Here's how it would work: the space station would be situated near an artificial dam with special flow-through ports at its base. The shuttle would rest upon the rim of what looks like a huge wheel. When it's time to launch, the flow-through vents at the bottom of the dam are opened, and the water causes the wheel to spin. The wheel continuesto spin faster and faster until escape velocity is either almost reached, reached or exceeded, at which point the shuttle is flung from the wheel, utilizing perhaps a small amount of rocket fuel to assist in the ascent. The wheel would be balanced by weights, of course, the weight opposite the shuttle being detached at the same time as the shuttle itself.
Even remotely feasible?
2007-09-12 18:21:30 · 5 answers · asked by uncleclover 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
I speculate on this, btw, as one relatively cheap and environmentally friendly means of space traffic - even if the idea would be unworkable for larger craft, certainly parcels and the like should be able to be launched in such a manner. The g-forces would perhaps be too much for a manned vehicle, I'm not sure.
2007-09-12 18:24:06 · update #1
Wheel diameter, rpms, water factors needed to achieve escape velocity. Clutch setup could help g-force challenge.
Hey; how bout this: same idea for airplane. Think of reduced
motor size required since take-off power is not required. Make the wheel a weight containing tube so the weight spins
to a gradual stop; better have good axle/ bearings; well greased :) . Now you got me going. The airplane; greatly reduced fuel payload. Why dam? How bout a tanker truck
with hydraulic motor connected to smaller wheel built at the airport?
2007-09-12 19:08:53 · answer #1 · answered by Answernian 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Do you have any idea how fast escape velocity is? It's way faster than the speed of sound. The water coming from the dam would have to be flowing about 1000 times faster than it actually would flow to make the wheel spin fast enough. And the centrifugal force would squash the spaceship like a bug. It would make a great cartoon, though!
2007-09-12 18:44:14 · answer #2 · answered by Geezer 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no its not very practical. the wheel could only get going so fast and that speed would be well below escape velocity. plus you would need one heck of a dam and the sudden flow of water could wreak havoc on whatever is downstream. so its not even that environmentally friendly.
it could maybe give the shuttle a little bit of a boost up but the majority of the work would still be done by the rockets.
2007-09-12 23:42:09 · answer #3 · answered by Tim C 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. First, just think about air resistance. The shuttle glows red-hot in the thin air 50 miles up at near-orbital velocity. Think what it would be like to be moving 17,000 mph near sea level. Second, the forces on the wheel would be ridiculously high; it would fly apart long before the rim speed reached orbital velocity.
2007-09-12 18:44:31 · answer #4 · answered by injanier 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Balloons rise due to buoyancy, once you get into the upper atmosphere there isn't enough medium to give any more buoyancy or thrust. I suppose you could use the balloon as a stepping stool, but I doubt a balloon would be able to lift the necessary fuel to get you the rest of the way out of the Earth's pull.
2016-05-18 03:29:21 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋