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Hybrid High Speed Linear Cannon
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Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:40 am
Posts: 476 Location: California and Michigan ![]() |
Idea 1
Using GIANT supercapacitors launch massive rotating heat shield with a scramjet fed via centrifugally pumped liquid fuel. Using Another set of supercapacitors launch wake rider space rocket. Stage 1 is electromagnetic, stage 2 is high altitude scram, while stage 3 is liquid 02 and Liquid fuel out to space. When rotating disk runs out of fuel exploding bolts separate the disk into 3 or more parts That parachute down to earth. Wake rider continues through draft until past high need for heat shielding due to low altitude atmospheres high density. _________________ Let not the bindings of society hold you back from improving it.... the masses follow where the bold explore. |
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Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:15 pm
Posts: 1050 Location: Columbus, GA USA ![]() |
Still uses tremendous amounts of energy and a massive infrastructure to accomplish what is already done with more practical means.
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Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:40 am
Posts: 476 Location: California and Michigan ![]() |
The idea is to launch much larger payloads more often for cheaper. A very large heat shield is only needed for the first leg of the trip so ditching it on your way out makes sense. The shields could be reused and electric energy is much cheaper then solid rocket fuel and perchlorate can be toxic. I have been looking at algea based propellants, the idea though is to use ground based infrastructure rather then hauling it up with you. A expensive large airport to space. If the international community all worked together on one method a fair amount of resources could be saved.
_________________ Let not the bindings of society hold you back from improving it.... the masses follow where the bold explore. |
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Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:15 pm
Posts: 1050 Location: Columbus, GA USA ![]() |
I suppose if you had an application that favored for it, such as you were building a large LEO station or the materials for a space elevator. But it will be cheaper/more efficient to go get and fabricate them from else where (the Moon, NEOs, etc) than shoot everything up Earth's gravity well.
The problem with any "gun" is that the physics doesn't favor it. You have maxQ and maxV at the worst possible place, just beyond the muzzle where density is greatest. It takes a lot of energy to overcome that. Much more than it costs to build and fuel expendable rockets. To be able to launch humans, or anything more delicate than a bullet, requires hundreds of KMs of acceleration track. And you still wind up having to have onboard propulsion anyway. |
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Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:40 am
Posts: 476 Location: California and Michigan ![]() |
What about a laser bloom cannon on the ship that explodes the air out of the ships path! No engine needed.
_________________ Let not the bindings of society hold you back from improving it.... the masses follow where the bold explore. |
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Moon Mission Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:15 pm
Posts: 1050 Location: Columbus, GA USA ![]() |
If you have that much energy...
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Space Station Commander ![]() ![]()
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:44 am
Posts: 707 Location: Haarlem, The Netherlands ![]() |
It's a StarTram! I wonder if that magnetic field would affect anything in the surroundings though...
_________________ Say, can you feel the thunder in the air? Just like the moment ’fore it hits – then it’s everywhere What is this spell we’re under, do you care? The might to rise above it is now within your sphere Machinae Supremacy – Sid Icarus |
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Space Station Commander ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 9:47 pm
Posts: 827 Location: Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) - capital of Israel! ![]() |
Sigma wrote: If the international community all worked together on one method a fair amount of resources could be saved. LOL Competition, not collectivism, creates low prices. _________________ “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Anonymous |
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Space Station Commander ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 9:47 pm
Posts: 827 Location: Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) - capital of Israel! ![]() |
A railgun could do it.
_________________ “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Anonymous |
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Space Walker ![]() ![]()
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:19 pm
Posts: 189 Location: Outside Wonko the Sane's house. ![]() |
It sounds like you're throwing a bunch of stuff together, because it sounds cool. This is not engineering, which requires a practical reason for doing something. If you put the engine under the tank, a liquid fuel will gravity feed initially, then be forced back by it's own inertia once the tank gets accellerating. That's beyond just pressurizing the tank, so it holds more.
Centripedal rotation forces the fuel outward, to engineS at the circumference. That's plural, because out at the edge, they have to be fired together for balance, else the craft flies in circles. This might be handy to spin up a station, for simulating gravity, and give a fuel station free feed by to the ships it's serving. They could also debark quickly, to effect faster turnover in a busy orbital logistics system. This is all boring practical engineering stuff, though. Not as cool as combining a railgun (You seem to like Railguns), flying saucer, and some long impressive sounding words into a mismash of randomy conflicting combinations until a design that might work falls out. You should write science fiction, the tolerances for accuracy are a lot softer, and fantastical bullshit still sells. _________________ "You can't have everything, where would you put it?" -Steven Wright. |
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Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:40 am
Posts: 476 Location: California and Michigan ![]() |
The idea is to have as much launch weight remain on earth as possibe. By launching at speed one could start with scram jets rather then liquid O2 etc. if a strong enough heat shield or another means could be developed. Lately I have been considering a heat shield that acts as a plasma source for a coil behind it to expand the plasma so it does not contact the ship. It also appears you could accelerate the plasma out and behind you in a cone. So your heat shield could propel you. This would be powered by a very dense power source or a ground based beam.
_________________ Let not the bindings of society hold you back from improving it.... the masses follow where the bold explore. |
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Space Station Member ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:40 am
Posts: 476 Location: California and Michigan ![]() |
Also everyone working together via comunication planning etc. Is better then everyone working without collaboration.,!
_________________ Let not the bindings of society hold you back from improving it.... the masses follow where the bold explore. |
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Space Station Commander ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 9:47 pm
Posts: 827 Location: Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) - capital of Israel! ![]() |
Sigma wrote: Also everyone working together via comunication planning etc. Is better then everyone working without collaboration.,! It might seem that way, but actually, just the opposite is true. People think differently, and getting people to collaborate will mean forcing some people to do things in ways they don't want to. They will then just stop working, or not work as hard. Also, if people are working separately, the people with the good ideas will succeed and the people with bad ideas won't. This means that the good ideas will get more money and the bad ideas will be discarded. But I'll agree to your idea if you'll let me do the planning and make everyone else do the work. _________________ “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Anonymous |
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Space Walker ![]() ![]()
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:19 pm
Posts: 189 Location: Outside Wonko the Sane's house. ![]() |
Ok, I see why you like Railguns for launchers, but there's some technical problems with the concept which have to be addressed. First of all, such an instalation is massive, miles long, so it can't be aimed. Because of that, you're limiting how many orbits you can shoot to, and certain things like Sattelite Interdiction, and docking would require timing, as well as waiting for a launch window to be possible. If the weather is bad, that could mean postponing by several days, in addition to other launch preperations.
Also, there's the problem of all the air in the way. This causes a lot of energy loss, so you actually have to leave the muzzle faster than the space shutlle hit the atmosphere on re-entry (or about 25 miles per seccond.) Even with a laser to expand air in front of it, you won't get a vaccuum, which would be ideal. That's why such launchers are usually proposed on the moon, where this isn't a problem. That barrier is why this platform wouldn't work for crewed vehicles. With a long enough gun, you can accellerate slowly enough, but once you hit the air at uberhypersonic speeds, anyone inside is probably going to be a nasty coating on one of the walls. (Barring Star-Treknology, like Inertial Dampers.) _________________ "You can't have everything, where would you put it?" -Steven Wright. |
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Space Station Commander ![]() ![]()
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 9:47 pm
Posts: 827 Location: Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) - capital of Israel! ![]() |
Well, a practical railgun space launch system would use the railgun as a first stage. The rest would be a regular rocket. At least that's the way I imagine it. Although only for cargo, not human beings.
_________________ “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Anonymous |
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