4 ms·
Yes, at least compared to Earth; orbital speeds are about half that of Earth, so a mass driver would only need to be a quarter of the length (because length cli
by skykooler 10y ago
Yes, at least compared to Earth; orbital speeds are about half that of Earth, so a mass driver would only need to be a quarter of the length (because length climbs with target speed squared). Additionally, the far thinner atmosphere would allow vehicles to lose far less energy to aerodynamic forces.
- wrsh07 10y agoIt seems like regardless of ultimate outcome, then, musk (or humanity) wins because we are researching tech that will be super useful on Mars.
- walrus01 10y agoYou could also run a mass driver up the side of Olympus Mons, which is a very gentle slope yet is so tall its peak is above 90%+ of the martian atmosphere.