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richie
Supporting Member
Joined: 9 Jan 2007
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 30,142
Location: Lake Whoop-Dee-Doo, Pennsylvania
25 Jan 2010, 8:36 am
A Cannon for Shooting Supplies Into Space
Quote:
John Hunter wants to shoot stuff into space with a 3,600-foot gun. And he’s dead serious—he’s done the math. Making deliveries to an orbital outpost on a rocket costs $5,000 per pound, but using a space gun would cost just $250 per pound.
Building colossal guns has been Hunter’s pet project since 1992, when, while a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he first fired a 425-foot gun he built to test-launch hypersonic engines. Its methane-driven piston compressed hydrogen gas, which then expanded up the barrel to shoot a projectile. Mechanical firing can fail, however, so when Hunter’s company, Quicklaunch, released its plans last fall, it swapped the piston for a combustor that burns natural gas. Heat the hydrogen in a confined space and it should build up enough pressure to send a half-ton payload into the sky at 13,000 mph.
Hunter wants to operate the gun, the “Quicklauncher,” in the ocean near the equator, where the Earth’s fast rotation will help slingshot objects into space. A floating cannon—dipping 1,600 feet below sea level and steadied by a ballast system—would let operators swivel it for different orbits. Next month, Hunter will test a functional, 10-foot prototype in a water tank. He says a full-size launcher could be ready in seven years, provided the company can round up the $500 million. Despite the upfront cost, Hunter says he has drawn interest from investors because his reusable gun saves so much cash in the long haul. Just don’t ever expect a ride in the thing: The gun produces 5,000 Gs, so it’s only for fuel tanks and ruggedized satellites. “A person shot out of it would probably get compressed to half their size,” Hunter says. “It’d be over real quick.”
Building colossal guns has been Hunter’s pet project since 1992, when, while a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he first fired a 425-foot gun he built to test-launch hypersonic engines. Its methane-driven piston compressed hydrogen gas, which then expanded up the barrel to shoot a projectile. Mechanical firing can fail, however, so when Hunter’s company, Quicklaunch, released its plans last fall, it swapped the piston for a combustor that burns natural gas. Heat the hydrogen in a confined space and it should build up enough pressure to send a half-ton payload into the sky at 13,000 mph.
Hunter wants to operate the gun, the “Quicklauncher,” in the ocean near the equator, where the Earth’s fast rotation will help slingshot objects into space. A floating cannon—dipping 1,600 feet below sea level and steadied by a ballast system—would let operators swivel it for different orbits. Next month, Hunter will test a functional, 10-foot prototype in a water tank. He says a full-size launcher could be ready in seven years, provided the company can round up the $500 million. Despite the upfront cost, Hunter says he has drawn interest from investors because his reusable gun saves so much cash in the long haul. Just don’t ever expect a ride in the thing: The gun produces 5,000 Gs, so it’s only for fuel tanks and ruggedized satellites. “A person shot out of it would probably get compressed to half their size,” Hunter says. “It’d be over real quick.”
If blasting pumpkins into your neighbor's yard is all you aspire to then >click here<
25 Jan 2010, 11:17 am
2 words; g-force...
(I know I know...
There was someone who was trying to do this back in the 60s...wound up making one for Saddam Hussein...
Although it wasn't made to reach space, only Israel...
As long as it's a compressible solid, you might be able to do it. People would be rendered into chunky salsa, though...
DemonAbyss10
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Joined: 23 Aug 2007
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,492
Location: The Poconos, Pennsylvania
25 Jan 2010, 11:32 am
pakled wrote:
2 words; g-force... (I know I know...
There was someone who was trying to do this back in the 60s...wound up making one for Saddam Hussein...
Although it wasn't made to reach space, only Israel...
As long as it's a compressible solid, you might be able to do it. People would be rendered into chunky salsa, though...
(I know I know...There was someone who was trying to do this back in the 60s...wound up making one for Saddam Hussein...
Although it wasn't made to reach space, only Israel...
As long as it's a compressible solid, you might be able to do it. People would be rendered into chunky salsa, though...
yeah I remember hearing about that.
3600 feet... Why am I reminded of chandelier from ACE COMBAT 6.... somehow I think the military may take it over, use it as a weapons delivery system of some sort, if the cannon even gets built.
25 Jan 2010, 6:20 pm
pakled wrote:
2 words; g-force... (I know I know...
There was someone who was trying to do this back in the 60s...wound up making one for Saddam Hussein...
Although it wasn't made to reach space, only Israel...
(I know I know...There was someone who was trying to do this back in the 60s...wound up making one for Saddam Hussein...
Although it wasn't made to reach space, only Israel...
His name was Gerald Bull, a Canadian. He was assassinated by the Mosad somewhere along the line.
ruveyn
