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A video by a Colorado firm demonstrates a futuristic transportation system that would whisk passengers through vacuum tubes at speeds of up to 4,000 miles an hour. Entrepreneur Elon Musk, a pioneer in both electric cars and private spaceflight, has expressed interest in the idea.
Under this proposal by transportation firm ET3, each passenger capsule would hold 4 to 6 people, plus their luggage.
The capsules would then be loaded, sort of like bullets or those containers used at drive-through banks, into long vacuum tubes for their journey.
The airless tubes — mounted above ground or even under water — would be combined with a magnetic-levitation system used on conventional bullet trains. Linear electric motors accelerate the capsules, which then coast at insanely high speeds without friction or wind resistance.
ET3 claims such a vacuum-tube system could be built for one-tenth the cost of high-speed rail, or one-fourth the cost of a freeway.
As crazy as it sounds, if moving at their projected speeds the capsules could travel from New York to Southern California -- a journey of some 3,000 miles -- in about 45 minutes. Musk says he will publish an alpha, or early design, of the prototype system next month.
I just saw this and thought this would be great, not only passenger service but cargo. This would set the USA the leader above all other nations.
As great as this would be, it won't happen for years. As long as the airlines have lobbying power in Congress, they will not let this even get onto the Congressional floor. Hell, they're probably stopping this from being brought up right now.
The cost, alone, would sink the idea. A safe, air-tight tube using mag-lev technology (already too expensive on its own) that is hundreds or thousands of miles long? That's a lot of hurdles to clear.
All of which seem likely to be moot with the advancement of mobile and telepresence technologies. Why go there at ridiculous high prices when you can virtually be there from anywhere for a far lower price tag?
As great as this would be, it won't happen for years. As long as the airlines have lobbying power in Congress, they will not let this even get onto the Congressional floor. Hell, they're probably stopping this from being brought up right now.
Why would congress have to vote on approving it? Is that part of interstate commerce laws?
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkeconomist
The cost, alone, would sink the idea. A safe, air-tight tube using mag-lev technology (already too expensive on its own) that is hundreds or thousands of miles long? That's a lot of hurdles to clear.
Agreed. If there really was a need to get across the country in less than an hour, then I think supersonic aircraft would be much more economical. All the infrastructure is already in place, and supersonic passenger aircraft have already been built before. The only thing left is finding passengers who would be willing to pay more in order to save a couple of hours.
Publish a prototype? What the heck does that mean? Why publicly boast about this fantastical technology when you don't even have a functioning prototype of it? This guy is delusional if he thinks this could ever possibly work. I don't think he's that stupid. But I'm sure he'll be able to scam plenty of clueless 'investors' out of their money.
The cost, alone, would sink the idea. A safe, air-tight tube using mag-lev technology (already too expensive on its own) that is hundreds or thousands of miles long? That's a lot of hurdles to clear.
All of which seem likely to be moot with the advancement of mobile and telepresence technologies. Why go there at ridiculous high prices when you can virtually be there from anywhere for a far lower price tag?
Agreed. The cost for this would still be quite substantial, even if it's as good as he claims (which I seriously doubt). Here's a somewhat reasonable study. They estimate the cost of the steel used at 747 billion for a 3000 mile tube from NYC to London. For the same price, you could, roughly:
Double the US military budget
Launch a few international space stations
Build a world-class subway network in 2-3 US cities
Pay for 100% of tuition for everyone in the top 10 universities in the US for around a decade.
In summary, it's a neat fantasy, but there's no way it could get the ROI needed to justify building it.
Seems to me the same idea was launched 30 or 40 years ago. Did not go anywhere at that time.
As to safety I would have trouble differentiating the risk from a powered aluminium tube flying at 40,000 feet at 500 mph. Actually the vacuum tube would be simpler.
I would think cost is prohibitive. Right of way and a tube 2500 miles long will not be cheap.
First effort though would be like LA to SF. Proof of concept. Don't hold your breath.
As to safety I would have trouble differentiating the risk from a powered aluminium tube flying at 40,000 feet at 500 mph.
Except for the part where you are in a vaccuum... Not to mention the stresses caused by the g-force that your body would be subjected to at that speed. It would be a little more severe than sitting in a tin can at 500 mph, my friend.
There are still some engineering hurdles.
One major hurdle is constructing Halbach arrays large enough.
All the examples of Halbach arrays are small units. I suspect that assembling a large unit is the sticking point at this time.
Search YouTube for numerous examples of Halbach arrays and their properties.
As to safety in a vacuum tube, that depends on the safety margins they engineer into the design. There's "nothing" to hit in a vacuum.
So any danger would be from something breaching the tube, whether air or an object.
The flight industry is hamstrung by the sonic boom to subsonic speeds. Only in a vacuum tube can you have hypersonic speeds.
BTW - many Americans have experience with Halbach arrays. They are used to make "refrigerator" magnets. If you examine them, the magnetic field is strong only on one side.
Last edited by jetgraphics; 07-26-2013 at 12:35 AM..
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