What is the possibility of a railgun assisted orbital launch

Assignment Help Physics

Reference no: EM13986160

Basic facts: The world's deepest mine is 2.4 miles deep. Railguns can acheive a muzzle velocity of a projectile on the order of 7.5 km/s. The Earth's escape velocity is 11.2 km/s.

It seems to me that a railgun style launch device built into a deep shaft such as an abandoned mine could reasonably launch a vehicle into space. I have not run the calculations and I wouldn't doubt that there might be issues with high G's that limit the potential for astronauts on such a vehicle, but even still it seems like it would be cheaper to build such a launch device and place a powerplant nearby to run it than it is to build and fuel single-use rockets.

So, what is the possibility of a railgun assisted orbital launch?

What am I missing here? Why hasn't this concept received more attention?

Reference no: EM13986160

Questions Cloud

Critical analysis of ee cummings : Write a critical analysis of EE Cummings: In Just Spring

Pick one of the fairy tales and discuss some of the changes : Pick one of the fairy tales that are the same in Perrault and Grimm and discuss some of the changes. Why have they changed? For what purpose?

Determine the potential difference across the capacitor : A 13.2 V battery is connected across points A and B in the figure shown below. Find the potential difference across the capacitor C = 2.20 μF.

What are critical access hospitals : The last piece of historical legislation deals with the history of the Community Reinvestment Act.

What is the possibility of a railgun assisted orbital launch : What is the possibility of a railgun assisted orbital launch? What am I missing here? Why hasn't this concept received more attention?

Advantages and disadvantages of the analytics tools : Create a comparison table and 1 - 2 page report that includes the following: Advantages and disadvantages of the analytics tools and Similarities and differences between the analytics tools

What is the balls centripetal acceleration : What is the ball's centripetal acceleration just before it is released? What is the magnitude of the net force that is acting on the ball just before it is released?

Problem regarding the critical thinking-humanities : Find a current event related to a social issue of your choosing (no older than a few months) that was widely covered by the media. Access this link for additional help and click on Module 5 Assignment.

Calculate from what minimum height h it needs to be released : A car in an amusement park travels without friction on a vertical loop of 20 m radius. Calculate from what minimum height h it needs to be released from rest in order to remain on the track at the top of the loop.

User Account

All Pages