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As noted extensively, the 2 "future" launch methods are either:
a) attaching a balloon to the Shuttle and lighting the rockets from altitude, or
b) building a railgun on a high mountain and "shoot" the Shuttle to give it a good starting boost without using onboard fuel.
Why not combine the two
? Picture (a very large number of) balloons/dirigibles attached to a long rail
On the ground, hang the Shuttle onto the sled which rolls on the bottom of the rail. Balloon up to altitude, enjoying the view. Energize the railgun and launch the shuttle into the rarified atmosphere at 35 miles up(current balloon record), giving it a big kick in the pants from the railgun. Bring the launch mechanism back to earth.
Similar
LONG_20Gauss_20gun
I miss [Cosh i pi] [4whom, Feb 25 2008]
[link]
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The big problem would be getting the power to the railgun. It would be a big extension cord. |
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Why all the helium friends. We have high altitude ramjet planes now that could easily tow a device into the upper atmosphere. If we are keeping things small why not start there. I know that it seems like a blimp would be cheap but I don't think there is any gain in economy for the project. |
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//If we are keeping things small// |
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Railguns for that sort of thing are on the order of kilmetres long to get the payload up to a hefty speed... lots of dirigibles required, but I think easier to float it up than to fly it up. |
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I think railguns must be straight. That
might be hard to ensure if the rails were
suspended from balloons instead of
fixed to the ground. |
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How much higher than the tallest mountain are we talking about here? |
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Let's just imagine, for the sake of mighty Occam that we just add another stage of solid fuel rockets to achieve the same altitude. Have we proven that this would be more expensive than a huge blimp? We don't get to recover our giant blimp if it survives (or do we?) and helium is really expensive last I checked. |
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No one has suggested winching a satellite up using a rope tethered to the moon. |
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Actually, they probably have - more likely I just haven't searched well enough. |
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Solar balloons negate the need for helium/Hydrogen and may be reusable. |
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