FIRTH@TL-20B.ARPA (12/31/85)
Mr Throop wonders how to get my two masses to join up. Frankly, so do I, but the situation isn't quite as bad as he indicates. At the intersection point the masses are moving with a relative velocity of ~6000 mph (~2.7 kps). A deceleration of 5g for 1 minute will bring them to relative rest - which doesn't seem too hairy. A far more serious problem is accelerating them on the ground to the 22000+ mph necessary to inject them into the orbit in the first place (the size of the "+" depends on air resistance). For example, a thrust of 10g for 100" will do it, but that implies an accelerator 300 miles long!! More likely would be a thrust of 50g for 20", and an accelerator therefore 60 miles long (and a height difference of 3200 feet between the ends). That already rules out any human cargo - but the purpose is simply to get MASS up there, to be assembled &c later. Even bricks will withstand 50g, after all. -------