Dr. Peter E. Glaser was Vice President for Advanced Technology at Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA, a company that he was associated with from 1955-1994. After his retirement in 1994, he continued to serve as a
consultant to the company for many years.
Dr. Glaser is best known as the inventor of the Solar Power Satellite concept, which he first presented in the journal Science for November 22, 1968 ("Power from the Sun: It's Future"). In 1973 he was granted a U.S. patent on the Solar Power Satellite
to supply power from space for use on the Earth.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Glaser came to the United States in 1948 and earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Columbia University.
Dr. Glaser was project manager for the Apollo 11 Laser Ranging Retroreflecter
Array installed on the lunar surface of July 20, 1969, and two other
arrays installed on subsequent missions — the only science experiments
still in operation on the Moon. He also was responsible for the Lunar
Heat Flow Probes and the Lunar Gravimeter which were operational during
the Apollo program, and the Initial Blood Storage Experiment flown on
the NASA shuttle Columbia (STS-61-C) in January 1986, to explore gravitational
effects on human blood cells.
Dr. Glaser served on several NASA Committees including Task Force on
Space Goals, NASA Advisory Council (1984-1989), and Lunar Enterprise
Case Study (1988-89). He formed the SUNSAT Energy Council in 1978; an
NGO associated with the United Nations Economic and Social Council,
and currently serves as its Chairman. He also chaired the Space Power
Committee of the International Astronautical Federation (1984-89). He
has served on committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the
Office of Technology Assessment of the United States Congress.
Dr. Glaser was President of the International Solar Energy Society (1968-69),
and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Solar Energy (1971-1984).
Dr. Glaser received the Farrington Daniels Award from the International
Solar Energy Society in 1983.
He is a fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science
and the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member
of the International Academy of Astronautics. In 1993 the International
Astronautical Federation established the Peter Glaser Plenary Lecture
to be given at the Annual Congresses. He was inducted into the Space
Technology Hall of Fame of the United States Space Foundation in 1996.
Dr. Glaser has published more than 300 technical papers and books. His personal collection, the Peter E. Glaser Papers, have been donated to the MIT Archives and Special Collections.
