[extropy-chat] Re: MARS: Because it is hard

Chris Phoenix cphoenix at CRNano.org
Thu Apr 15 05:06:17 UTC 2004


From: Dan Clemmensen
 > The motor decelerates you from ELLO (Extremely low Lunar Orbit)
 > to zero over a 100Km track. Using regenerative braking, you
 > could launch an outbound capsule on a separate track as you
 > landed an inbound capsule.

You would still need energy storage.  Assuming the track injects a 
constant energy per km, the rate of energy transfer is proportional to 
the speed of the projectile.  The incoming projectile will be going 
fastest while the outgoing projectile is going slowest.

And in a later email:
 > OK, how much energy can we dissipate or recapture using a
 > linear induction motor system, practically speaking. ....
 > about like stopping a .22cal bullet. This seems to be more
 > like engineering than it is like magic.

Josh Hall has suggested and calculated a *terrestrial* linear motor for 
space launch, only 300 km long, accelerating a 10 ton capsule at 10 G's. 
  So you are certainly in the realm of engineering.
http://discuss.foresight.org/~josh/tower/tower.html

Chris

-- 
Chris Phoenix                                  cphoenix at CRNano.org
Director of Research
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology          http://CRNano.org



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