[Rhodes22-list] How Much Energy To Launch A Payload Into Space?

[Steve]

But can you shoot a Deer with it:-)  
Steve


--- Roger Pihlaja <cen09402 at centurytel.net> wrote:

> Gentlemen,
> 
> I don't think you folks appreciate how much energy
> it requires to lift a payload into space.  Just for
> snicks and grins, I did the following rough
> calculation:
> 
> Suppose we want to be able to shoot 10 tons (9091
> kg) off the earth into the sun.  To do this, we must
> somehow accelerate the mass from rest up to
> so-called escape velocity.  Escape velocity from the
> earth is about 25000 mile/hr (11176 m/s).  Suppose
> we build a "rail gun" up the side of a mountain. 
> Now, once per day, the earth's rotation will have
> our rail gun pointed in the correct direction to
> shoot a payload into the sun.  Let's say we can
> build our rail gun 10 km long.  For the sake of
> simplicity, we will assume the acceleration in the
> rail gun will be constant over the entire 10 km and
> there are no losses due to friction, magnetic
> coupling, electrical resistance, etc.  How much
> power do we have to feed this rail gun?
> 
> The required acceleration is 6245 m/s^2 or about 637
> g's!  The payload will have to withstand this
> acceleration for 1.79 seconds.  The energy required
> is 5.677E11 joules and the power is 3.172E11 watts. 
> That's 31720 megawatts!  Keep in mind that a big
> nuclear power plant is typically rated at around
> 1500 megawatts.  So, our rail gun facility needs
> about 211 world scale nuclear power plants all
> operating at rated capacity to supply it with
> sufficient power to launch one 10 ton payload per
> day into the sun.
> 
> The power requirement for an explosive powered
> cannon is similarly astronomical!
> 
> Yeah I know, I need to get a life. :)
> 
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
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