Off the wall Idea no. 353.5?

You know, you heare some very strange things when tuning around on a radio
late at night...

Apparently, this guy, and I never found out exactly who and where he was,
wanted to build a very high tubular structure so the top end was at a
significantly lower air pressure than the ground, and pump it down to the
lower pressure and then launch rockets up it to reduce air friction..

Quite how he'd hold it up, and keep it pumped down, and how he would get
the correct trajectory after such a long straight up section, and numerous
other things, eludes me.

I think this belongs in the space Elevator bin.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
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"Brian Gaff" wrote in
:

You know, you heare some very strange things when tuning around on a
radio late at night...

Apparently, this guy, and I never found out exactly who and where he
was, wanted to build a very high tubular structure so the top end was
at a significantly lower air pressure than the ground, and pump it
down to the lower pressure and then launch rockets up it to reduce air
friction..

Quite how he'd hold it up, and keep it pumped down, and how he would
get the correct trajectory after such a long straight up section, and
numerous other things, eludes me.

One might as well find a near-equatorial launch site that's above
10,000 feet. I think we've got a good candidate in Hawaii, except
that it's already covered with telescopes.

Air friction isn't really much of a problem; the compromise comes
from not being able to use an optimally expanded engine nozzle.

--Damon