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Maglev launch may enable commercial space travel »

Posted by: Aidenag 2 years, 8 months ago

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The same technology used in magnetically levitated trains may give spaceships a low-cost, stable boost for the future of space travel-possibly even for joy rides. A research group from two universities in Beijing has constructed a maglev test vehicle that works on a model track made of a permanent magnet-high temperature superconductor.

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Aidenag

Photographer by day, news junkie by night. My main areas of interest are politics and the environment.

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invest07
Feb. 21, 2007, 7:42 p.m.
This looks like a rail gun to me. The US Navy has experimented with propelling a shell by a traveling magnetic field. A conventional gun with an exploding powder charge is limited to about 5000 FPS. Rail guns can hit 20-25K FPS so far, with the upper limit unknown at present.
The space launcher would work on a slingshot principle. The space vessel would take off like a jackrabbit instead of lifting off gently and gradually gaining speed. The problem would be isolating passengers and cargo from the intense acceleration. (This would probably generate 20-30 G's or more).
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