Mass driver for commodity supplies

Hi Chris,

I think there are studies going on right now. But
testing can be fairly easily done in a vacuum
centrifuge. Most of the item you mention below could
probably make the high "Gee" trip, except that the
plastic film you speak of may receive a permanent
crease in it. Softer items, like plastics, circuit
boards, mechanisms, and so forth can be "hardened", by
encasing them in water then freezing to very cold
temperatures. Or in a similar but less corrosive agent
than water.
...
Another idea that would allow the electromagnetic
launch system (EMLS) to be used for a much more
general use, would be to build the tube so that it
floats in the deep equatorial ocean. That way the
launch tube could be aimed to insert the spacecraft
into any inclination and at any elevation angle. Thus
by adjusting the launch speed, any altitude (apogee).
By building in a small apogee "kick" motor, virtually
any orbit, or beyond, would be attainable.
...
I have a number of other thoughts on the subject. For
example, you mentioned re-supply of the ISS. Well,
Mike Griffin also said that if industry would build
him a "Space Gas Station" he would buy all his
in-orbit fuel from them. So the wasted packing
material, Water Ice, could be converted into LOX & LH2
and sold for a handsome profit. But the biggest use
for this launcher, because of it's low cost to orbit,
would be Space Power Satellites (SPS). I have done
some back of the envelope calculations and find that
when the cost of electricity reaches $0.25 per KW-Hr,
SPSs would be profitable with this low-cost EMLS.
...
By low-cost EMLS, I mean somewhere in the ballpark of
$2B. Right now I am optimize the EMLS for several
parameters: Initial non-recurring total cost, Final
operational cost per kilogram to LEO, Payload mass and
total spacecraft mass (including heat shielding,
autonomous navigation, and apogee kick motor & fuel).
...
Any other ideas?

Dave Handwwerk

--- Chris Smyth wrote: