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This Company Built a Gigantic Centrifuge to Fling Rockets Into Space
Popular Mechanics ^
| 01/30/2020
| Courtney Linder
Posted on 01/30/2020 6:09:21 PM PST by aimhigh
(snip) a cryptic startup called SpinLaunch starts suborbital test flights of a rocket that is launched using an enormous centrifuge.
Here's the gist: A centrifuge the size of a football field will spin a rocket around in circles for about an hour until its speed eventually exceeds 5,000 miles per hour. At that point, the rocket and its payload will feel forces 10,000 times stronger than gravity. When the centrifuge finally releases the rocket at launch speed, it should, practically speaking, fly through the stratosphere until it fires its engines at the periphery of our atmosphere. (snip)
SpinLaunch hopes its new system will replace rocket boosters, which currently augment a rocket's own thrust power to escape the gravitational pull of Earth, and happen to be one of the most expensive components of a rocket launch. Even reusable boosters, like the ones powering the SpaceX Falcon 9, still require costly fuel and ongoing maintenance.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: courtneylinder; elonmusk; falcon9; falconheavy; popularmechanics; rocket; slingshot; space; spacex; spinlaunch
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1
posted on
01/30/2020 6:09:21 PM PST
by
aimhigh
To: aimhigh
But it would tear the rocket apart. Might work on the moon though.
2
posted on
01/30/2020 6:12:09 PM PST
by
Brilliant
To: aimhigh
I like the rubber band idea. Really big rubber bands. Pew!
3
posted on
01/30/2020 6:12:17 PM PST
by
Libloather
(Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
To: aimhigh
As long as your payload is a steel ball it might work, but 10 kilo G force would crush a golf ball.
4
posted on
01/30/2020 6:13:13 PM PST
by
American in Israel
(A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
To: aimhigh
The ultimate hammer throw.
5
posted on
01/30/2020 6:14:12 PM PST
by
Army Air Corps
(Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
To: aimhigh
I’d prefer a trebuchet myself.
6
posted on
01/30/2020 6:14:44 PM PST
by
E. Pluribus Unum
(Democrats only believe in democracy when they win the election.)
To: aimhigh
Wasn’t the video game mass effect based off something similar to this?
7
posted on
01/30/2020 6:14:56 PM PST
by
SWAMP-C1PHER
(HOMO, OECONOMIA, ET CIVITAS.)
To: aimhigh
Someone better invent “inertial dampeners” first.
8
posted on
01/30/2020 6:15:37 PM PST
by
calenel
(The Democratic Party is a Criminal Enterprise. It is the Progressive Mafia.)
To: Brilliant
Its former name was Acme. Primary client was one Wile E. Coyote.
To: aimhigh
10
posted on
01/30/2020 6:17:38 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
To: aimhigh
I saw something like this in a Road Runner cartoon once.
11
posted on
01/30/2020 6:19:28 PM PST
by
llevrok
(I'm a Boomer rube, deplorable and proud!)
To: BenLurkin
12
posted on
01/30/2020 6:19:40 PM PST
by
Rennes Templar
(Heaven has a wall and gates. Hell has open borders.)
To: aimhigh
I’d like to see it tested on democrats (or at least house managers) to see if it works...
To: aimhigh
The training for the crew will be tough.
14
posted on
01/30/2020 6:20:04 PM PST
by
ryderann
To: aimhigh
LOL. What is that, 200-300 Gs? Yeah, that’s the ticket....
15
posted on
01/30/2020 6:21:12 PM PST
by
Bryan24
(When in doubt, move to the right..........)
To: ryderann
16
posted on
01/30/2020 6:22:03 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
To: aimhigh
Can satellite electronics handle that kind of pressure?
Better keep birds out of the spin zone.
17
posted on
01/30/2020 6:22:03 PM PST
by
TChad
(The MSM, having nuked its own credibility, is now bombing the rubble.)
To: aimhigh
Some offended Martian may find a way to throw those rocks right back at us. “Did you drop something on Jupiter?”
To: aimhigh
Instead of SpinLaunch
They should have named it FoolandHisMoney.
19
posted on
01/30/2020 6:26:06 PM PST
by
11Bush
To: TChad
Wondering how a rocket will go through an oval at extremely high speed. Does the rocket bend?
20
posted on
01/30/2020 6:26:27 PM PST
by
EQAndyBuzz
(Operation Chaos is in play. Repeat, Operation Chaos is in play)
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