Here's a weird idea for reaching the Moon - the hydro pump accelerator (HYPACC)
. Basically, it's like a gigantic water rocket
, only way cooler.
We ran a feature on the original idea
in 2000, but the designers have just released the blueprints for a new and improved launcher. The idea is to release a launch platform deep beneath the ocean and use its rise to the surface to pressurise hydrogen and release a projectile at very high velocity. This animation
explains roughly how it would work.
I must admit, at first glance it seems a bit crazy. It reminds me of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon
, which tells the story of a mad-cap plan to shoot a crewed projectile at the Moon using a gigantic underground cannon.
But then there are plenty of other outlandish ideas for launching stuff into space, from enormous superconducting railgun rings
to 200-km-per-hour space elevators
, so maybe it's not that silly at all. Anyway do you have an idea why this would, or would not, work?
Oh, and while we're on the subject of water rockets, check out these excellent videos and stills
captured using onboard cameras.
Thanks to Dunc Graham-Rowe for the link!Will Knight, online technology editor
Labels: launch, rocket, space, water rocket