From: ChuckKuecker (ckuecker@mcs.net)
Date: Sat Apr 18 1998 - 07:16:12 MDT
At 04:48 4/18/98 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 98-04-17 23:27:51 EDT, you write:
>
>It seems this kind of transportation would be best for things that can take
>the g force (im not sure what it would be) to put them in orbit (like special
>cargo, and humans maybe). How would we burst them into orbit each time? It
>would be cool to just have things in underground orbit (like continuous
>orbits), Im sure it would be useful somehow. Would the tube have to be a
>perfect ring and would it also have to be relevant to the spin of the planet?
>
>danny
>
As long as curves are gentle in relation to the speeds involved, they should
not be a problem as long as a maglev style suspension is used. The tube
would need some pretty good bracing to survive the side thrusts for anything
other than a really gentle curve, though. Obviously, rugged freight or bulk
materials could take much sharper curves than passengers!
One thing that would be a concern here is how much energy would be absorbed
by the levitation system. If you compress a levitating magnet using the
Meissner effect, you are adding energy to the system. There has to be a
limit to how much you can add for a given setup. Maybe it's just a matter of
proper design for a safety margin?
Chuck Kuecker
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