Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: LA to SF in 6 minutes? Meet Elon Musk's 4,000 mph transportation concept, the "Hyperloop" [View all]One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)Not that any of them can't be solved. But the limitations of the Human body in particular regarding the population at large adds alot of restrictions to provide a minimum level of safety. If something fails, catches fire etc. and the system breaks down how fast can personnel get to the disabled car, what do they breath, what if there is a medical condition involved? In an airplane we know what the procedures are if a motor falls off. Do I need a maintenance tube adjacent with a service car and access ports every km? Do I walk people out in an emergency. A 400 mile evacuated tube being filled with air and all those access ports will stress/flex metal and generate heat which must be accounted for in initial design.
Not to mention the problem of securing rights of way to have a straight line between two cities. US rail uses a 100 meter min. radius curve. At these speeds you couldn't run less than 300km, more likely twice that and some people would still find it harsh. (Note the Earths surface curvature is 6,000km radius.) It's an interesting concept. But at the moment the 5in rail gun hasn't been fielded by the Navy yet. And than I would suggest applying it to freight before people just to work the kinks out. But I suspect that has more merit in inter-asteroid transport.