A Space Cannon That Might Actually Work

Unequivocal writes "Chalk another one up to Jules Verne. Physicist John Hunter is proposing a space cannon with a new design idea: it's mostly submerged. 'Many engineers have toyed with the [space cannon] concept, but nobody has came up with an actual project that may work. Hunter's idea is simple: Build a cannon near the equator, submerged in the ocean, hooked to a floating rig ... A system like this will cut launch costs from $5,000 per pound to only $250 per pound. It won't launch people into space because of the excessive acceleration, but those guys at the ISS can use it to order pizza and real ice cream.' Though it won't work on people, with launch costs that low, who cares?"

Comments

Hunter should watch his back

[hyades1]

The last guy with a plan to build a super-cannon (a Canadian named Bull) did some work for Saddam Hussein. The Israelis didn't like that much, so they murdered him.

I don't know about space

[sakdoctor]

I want to order pizza and ice cream on earth, delivered by cannon.

Re:I don't know about space

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

I want to order pizza and ice cream on earth, delivered by cannon.

That's what ICBMs are for - Ice Cream Ballistic Missiles.

Google Tech Talks

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is an interesting "tech talk" at Google where John Hunter explains the workings of the cannon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IXYsDdPvbo

Duh, we bomb the shit out of those who have them..

[sznupi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon

Yes gents, Saddam Hussein could have given us cheap access to space ensuring new area of prosperity for mankind, and era of space colonization...and we killed him!

PS. If a supergun has a basic design similar to German V-3, it might be almost bearable to humans...

Terrible article

[QuantumG]

Wow, that article is horrid. They don't even mention Hunter's startup company: Quicklaunch. On that page you'll find his Google Tech Talk on the subject which answers many of the questions that people are asking here.

Re:More wildly optimistic cost estimates

[malakai]

10 mins into the Google Tech Talk he gives a slide with the amortization cost per lb. About 20 mins in, he breaks the project up into phases and costs needed to complete each phase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IXYsDdPvbo
It's worth watching the video for more info on G-Force hardening, Hydrogen re-capture, per-lb cost and project milestone/costs.

Re:We need more ideas such as this

[MR.Mic]

Do you realize just how far away the moon is from Earth?

This to-scale image should give you an idea of just how ridiculous this idea is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Speed_of_light_from_Earth_to_Moon.gif

Re:We need more ideas such as this

[ColdWetDog]

Engineering challenges can be solved easily.

Perchance, are you in management? Or Sales?

Re:We need more ideas such as this

[Entropy98]

design the cannon like a thermos bottle as sounds require a medium to propagate which is why in space no one can hear you scream.

So your going to have explosive pressure on one side, huge water pressure on the other side, and a vacuum in the middle?

Re:We need more ideas such as this

[pnewhook]

actually i would say a space elevator is a funding problem.

Speaking as an aerospace engineer, I would say building a space elevator is a reality problem

Re:We need more ideas such as this

[DigiShaman]

Same thing.

Twisting Cable

[Oxford_Comma_Lover]

Dear sir,

If we twisted the cable around the earth, and the cable was connected to the moon on the other end, we could tow the moon back here.

Whichever country it landed on would then be the largest country in the world. (Although it would also be squished.)

We could use this technique to explore space cheaply.

I will authorize funding for space exploration only if this method is used.

Regards,

Your Elected Representative

PS - As a side benefit, we can invade the moon.