191
(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 17 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Uhhh

Can someone tell me what velocity you need to launch an object at in order to reach orbit? And what accelerative forces you need in order to achieve that?

How big is this railgun? How are they handling heat from atmospheric friction? You have the same problem going up too quickly as you get coming down too quickly.

[-] Judge_Juche@hexbear.net 9 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

NASAs version of this is called StarTram, it's feasible but there are some major technical hurdles.

In the prototype stage, the launch velocity at the end of the gun would not be anywhere near the 10 km/s you would need to achieve orbit. But you could reach a sizable fraction, say 3 km/s. Becuase the velocity gained during rocket flight is not linear with mass, having that 3 km/s inital boost would reduce your overall rocket mass by like 80%. The rocket would clear the atmosphere and then fire its motor to gain a stable orbit.

We can achieve 3 km/s with current technology, it would require like a 100 km long maglev in a very low pressure tube, likely built on the side of a mountain. It could probably reduce space flight costs by a factor of 10 if completed.

Building the proposed goal of a human rated version capable of reaching near 10 km/s at the end point would be much more difficult. The tube would have to span over 1,000 km and I don't believe we have the technology yet to maintain the vacuum or supply enough power quickly enough to power it.

China is likely proposing to build a testbed system to start researching the concept. Probably on a larger scale than NASA has but nowhere near a complete system.

[-] jack@hexbear.net 9 points 5 months ago

It's probably a high speed launch assist, not the entire source of escape velocity.

[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 4 points 5 months ago

That sounds so funny though.

How would you even do that? Build something like a particle accelerator except it's a launching railgun the size of China?

[-] DyingOfDeBordom@hexbear.net 4 points 5 months ago

I mean yeah why not if it means you can partially reach escape velocity with like solar powered electricity vs going the entire way 100% on burning rocket fuel

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Vampire@hexbear.net 15 points 5 months ago
[-] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 15 points 5 months ago
[-] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 3 points 5 months ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] WitchHazel@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 5 months ago

Talk about a superpower

[-] SoyViking@hexbear.net 9 points 5 months ago

Meanwhile in the west, Elon Musk is blowing up launch pads because he fancies himself to be a rocket engineer.

[-] FlakesBongler@hexbear.net 9 points 5 months ago

They're building The Chandelier?

[-] Owl@hexbear.net 9 points 5 months ago

high speed railgun

[-] ThomasMuentzner@hexbear.net 8 points 5 months ago

Elon get fucked ...

[-] Tunnelvision@hexbear.net 5 points 5 months ago
[-] Hexbear2@hexbear.net 4 points 5 months ago

YES YES YES YES YES YES OMG I'M GONNA BLOW!!! :WHALEpseudorca

https://hexbear.net/comment/4678292

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 4 points 5 months ago
[-] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 16 points 5 months ago

It's true, China doesn't have rockets. The Tiangong space station was launched into space purely with the concussive force of Xi Jinping fucking your mom.

load more comments (9 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024
191 points (100.0% liked)

news

23346 readers
719 users here now

Welcome to c/news! Please read the Hexbear Code of Conduct and remember... we're all comrades here.

Rules:

-- PLEASE KEEP POST TITLES INFORMATIVE --

-- Overly editorialized titles, particularly if they link to opinion pieces, may get your post removed. --

-- All posts must include a link to their source. Screenshots are fine IF you include the link in the post body. --

-- If you are citing a twitter post as news please include not just the twitter.com in your links but also nitter.net (or another Nitter instance). There is also a Firefox extension that can redirect Twitter links to a Nitter instance: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/ or archive them as you would any other reactionary source using e.g. https://archive.today . Twitter screenshots still need to be sourced or they will be removed --

-- Mass tagging comm moderators across multiple posts like a broken markov chain bot will result in a comm ban--

-- Repeated consecutive posting of reactionary sources, fake news, misleading / outdated news, false alarms over ghoul deaths, and/or shitposts will result in a comm ban.--

-- Neglecting to use content warnings or NSFW when dealing with disturbing content will be removed until in compliance. Users who are consecutively reported due to failing to use content warnings or NSFW tags when commenting on or posting disturbing content will result in the user being banned. --

-- Using April 1st as an excuse to post fake headlines, like the resurrection of Kissinger while he is still fortunately dead, will result in the poster being thrown in the gamer gulag and be sentenced to play and beat trashy mobile games like 'Raid: Shadow Legends' in order to be rehabilitated back into general society. --

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS