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SpaceX Is Building a Hyperloop Test Track
Jason Koebler reports that SpaceX is building a small-scale version of Elon Musk's hyperloop transport tube system, which can move cargo and people at speeds over 700 mph. The test track will be approximately one mile long, and its inner diameter will be between four and five feet. But while SpaceX is building the track, it's not going into full development mode. Instead, the company is turning it into a competition. Other organizations will be invited to build pods — the containers that move through the tubes — and test them inside the track. They say the competition will be geared toward university students and independent engineering teams. SpaceX expects the testing to happen next June, and they've published a document with details on the competition. They add, "The knowledge gained here will continue to be open-sourced."
We should totally avoid testing on humans ... so I propose lawyers and sales people for the full acceleration/deceleration tests.
Because I'm betting this has the potential to liquefy the humans inside it.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
1. All the diagrams give the impression that it will be like people flying through tubes as in Futurama. Instead you will be sealed inside a metallic "bullet", that runs in a metallic tube - no windows for you (sort of like James Bond in The Living Daylights). It's a pity if you have any sort of claustrophobia.
2. While the device doesn't run in a complete vacuum, it runs in an atmosphere that is low to the point of being unbreathable. But the device doesn't contain any onboard air supply - instead it relies on the driving compressor/fan assembly to compress the air to a human sustainable amount. So if the device loses power for any reason (electrical, mechanical, computational) then you better be able to hold your breath for a long long time.
3. There was no indication that the loop itself was anything more than a single tube. Thus there is no capability to bypass any section. So if a device fails, all devices that are already in transit and behind it are screwed (see 2 above).
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1) It's not a vactrain. It's not even that similar to a vactrain. It functions like a very high altitude aircraft, with such rarified air (and the ground-effect surface for lift) being provided by a tube. Nothing is "sucking" or "pushing" it, and nor is it maglev. The compressor at the front exists to stop a column of higher pressure air from building up in front of it, not for propulsion.
2) It is not a train. Rates for building train tracks, rail bridges, etc, are not applicable. Of human structures it's most similar to, an oil pipeline is the most apt comparison - very long, continuously welded elevated tubular steel segments capable of withstanding a pressure differential. It has some disadvantages versus a pipeline, such as much tighter tolerances, as well as some advantages, such as not containing environmentally-hazardous flammable materials. A full comparative list is too long to go into at the moment.
3) Like a pipeline and unlike rail, costs for elevating it are significantly reduced because it doesn't experience wide load swings. The cars are an order of magnitude lighter than a high speed train and thus exert an order of magnitude less loading as they pass (and only briefly). The difference in throughput is compensated for by much higher launch frequency via computer control. With dramatically reduced loading comes dramatically reduced support structure costs - more akin to the supports on the Disney Monorail than that of a rail bridge.
4) It is not meant (as per the source) to be an exact replacement for rail; it's meant to be an intermediary transportation system between rail and air travel.
5) Yes, the original design has flaws. No, none of them are fundamental. Yes, the concept can be significantly improved upon.
Back to your regularly scheduled thread.
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
On the other hand, whether a successful trip or not, it won't last long.
that Elon was going to name it the Ted Stevens memorial hyperloop
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Although the hyperloop is possible and might even be practical someday, let's please be honest about the reason it was created. Elon Musk just wanted to kill the California high-speed rail.
That might have been OK if there was a hope that we could actually replace it practically with a hyperloop. But given the history of bleeding-edge rail - ride any maglevs lately? We haven't even had much success with monorails outside of theme parks and Las Vegas - we don't really have any working system to replace high-speed rail. Hyperloop should really be called "Pipes that carry People" and we need decades of work on it before considering intercity lines.
Bruce Perens.