The Slingatron is described as ‘A railroad to space using a mechanical hypervelocity launcher.’
(Credit: Kickstarter)
If you read the endorsements from NASA scientists on Derek Tidman’s book, his idea may seem a tad less wacky than at first blush.
He thinks a massive, gyrating coil can speed up objects fast enough to give them escape velocity and send them into orbit.
The book outlined the concept. Now he’s trying to build a large prototype launcher with Kickstarter backing. It’s called the Slingatron.
From space elevators to mass drivers and floating launchpads, there have been many proposals to launch things into Earth’s orbit without chemical rockets.
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