Will a Space Cannon Fuel the Next Moon Landing?
foxnews.com
foxnews.com
It's not detailed in the report, but I wonder if they've considered the "watermelon seed squeeze" method (wherein the projectile flies through a combustible gas mixture in a weakly-sealed barrel tube, compressing the mixture with its nose cone, creating a combustion zone about two-thirds of the way along a "spitzer" type projectile, thus applying the expansive force inward against the tail cone). That would either create one hell of a high-speed projectile, significantly reduce the barrel length required -- or even allow tolerable accelleration from, say, a linear electric motor's initial shove by simply stratifying different gas mixtures along the launch tube to control the combustion velocity. (Cheap 1-mil poly film would maintain the separation of gasses well enough and fail safely.)
Man, I has to go into rocket surgery. Or maybe double-nought spying.
I wouldn't underestimate Buzz Aldrin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU
The astronauts would come on conventional rockets. But then they would be able to refuel from the orbital depots for the later stages of their flight instead of having to carry all fuel with them. Thus, you make the mission cheaper.
You still need really stable rocket fuel in order to handle those accelerations without exploding.