(garfangle) writes:

Instead of hauling their own fuel for propellent, which adds to its
weight, why not have manned craft launched from massive high-altitude
cannons? Why not further what the late-Gerald Bull envisioned (see
world.std.com/~jlr/doom/bull.htm) to build a supergun that could
launch projectiles large enough to be duplicated as manned capsules?

Because conventional powder guns absolutely cannot accelerate a projectile
to even one-quarter the necessary velocity. Because even an exotic gun
that hypothethicall could reach such velocities, would be launching a
"capsule" containing an astronaut mass of bloody hamburger uniformly
smeared across the back wall and then cookked Very Well Done by
atmospheric friction.

Jules Verne seems to have actually understood this, which makes
Gerald Bull look even sillier. Though he at least didn't propose
manned gun launch.


That way there would be little or no need for external boosters to be
hauled alongside the manned vehicle, greatly reducing the per pound
flight costs.

Except that Gerald Bull's design required *four* stages of external
boosters to go with the (tiny) payload, in order to reach orbit.
Designers who dispense with the cannon can do it with two rocket
stages, mostly by virtue of not having to design massively overweight
rockets tough enough to withstand cannon launch.


--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
* for success" *
*661-951-9107 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *