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Jules Verne cannon

From: norman wolcott <nwolcott2ster~at~gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:40:52 -0500
To: JVForum <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>

I don't think we should be too hard on Verne for using a cannon,
particularly since gas guns were found to have useful applications in space
exploration.particularly for eliminating the booster rocket. I have a
newspaper clipping, May 11, 1959 from Dr. L.M. Levitt, director of the
Frannklin Institute which states:

"They (Huges Aircraft ) propose drilling a giant shaft 5000 to 20000 feet
deep...As the missile travels up the shaft, sensitive switches would ignite
gas generators which would keep a constant pressure behind the
missile...Thus the booster rockets making up as much as30% of the takeoff
weight can be liminated...if something goes wrong while the missile is still
in the launching shaft it will fall back on a cushiion of air and not be
destroyed. ..The more one sees what is being done today, the more one
realizes how astute were the space pioneers of other days. While their
knowledge of physical principles left a lot to be desired, the bold
imaginative concepts they generated continue to have a tremendous
influence."

NASA did successful tests with the gas gun in the 1960-1970 period which
were succesful in reachiing low earth orbit. The idea was to reduce costs
for orbiting sattelites.

Also enough people were worried about the "Bagdad Gas Gun" proposed for
ICBM's to elimiinate its inventor in the 1980's.
Received on Tue 28 Mar 2006 - 10:20:00 IST

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