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

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Apr 15, 2004 at 01:06:17AM -0400, Chris Phoenix wrote:

> You would still need energy storage.  Assuming the track injects a 

Lunar launches are basically all processed material and probes, and hence all
outgoing. There's no need for energy storage: at 1.4 kW/m^2 insolation during
lunar day energy is abundant.

> 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. 

10 t is a lot. The forces on the solenoids will be high. It makes more sense
to scale down the packet size (10-100 kg) and go into a rapid-fire
semicontinuous launch mode.

>  So you are certainly in the realm of engineering.
> http://discuss.foresight.org/~josh/tower/tower.html

Things are easier on Luna. Curvature is higher, though, so longer rails will
take higher ramps.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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