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Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
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Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#2Of course. Space elevator were suggested more than a century ago. Arthur Clark made the idea popular in the sixties.
Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#3Neal Stephenson has a lot to offer in the Seven Eves
Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#4Is NERVA TSTO possible, strictly in technical sense? Yeah why not?
Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#5Neal Stephenson has a lot to offer in the Seven Eves
Stephenson's ideas all needed some chemistry close to the surface if I remember it correctly.
Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#6Giant railguns/coilguns for shooting cargo and/or passenger modules into space? This has been done in science fiction at least.
Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#7Perhaps a railgun plus a skyhook? Railgun up the side of a mountain on the equator and an orbiting station with a capture mechanism that is in a sense the strongest bungee cord imaginable. 17k mph is a lot of speed to make a grab. Exiting the railgun at mach 3-4 at 30,000 feet has engineering issues and still has accelerate above mach 20 for a stable orbit.
Re: Ask HN: Can we ever escape Earth's gravity without using chemical propulsion?
#8Laser propulsion is an interesting / wacky idea. Don't know if it would actually work, but the core concept of keeping the energy source on the ground is an interesting one at least.