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[Talvieno]

Thank youuuuu, there you go. Yes, you can launch it with a vacuum tunnel and an incredibly long, megastructure-like rail, but at that point, you can't really call it a "railgun" anymore. Escape velocity is hard to reach.

[10ebbor10]

Yeah, a 1500 km tunnel, reaching up to 20 km altitude is hardly a rail gun anymore.

[da_nang]

You'd still need tremendous amounts of current to get a normal sized vehicle going.

[10ebbor10]

Well, the slower the acceleration, the lower the current needed.

Anyway, the largest problem with the space tram idea is that the tracks are levitated 20 km above the ground.

[Talvieno]

Strong wind, anyone?

Or even just the dirt settling underneath would probably do the trick. Maybe tiny underground tremors. Rainfall weakening the ground... Seriously, it'd be an engineer's worst nightmare.

[GiglameshDespair]

Certainly an ambitious idea, but seems doable to me. Gen 1.5 seems like it's a lot more likely to ever see the light of day than gen-2, though that isn't really saying much.

Strong wind, anyone?

Or even just the dirt settling underneath would probably do the trick. Maybe tiny underground tremors. Rainfall weakening the ground... Seriously, it'd be an engineer's worst nightmare.

Like any super-tall building, it would be built to resist such effects.

[Sheb]

We don't have 20km-high buildings for a reason.

[10ebbor10]

Note that's it's not a building in the traditional sky scraper sense. This one flies, using a giant magnetic field generated by cables in the ground. Also, Gen 2 is something that might see initial research being started in 2030, so it's rather optimistic already.

So dirt and underground tremors and all that other stuff are mostly irrelevant, as the pressure is distributed amongst a large area of terrain, and small disturbances will barely affect the field. Wind and other stuff will be taken care of by a computer. After all, the repulsive force is almost twice as strong as it needs to be.

[Bauglir]

Wind and other stuff will be taken care of by a computer.

Can I just say that when that bluescreens, I will absolutely want the video footage of what happens. Even though it probably never will.

[mainiac]

While railguns for earth to orbit need elaborate mega-project designs due to the high difficulty of overcoming the atmosphere, the idea is very practical for smaller bodies without atmospheres, like the moon.

[Sheb]

Or just as an early boosting stage. No need to use the railgun all the way.

[10ebbor10]

Wind and other stuff will be taken care of by a computer.

Can I just say that when that bluescreens, I will absolutely want the video footage of what happens. Even though it probably never will.

A bluescreen won't be that bad. I mean, disturbances are no longer compensated for, but a decently constructed system should be able to hold together long enough for the system to restart.

The true problem is what happens when the power goes offline.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

So, for a practical use
we would use a maglev to get the craft up to speed
use auxiliary engines to escape the atmosphere
and a secondary rail gun stationed on the moon for launch to designated areas in the system

the original discussion was to have an cheap and practical replacement for booster rockets for trips to mars

[GiglameshDespair]

So, for a practical use
we would use a maglev to get the craft up to speed
use auxiliary engines to escape the atmosphere
and a secondary rail gun stationed on the moon for launch to designated areas in the system

the original discussion was to have an cheap and practical replacement for booster rockets for trips to mars

The end result would be cheaper to use, rather than rockets all the time. There aren't that many ways you can get out of orbit.

[tahujdt]

Quick, someone make this into a KSP mod!