SpinLaunch

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John Clark

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Dec 10, 2021, 5:04:46 PM12/10/21
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Brent Meeker

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Dec 10, 2021, 6:30:03 PM12/10/21
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Going up "tens of thousands of feet" is only a tiny part of energy needed for low Earth orbit.

Brent
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John Clark

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Dec 11, 2021, 4:37:15 AM12/11/21
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On Fri, Dec 10, 2021 at 6:30 PM 'Brent Meeker' via Everything List <everyth...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

> Going up "tens of thousands of feet" is only a tiny part of energy needed for low Earth orbit.

True, and I think the biggest engineering problem is to keep all that energy from tearing the device apart after it releases its payload and becomes unbalanced; but I suppose they have some idea about how to solve it. I wish them luck, they'll need it.

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Brent

On 12/10/2021 2:04 PM, John Clark wrote:

Telmo Menezes

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Dec 11, 2021, 5:09:02 AM12/11/21
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Am Sa, 11. Dez 2021, um 10:36, schrieb John Clark:


On Fri, Dec 10, 2021 at 6:30 PM 'Brent Meeker' via Everything List <everyth...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

> Going up "tens of thousands of feet" is only a tiny part of energy needed for low Earth orbit.

True, and I think the biggest engineering problem is to keep all that energy from tearing the device apart after it releases its payload and becomes unbalanced; but I suppose they have some idea about how to solve it. I wish them luck, they'll need it.

I also wonder about the immense centrifugal force that it would subject the payload to.

Telmo.

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Brent


On 12/10/2021 2:04 PM, John Clark wrote:


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John Clark

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Dec 11, 2021, 5:20:49 AM12/11/21
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On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 5:09 AM Telmo Menezes <te...@telmomenezes.net> wrote:

> I also wonder about the immense centrifugal force that it would subject the payload to.

Hardening electronics to survive very high G forces is a more tractable problem, proximity radar in anti-aircraft artillery shells was used and turned out to be very effective as far back as World War II, and they withstood enormous G forces.
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Lawrence Crowell

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Dec 11, 2021, 7:34:34 AM12/11/21
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I saw something on this a while back. I suspect this may never be practical. I think a large rail-gun type of system would work better.

LC

smitra

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Dec 11, 2021, 7:39:34 AM12/11/21
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In fact, it's impossible to reach orbit this way, as any orbit would
have to contain the point it left the device from and it would have to
have the same velocity vector there (in a inertial coordinate system in
which the Earth rotates). So, any such orbit would have to cross the
Earth's surface. A rocket motor has to be used after launch to change
the orbit. A hyperbolic escape trajectory is, of course, possible
without using a rocket engine.

On 11-12-2021 00:29, 'Brent Meeker' via Everything List wrote:
> Going up "tens of thousands of feet" is only a tiny part of energy
> needed for low Earth orbit.
>
> Brent
>
> On 12/10/2021 2:04 PM, John Clark wrote:
>
>> SpinLaunch: Company hurls satellites into space using giant,
>> spinning machine [1]
>>
>> John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis [2]
>>
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> [4].
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1]
> https://bigthink.com/the-future/spinlaunch-company-hurls-satellites-into-space-using-giant-spinning-machine/?utm_source=mailchimp&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=weeklynewsletter
> [2] https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis
> [3]
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John Clark

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Dec 11, 2021, 9:06:13 AM12/11/21
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On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 7:39 AM smitra <smi...@zonnet.nl> wrote:

> In fact, it's impossible to reach orbit this way, as any orbit would
have to contain the point it left the device from and it would have to
have the same velocity vector there (in a inertial coordinate system in
which the Earth rotates). So, any such orbit would have to cross the
Earth's surface. A rocket motor has to be used after launch to change
the orbit. A hyperbolic escape trajectory is, of course, possible
without using a rocket engine.

The article does say "a booster affixed to the payload will then give it an extra push to guide it into its orbit". If you gave the payload a small kick when it's at its high point in its orbit you could raise its low point enough to avoid the atmosphere. And if you could just give it enough of a headstart  that a one or two stage rocket could do the work of a three stage rocket that would be a huge advantage


Can Spinlaunch Throw Rockets Into Space?

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John Clark

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Dec 11, 2021, 9:24:03 AM12/11/21
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And then there is this: 

Brent Meeker

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Dec 11, 2021, 7:00:49 PM12/11/21
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Although you're right about electronics withstanding the accelerations of the slinger, rocket motors are not usually so sturdy.  It may take some development to make them work and survive.  Hypergolic rockets have been used in air-to-air weapons and they could withstand 50g axially.  But hypergolics are not as efficient and pose handling risks.

Brent

Brent Meeker

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Dec 11, 2021, 7:13:03 PM12/11/21
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Hmmm.  I was envisioning them throwing up a spherical rocket that got high enough that it didn't need streamlining while being boosted up to orbital speed.

Brent
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smitra

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Dec 12, 2021, 12:22:13 PM12/12/21
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I see! And this sort of device could perhaps also be used in space.
There without air resistance, it should be possible to let a system
gradually rotate very fast and then to release a probe with great
velocity.

On 11-12-2021 15:05, John Clark wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 7:39 AM smitra <smi...@zonnet.nl> wrote:
>
>>> _ _In fact, it's impossible to reach orbit this way, as any orbit
>> would
>> have to contain the point it left the device from and it would have
>> to
>> have the same velocity vector there (in a inertial coordinate system
>> in
>> which the Earth rotates). So, any such orbit would have to cross the
>>
>> Earth's surface. A rocket motor has to be used after launch to
>> change
>> the orbit. A hyperbolic escape trajectory is, of course, possible
>> without using a rocket engine.
>
> The article does say "a booster affixed to the payload will then give
> it an extra push to guide it into its orbit". If you gave the payload
> a small kick when it's at its high point in its orbit you could raise
> its low point enough to avoid the atmosphere. And if you could just
> give it enough of a headstart that a one or two stage rocket could do
> the work of a three stage rocket that would be a huge advantage
>
> Can Spinlaunch Throw Rockets Into Space? [1]
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAJPayv346eJzYm1WKP3aD5cEku3fOhcMrQV_Dog7HUr7p5itcA%40mail.gmail.com
> [3].
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAczd3mt3X0
> [2] https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis
> [3]
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAJPayv346eJzYm1WKP3aD5cEku3fOhcMrQV_Dog7HUr7p5itcA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer
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