Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

"Slingatron" To Hurl Payloads Into Orbit

Posted by samzenpus on from the throwing-it-out-there dept.

cylonlover writes "People have been shooting things into space since the 1940s, but in every case this has involved using rockets. This works, but it's incredibly expensive with the cheapest launch costs hovering around $2,000 per pound. This is in part because almost every bit of the rocket is either destroyed or rendered unusable once it has put the payload into orbit. Reusable launch vehicles like the SpaceX Grasshopper offer one way to bring costs down, but another approach is to dump the rockets altogether and hurl payloads into orbit. That's what HyperV Technologies Corp. of Chantilly, Virginia is hoping to achieve with a 'mechanical hypervelocity mass accelerator' called the slingatron."

5 of 438 comments (clear)

  1. Re:My oh my by sweatyboatman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    TANSTAAFL

    --
    It breaks my pluginses, my precious!
  2. Re:My oh my by jamstar7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yup. In the West, they vote with dollars. The voter with the most dollars elects their own government.

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  3. If it's cheaper it's still good by Firethorn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just because you can't put astronauts or unhardened electronic/mechanical bits up with it doesn't really reduce it's value.

    If it can reduce launch costs for the stuff it can launch to around $100/pound vs $2k, it changes the dynamics even if it's just launching oxygen, water, and such to the station.

    "One true solution" arguments (it doesn't replace every use so it's useless!) don't help solve problems.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
    1. Re:If it's cheaper it's still good by mmcxii · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "One true solution" arguments (it doesn't replace every use so it's useless!) don't help solve problems.

      True but pointing out how a solution doesn't solve every aspect of every problem is what gets a post modded up around here. This reinforcement of short-sightedness keeps rearing it's ugly head with nearly every article. Thus even people who know better are still prone to postings such as this just because they know it'll be modded up. The cycle continues and we help to breed a new generation of cynics who don't think that things getting a little better today is a worthwhile goal if it's not the future promised to them by the most optimistic sci-fi stories.

      Welcome to Slashdot.

  4. Re:My oh my by organgtool · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just to clarify: it's not that the person with the most dollars gets his guy into office. The system currently allows someone to contribute money to all possible candidates and without those candidates knowing that you paid their opponents as well. Since you have paid all possible parties, your views are guaranteed to be represented regardless of who wins. And then a whole bunch of people will call the voters stupid for electing these guys when the fact of the matter is that all sides were bought because the system is corrupt. I hate to sound cynical, but at this point, it really doesn't matter who you vote for in federal elections.