SpaceX holding Hyperloop competition, building 1-mile test track

[SargeRho]

http://www.spacex.com/hyperloop

So, SpaceX are holding a competition for the best Hyperloop pod/system, and building a 1 mile long test track, while not dedicating themselves to actually building the full scale system.

[Hcube]

That's awesome ! I wonder how one mile will be enough to simulate an accelerating phase, cruise phase and then decelerating phase for a pod intended to travel at near mach 1

[Darnok]

1. build electric car

2. improve battery capabilities

3. build reusable rocket

4. build and test fast and cheap transport method on Earth

5. build same thing on Moon and Mars

6. become first interplanetary taxi company

7. profit

[magnemoe]

That's awesome ! I wonder how one mile will be enough to simulate an accelerating phase, cruise phase and then decelerating phase for a pod intended to travel at near mach 1

If its an circle you can accelerate up then do an number of loops before stopping and repeating.

[Hcube]

If its an circle you can accelerate up then do an number of loops before stopping and repeating.

Oh i wasn't aware that it is circular ! makes a lot of sense

Is 1 mile the diameter or the length/perimeter ?

[Javster]

Oh i wasn't aware that it is circular ! makes a lot of sense

Is 1 mile the diameter or the length/perimeter ?

I'd guess the perimeter

[Requia]

I'd guess the perimeter

That's gonna be some hellish g forces given the speed mentioned.

I get uh, 29.6g at the low end of transonic (273 m/s).

Radius makes more sense, a ~5g system, avoid adding huge engineering challenges (not getting crushed by its own weight) that a real system would never have to face.

[SmallFatFetus]

1. build electric car

2. improve battery capabilities

3. build reusable rocket

4. build and test fast and cheap transport method on Earth

5. build same thing on Moon and Mars

6. become first interplanetary taxi company

7. profit

I'd like to fix that for you:

1. build electric car

2. profit!

3. improve battery capabilities

4. profit!

5. build reusable rocket

6. profit!

7. build and test fast and cheap transport method on Earth

8. profit!

9. build same thing on Moon and Mars

10. profit!

11. become first interplanetary taxi company

12. profit!

[pincushionman]

This is the first thing I've read about him proposing that doesn't directly lead to going to Mars.

What companies does he own?

How you gonna get to Mars? With a rocket. Bam. SpaceX.

How you gonna get around Mars once you get there? Electric car. Bam. Tesla.

How you gonna power everything on the way and once you get there, including said electric cars? Solar panels. Bam. SolarCity.

How's this going to drive Mars visit development? I dunno. Maybe since the vehicles would be operating in a low-pressure environment...

[Camacha]

How you gonna get around Mars once you get there? Electric car. Bam. Tesla.

You have to stretch reason pretty far to get that one in there.

[kStrout]

How your gonna pay for a mars trip? Online pay service. Bam. Paypal.

[StrandedonEarth]

This is the first thing I've read about him proposing that doesn't directly lead to going to Mars.

How's this going to drive Mars visit development? I dunno. Maybe since the vehicles would be operating in a low-pressure environment...

The HyperLoop would probably function fine in a Martian environment with minimal modifications. It would be great as a Martian surface transportation system, without relying on rovers for everything. And by the time SpaceX gets to Mars, they'll have probably figured out a way to robotically 3D-print the system from Martian regolith. The pods could double as Mars Descent Vehicles pressure vessels/crew cabins, and then loaded into the tubes.

[pincushionman]

You have to stretch reason pretty far to get that one in there.

I'm sorry if I was unclear there - what I meant was "the technology you need to do X is the technology you need to do Y," where X is Teslas and Y is mars rovers.

[AngelLestat]

The HyperLoop would probably function fine in a Martian environment with minimal modifications. It would be great as a Martian surface transportation system, without relying on rovers for everything. And by the time SpaceX gets to Mars, they'll have probably figured out a way to robotically 3D-print the system from Martian regolith. The pods could double as Mars Descent Vehicles pressure vessels/crew cabins, and then loaded into the tubes.

Why you will need an almost vacuum circuit if in mars you already have that almost vacuum.. is silly.

[sgt_flyer]

Why you will need an almost vacuum circuit if in mars you already have that almost vacuum.. is silly.

Well, according to the wikipedia article, Hyperloop is stated to operate at 1 millibar of pressure - which is still lower than mars atmospheric pressure (or you need to slow down to compensate from the higher air pressure)

Plus, the tube would protect the capsules within it from martian dust. (As air is supposed to be 'sucked' through the capsule (to prevent the pressure buildup in front of the moving capsule) the tube would also act as the 'railway' supporting the capsules (one part of the air sucked in by the capsule would be used to help the air sustentation of the capsule.

Now, hyperloop is supposed to be solar powered - so a martian version would require much more solar panels for the same work.

[B787_300]

this is really just to help prove that the technology is all there, i would bet that another company would actually have to build the first real tracks and system.

[Requia]

The HyperLoop would probably function fine in a Martian environment with minimal modifications. It would be great as a Martian surface transportation system, without relying on rovers for everything. And by the time SpaceX gets to Mars, they'll have probably figured out a way to robotically 3D-print the system from Martian regolith. The pods could double as Mars Descent Vehicles pressure vessels/crew cabins, and then loaded into the tubes.

except the point of the tube is to go to the same place repeatedly. For mars exploration you want to go a lot of different places. Why take all the time to make a track then abandon the track after 1-3 trips? Faster to use a rover.

[SargeRho]

It could be used to connect various settlements or outlying parts of a settlement, also as public transport within very large settlements. A spaceport, if there would be such a thing, would probably be located at some distance away from the settlement itself.

[AngelLestat]

Well, according to the wikipedia article, Hyperloop is stated to operate at 1 millibar of pressure - which is still lower than mars atmospheric pressure (or you need to slow down to compensate from the higher air pressure)

Plus, the tube would protect the capsules within it from martian dust. (As air is supposed to be 'sucked' through the capsule (to prevent the pressure buildup in front of the moving capsule) the tube would also act as the 'railway' supporting the capsules (one part of the air sucked in by the capsule would be used to help the air sustentation of the capsule.

Now, hyperloop is supposed to be solar powered - so a martian version would require much more solar panels for the same work.

Earth= 1016 milibars

Mars= 6 milibars

Hyperloop= 1 milibar

Which compared with earth, both are like almost vacuum, so you will not need the air tight tubes in mars, just the magnetic structure.

But well, of course mars has other problems and it does not have much point in this discussion.

Here there is a video explaining in more detail how "might work" (the propulsion design is not final yet)

It will depend on how cheap this track may be builded and how much people transport compared to a normal train by unit of time.

Edited June 21, 2015 by AngelLestat

[GoSlash27]

This is the first thing I've read about him proposing that doesn't directly lead to going to Mars.

That's because it doesn't. He was reading about the so- called "bullet train" in California and came to the conclusion that it was going to be a colossal waste. That led him to think about better solutions and this is what he came up with.

Best,

-Slashy

[Nibb31]

Just because Musk has dreams of going to Mars doesn't mean that everything he does revolves around that dream. I don't think he's an obsessive-compulsive type

[Kryten]

Even in Musk's wildest dreams, it'd probably be centuries the Martian population would be large enough to require this kind of transport infrastructure.

[Requia]

It could be used to connect various settlements or outlying parts of a settlement, also as public transport within very large settlements. A spaceport, if there would be such a thing, would probably be located at some distance away from the settlement itself.

For a 240 day mission?

[andrewas]

No. This is something that would be built when there are permanent colonies, its useless for exploration missions.