US Military Developing Gigantic Magnetic 21,600mph Slingshot

Thank goodness there are less aggressive places in the world to live.

thank goodness people like you live somewhere else

Egad, they had trouble with the SR-71 nearly melting at 2,000 mph let alone 21,000 mph. Just imagine the sonic boom from the darn thing, there wouldn't be an intact window left in the country.

As any shooter/handloader will know, the initial velocity will begin to decay as soon as the projectile leaves the launch mechanism. Thus the launch velocity will need to be considerably in excess of orbit injection velocity.

The tone of this post seems to imply that it's somehow a misuse of our money to develop new military equipment. I would submit that military spending is one of the only legitimate uses for federal tax dollars allowed by the constitution. Personally, I would prefer that our federal government stick more to our national defense and leave social programs in the hands of more localized leadership.

On the other hand, this whole concept seems a bit far-fetched. I am not familiar with the finer points of maglev technology, but on the surface I'd say that this looks like it's many years from being perfected. Better keep it on the "Sci-Fi Channel" for now.

think that I agree with you water buffalo. With a twist to that thought, instead of building "destruction" with the money what if the US military heck all military was more focused on building. What if the infantry only existed to protect the Corp of Engineers, which would be much larger, as the Corp built prosperity. If the energy and money that went into developing destructive capabilities were spent on "social" and trade infrastructure the money would then be well spent, and the world would see the US in a better light.

p.s. I am a US Soldier.

Now there's one for you! The world exists on a pre defined notion that "bigger is better". It would appear that the above weapon is a huge structure permanently fixed, thus making it vulnerable to retaliation via air or missile strike. I agree on principal that such weapons are a tragic waste of finance. How better would the money be spent on job creation projects or as you say social and trade infrastructure. It is unfortunate that one of the underlying evils of human nature is this sick idea that if you have something that someone else wants, they are going to take it away from you, NO MATTER the cost! How primitive! So, unfortunately, based on this premis, soldiers and weapons of war and desturction will be a sad necessity for as long as two people remain alive on this planet!

p.s. After my experiances in the Angolan bush war, I adopted this slogan. "The whole world is mad except me and thee and sometimes I'm not to sure about thee either!!!"

I agree with the "mad" thought. I'll even go so far as to add "and sometimes I'm not to sure about thee or me either!!!"

Thanks for the thought.

Next time someone tries to shoot your tail off, keep that thought in mind! In my studies of war and warfare I have developed a health respect for the US fighting forces, from world war 2 through Viet Nam and into the current conflict.

After all "..ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die. Into the Valley of Death rode the brave 600.." Charge of the Light Brigade Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Take care and best regards.

...this whole concept seems a bit far-fetched. I am not familiar with the finer points of maglev technology, but on the surface I'd say that this looks like it's many years from being perfected. Better keep it on the "Sci-Fi Channel" for now.

I must be missing something: the linear magnetic launcher described by Dr. Gerard K. O'Neil more than 25 years ago (in The High Frontier) eliminates several structural and control problems that this ring-shaped device would inherently include. Dr. O'Neil invented the colliding beam storage ring, so he certainly understood the difference! His proposed location (western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, so that up-slope is eastward and therefore adds rotation of earth effects to launch speed) also eliminates some of the structural considerations - just imagine what the side loads are on the last few towers when the object needs to be pushed sideways to conform to the helical path! Further, the article refers to 10,000g acceleration; that implies that the orbital velocity would be reached in roughly 1/10th of a second, if I did the math right. This vastly increases the demands upon whatever dynamic control system is used to guide the projectile through the device. I do not see a purpose for such extreme acceleration rates, nor for the general form (circular-changing-to-helical) shown. O'Neil's linear accerator system has been prototyped and proven, and was built using off-the-shelf components years ago. Search "magnetic rail gun" for some background on the principles involved.

I had the opportunity to work on a similar rail gun project during the early "star wars" days. Our paltry part of the project was to demonstrate that the sodium potassium liquid metal alloy circulated a significant velocity through the ring could be removed and disposed of safely and the equipment decontaminated. It was an explosive experience.

Ah, the joys of NaK!

NaK...........wonderfull stuff. Imagine working in LOP B avoiding the potential for any drop of perspiration to impact your work. Boom

This technology of shooting an object or missile by linear motor was first demonstated in the latter half of the 1900 century by a frenchman who's name eludes me at the moment, but he demonstrated it to the military chiefs in Paris. They were not impressed because at the time it was difficult to obtain the huge amounts of currant needed. The missile atained a distance of 243m but the project was abandoned. In recent times, about the late 1970s or early 1980s I recall a project in the USA of attempting to put payloads into space by this method. I seem to recall that it had something to do with super high amperage, and the project was carried out in one of the western desserts. The way it worked was; as the projectile pased a magnetic coil the next coild would have an increased amperage, thus inducing an increase in velocity. I have tried this method myself and it works. Scopolie ( Scapolite)

good theoretical engineering, however quite impractical because the projectile would expolde on leaving the containing envelope just as a space vehicle begins to burn up on re-entry..