CALC-043
Null measurement: funded upgraded-facility experiments after 1981
What this is
This is the project's own arithmetic, published in full so it can be checked rather than taken on trust. It is not a source. Every input it uses is cited to a record, and the conclusion it reaches only carries as far as those inputs do.
Feeds CLM-0076. Answers QST-009. SEARCH-METHOD, not arithmetic. Date of search 2026-09-02.
Why it was needed. NASA stated in 1981 that further experiments at upgraded facilities were needed to settle a parameter with "billions of dollars impact" (CLM-0063). Whether that work happened is the highest-priority loose end in the ionospheric thread, and the answer determines whether the 23 mW/cm2 figure was ever tested or merely inherited.
Corpora searched.
| Index | Searched for |
|---|---|
| OSTI | funded upgraded-facility experiments at Platteville or Arecibo, post-1981 |
| NTRS | same |
Documentary input, distinct from the search.
| Quantity | Value | Source | Stated or assumed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programme design | Fixed three-year programme, 1977-1980 | SRC-409 (DOE/ER-0085) | STATED |
| Programme end | By design, not by cancellation | SRC-409 (DOE/ER-0085) | STATED |
| Further-commitment decision | Explicitly deferred to policymakers | SRC-409 (DOE/ER-0085) | STATED |
| Platteville after 1981 | Appears only as a parameter source, e.g. Weatherall et al. 1982 | literature | STATED |
Result: no record found of any funded upgraded-facility experiment at either site after 1981.
Conclusion. The question was not rejected on its merits. The programme it belonged to ended on schedule, the decision was passed upward, and no institution inherited the work.
Where this fails, and the distinction matters. This is an absence, not a recorded decision to
stop. No document was found stating the experiments were cancelled or declined. The record
establishes that no evidence of the work was found, not that a decision was taken against it.
The claim carries VER-942 NOT-CHECKABLE, which is the correct verdict for a null of this shape.
Cite this
energyaperture.com/calc/calc-043
CALC-043. The working above, not a source document.