4 ms·

Why are 3 & 4 different more challenging for railguns than other means of propulsion?

• rbanffy 6y ago
  On a railgun you'll have to pass orbital speed by the end of the rail, because, from that point on, you will only lose speed to the atmosphere and you have most of it still above the end of the rail. Rockets, OTOH, go up vertical for most of the atmosphere and then get horizontal in order to get to orbital speed, preferably where there is little or no atmosphere. You'll also need to carry some form of propulsion to circularize your orbit, unless you are aiming for escape velocity, in which case your speed at the end of the rail will have to be much higher. Whatever engine you have will need to survive the acceleration.
  • hinkley 6y ago
    > Rockets, OTOH, go up vertical for most of the atmosphere and then get horizontal in order to get to orbital speed, preferably where there is little or no atmosphere. And yet most launch systems have to throttle down the engines during the transition between the two, because the atmosphere is still just a bit too thick to safely plow through it at full tilt.