4 ms·
Interesting speculation by Jacques, but I think the combination of rail run and Concorde is a rail gun that fires hypersonic motor-less capsules that glide to d
by shin_lao 14y ago
Interesting speculation by Jacques, but I think the combination of rail run and Concorde is a rail gun that fires hypersonic motor-less capsules that glide to destination.
Smaller landing zones, no air pollution, much less noise...
It's also a good combination of Telsa (rail gun) and SpaceX (rockets can be seen as motorized slugs).
Only limit I see with this system is that I'm not sure anyone could withstand the acceleration.
- netcan 14y agoThat's the only limit? To big guns that fire people?!
- debacle 14y agoThe nice thing about acceleration is that you only need to wait a bit longer to get to the desired velocity.
- Gravityloss 14y agoA sling would be much better for this: it's much smaller than a huge gun and also more flexible since the direction and elevation can be changed by altering the release point and axis. Centripetal acceleration is a = v^2 / r so for 300 m/s (about mach 1) speeds, for 1 gee centripetal acceleration you'd need 9 km radius.
- cpeterso 14y agoMaybe this sling is the "loop" in Hyperloop.
- dylanhassinger 14y agoI think this is it. Wrote about it here: http://dylanized.com/the-hyperloop/ http://dylanized.com/the-hyperloop/
- Gravityloss 14y agoThat makes quite a lot of sense. Air resistance could be a problem though. I guess if it was a loop, air could travel inside the tube but then you run into friction problems - it takes a lot of energy to keep the air running.