Posted on 10/06/2017 7:05:08 PM PDT by BenLurkin
It boils down to building a maglev train to outer space. Here's how it works: Magnetically-levitated spacecraft will be propelled inside a curved tube aimed skyward. All air will be evacuated from the tube in order to eliminate drag. Craft will exit the lengthy tube at a speed of 8.8 kilometers per second in order to escape Earth's atmosphere.
...
There are four key hurdles that need to be overcome for StarTram to work. First off, to propel spacecraft to necessary speeds, a massive amount of power will need to be stored and discharged over roughly thirty seconds, think between 50 and 100 gigawatts!
Second, levitating the generation-2 StarTram to the required 14-mile height would be a technical feat unlike any ever attempted. Powell says there are two ways to accomplish it. "The first is to construct the launch tube on the surface, together with its superconducting cables and restraining tethers, and then slowly energize the cable, levitating it over a period of days. The second option is to erect the cable and tether system, and then lift the launch tube into place using additional lifting tethers." He further notes that, "The real trick is not levitating the launch tube, but getting the cost of the superconducting cables down to an acceptable level." Energizing the cables will also require a significant amount of current, around 200 million amperes!
Third, maintaining a vacuum inside the open tube, which is needed for spacecraft to reach high speeds, would require a plasma pump device at the exit point to keep air out. Similar devices exist, but they have never been built for an application such as this.
The final hurdle is one that advocates of world-changing, futuristic projects are well aware of: cost.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Somewhere, RAH is smiling.
That’s a Rube Goldberg device.
Very large rockets are more likely to work and be practical.
You can generate oxygen and hydrogen fuel easily...make the booster re-usable and the whole thing is pretty cheap to operate.
Ronin, seeing as you live in Tokyo, are you worried about Little Kim nuking the place?
“Rube Goldberg”imp,lies senseless complexity.
While ‘startram’ may be a bad idea 9or not) the mechanism is almost as simple as the maglev trains which are in service.
Mutli-tasking fail
The senseless complexity is in the creation and maintenance of such a system.
Large rockets and the creation of their fuel is much easier...and the fuel gives you propulsive power once you are in space.
You can easily make rocket fuel on Mars...all you need is electricity to make it from atmosphere and ice.
Until some genius comes up with a system of electrical propulsion rockets are the way to go.
If you have electrical propulsion then a nuclear reactor powered spacecraft would be feasible...basically a steam engine in space powered by a reactor.
In simple terms, uranium to make the heat to boil water to drive the generator to make the electricity for propulsion.
One day I expect mankind to have fusion powered spacecraft...now that’s a real ship!
I’m sure there are many objections but a moon station with the necessary elements to exploit moon resources seems to be a good long term objective and the things we could learn with a telescope and moon geology program before the completion of the base would be very beneficial.
StartTram is a pipe-dream.
We need to get a good sized iron asteroid into a stable geosych orbit.
Then ii’s really simple - just build a simple elevator to the now stable asteroid. Now out of the worst part of the gravity well, getting to the L5 point to trade over to a Highliner will get where you need to go...
All very simple and explained decades ago — using the technology of the times.
They seem to have forgotten something...
What about surviving acceleration from zero to nearly 9 KM/S in 30 seconds? Just off the top of my head, without really doing any math, isn’t that about 800G?
Mark
escape velocity is 11km/s. You’re not going to save any energy using a vacuum tube,, All you’re doing is mortgaging it.
If we don’t build this, the Chinese will. I guarantee it. And they will do it much faster than anyone would ever believe.
It’s about usable payload, getting mass in space, and doing something with it. Build a nuclear reactor to supply the power, run the tube up the side of a mountain to get as much acceleration as you can before hitting the atmosphere, and start throwing crap up into orbit. Each transport vehicle will be bolted to the space station, pressurized, and available for use.
This is something we should have done decades ago.
The author doesn't even know the difference between power and energy. The whole story is a pipe dream. Pun intended.
Sounds like they read The Millennial Project...
https://www.amazon.com/Millennial-Project-Colonizing-Galaxy-Eight/dp/0316771651
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.