Laser projector? How can you project a raster image using a inherently vector system?
I don't get it. How does it know how big the pixels should be?
(Or maybe it's obvious and I just need a beating with the clue stick here)
The light from the three RGB lasers is scanned in rows just like the electron beam in a CRT. To sweep the angle, a tiny mirror flexes very fast. The technical challenge for these projectors has been switching the mirror fast enough and getting decent performance from miniature red green and blue lasers. I think the blue one was the tough nut to crack.
Which is incredibly wasteful. As I mentioned previously, it's like using a semi with the trailer unhitched to drive to the store. You can do it, but you might as well be burning money.
Except that the J120 is only used for Orion-only missions. ie. to the ISS. And there will be so few of those missions, that the savings you make on development and infrastructure for Ares 1 actually make the J120 the cheaper option. The DIRECT architecture is all about the J232. And 2 of those are cheaper than an Ares1 and an Ares5.
"If I do not want others to quote me, I do not speak." -- Phil Wayne