Gigantic Air Gun To Blast Cargo Into Orbit 384
Hugh Pickens writes: "The New Scientist reports that with a hat tip to Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon , physicist John Hunter has outlined the design of a gigantic gun that could slash the cost of putting cargo into orbit. At the Space Investment Summit in Boston last week, Hunter described the design for a 1.1-kilometer-long gun that he says could launch 450-kilogram payloads at 6 kilometers per second. A small rocket engine would then boost the projectile into low-Earth orbit. The gun would cost $500 million to build, says Hunter, but individual launch costs would be lower than current methods. 'We think it's at least a factor of 10 cheaper than anything else,' Hunter says. The gun is based on the SHARP (Super High Altitude Research Project) light gas gun Hunter helped to build in the 1990s while at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California. With a barrel 47 meters long, it used compressed hydrogen gas to fire projectiles weighing a few kilograms at speeds of up to 3 kilometers per second."
Pumpkins (Score:5, Funny)
Starting to get afordable (Score:3, Funny)
At 450 kilos you can launch three people with breathing gear and parachutes. Think of it as the "Econo" version of space tourism.
Is that a gigantic air gun ... (Score:5, Funny)
Is that a gigantic air gun with a 1km barrel in your classified launch facility, or are you just happy to see me?
This will also be used at sporting events (Score:2, Funny)
To shoot t-shirts into the crowd. Casualties are expected.
Re:Starting to get afordable (Score:3, Funny)
Don't forget the big floppy shoes, polka dot cover-alls, and big red rubber noses.
Re:NOT a Railgun (Score:4, Funny)
With enough duct tape over any likely orifices, I don't see why not. I still don't think they would survive launch though.
Re:Gerald Bull (Score:1, Funny)
Did he shoot his eye out?
Re:Starting to get afordable (Score:5, Funny)
Only if you want them to arrive on orbit as people paste. The G-forces in a cannon launch would be very high.
I'll make a list...
Re:Pumpkins (Score:5, Funny)
Into orbit. RTFH before posting. ;)
Re:A helping hand? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Your official guide to the Jigaboo presidency (Score:4, Funny)
Ah I love the smell of terrified redneck racist in the morning it smells like victory!
Still I pity your need to overcompensate for your inadequacies.
Re:Pumpkins (Score:5, Funny)
http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Huge_Cannon_Fires_Pumpkins_at_600_MPH_VIDEO [digg.com]
It hit the top of digg yesterday
Re:Starting to get afordable (Score:4, Funny)
he's making a list
and checking it twice
he's gonna find out
who's been naughty or nice
Gerald Bull is coming to town...
Re:I See. Yet Another Cockamamie Scheme... (Score:4, Funny)
"It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."
Yes that sounds similar!
We need to master the lattice and soon we will be able to jump really high, move shit with our minds, and battle each other with laser swords.
Re:Pumpkins (Score:5, Funny)
All that matters (Score:5, Funny)
As a tax-payer, I refuse to fund it unless it makes a cool "FffffummmppPPP" sound.
Re:Put one on the ISS (Score:4, Funny)
You using that euphemism for shit or corpses? Because if it's corpses sign me up.
Re:Put one on the ISS (Score:5, Funny)
Since it would be used only for eco-friendly recycling, it could not possibly be considered a weapon of any sort.
I'm sure this is what medieval siege engineers shouted at the unhappy garrisons of besieged castles they were bombarding with decaying horse corpses: "That's no weapon, we're just recycling!"