• Delphia@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Now someone much smarter than I can do the math, but over a long enough distance with a shallow enough incline on a ramp I dont see why it couldnt be done.

    The math might mean the scale of the ramp makes the idea completely unrealistic to build. But I dont see why it wouldnt work.

        • WolfdadCigarette@threads.net@sh.itjust.works
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          6 months ago

          8 gs is enough to cause most to pass out. 40 gs is usually going to cause permanent injury. Accelerating on a ramp at less than 40 gs would take a while if you want to reach escape velocity which is like Mach 25. Just mental mathing poorly, it’d be like a mile or two of railgun. Iunno, someone sober do the math.

          • snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works
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            6 months ago

            Well yeah a lot of the concepts for magnetic accelerators for orbital launches in the past 50 odd years have required 2+ km of ramps to work well

        • And009@lemmynsfw.com
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          6 months ago

          Mathematically it’s possible, like you mentioned. But due to physical restrictions of our planet it might not be feasible

    • NaibofTabr@infosec.pub
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      6 months ago

      The shallower your incline is, the more air you have to fight through post-launch to get to orbit, during which you’re losing velocity. And to get into low-earth orbit you have to reach 28000 kph (17000 mph) because it’s not so much about going up as it is about going really fast.

      So you need to leave the end of the gun going fast enough to lose speed to air resistance and still reach and maintain orbit. I haven’t attempted the math, but it seems like your vehicle would burst into flame going that speed in the atmosphere.

      • Delphia@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Re-read the comment. “Physics has entered the chat” Its neither a yes or a no that its possible.

        Im sure you could accellerate a person gradually enough over a long enough distance in a sufficient vehicle to launch them into space. Wether its practical or if we have the tech yet isnt “physics”…