Quote:
Originally Posted by RedDevil
I think the hyperloop system is viable; not in the West or China, but on the moon, if we ever get a large human presence there.
Moon bases need to be built in tunnels: away from cosmic radiation, extremes in heat and cold and super abrasive moon dust.
A hyperloop at over mach 2 could even be used as a launch system on the moon, throwing materials from the moon into space at very low cost.
if we want to explore the wider solar system and beyond we should seriously consider a moon base with factories and hyperloop launcher as a stepping stone.
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A Mach 2 Hyperloop on Earth could be used as a launch system. There are a few things to deal with though: anything coming out of the end is going to make one hell of a *pop* so you don't want it near populated areas. And upon emergence from the tube it'll suddenly encounter all of the aerodynamic forces that the vacuum tube has isolated it from, so that's bound to be pretty bumpy. It would probably be best to reserve that kind of service for bulk goods like fuel and other consumables. Even then its utility for space industry would be gigantic.
Another thing to try would be to run that Hyperloop right up the side of Mt. Kenya. Conveniently, Mt. Kenya sits almost on top of the equator - the best spot for launches if you'd like to make the most of the planet's own rotation to make launches easier. Adding an affordable, fast turnaround space launch facility to the heart of Africa would do wonders for economies all around it, and of the various countries in that part of Africa, Kenya is a little less chaotic than some of its neighbors.
And Mt. Kenya is over 17,000 feet high, giving you a convenient three mile head start on getting out of the atmosphere when you do come out of the tube, in addition to there being no people to complain about the noise.
Yes, it's a national park. I'm daydreaming at this point.
Moon-based launch rails, AKA mass drivers, have been discussed at length. Once we have a stable base on the moon to build stuff, we'll be able to send packages of raw material pretty much anywhere we want on the cheap. Endless solar power and no existing ecosystem? Build what you want.
One important caveat: those packages might not have braking. If you don't mind meteoric impacts (for instance, creating a surface mine of lunar-sourced aluminum ore in a conveniently uninhabited place on Mars) then the costs, once it's up and running, are pretty cheap.
As to using it for launching manned missions, well. It'll pull high G's for launching bulk goods, but if you want to get an interplanetarily useful launch velocity for humans it has to be dozens, even hundreds of kilometers long. And even then, it'll be a pretty hard push.