Quote from: sghill on 06/14/2018 12:58 pmLet it burst through several bladders of reinforced cellophane or something similar.Without doing the maths, my gut reaction is that the strength of the plastic, in order to hold the pressure difference (the weight of the air it is supporting), must be higher than the pressure difference itself. So hitting the "bladder" will always be worse than hitting the air itself.
Let it burst through several bladders of reinforced cellophane or something similar.
What about a rail gun ? Giving the space ship as much vertical energy as possible BEFORE its lift off.The stake is to lower the amount of "flying fuel".Instead of igniting an engine at speed 0 and altitude 0, you would ignite an engine at Kilimanjaroo height, with a rail-gun speed of at least mach 1. The acceleration, from the valley to the top of the mountain, would be very acceptable by a human (less than 2 G).You could even "open the flying path" with a suction made with the help of some high speed bullets shot from a secondary rain gun. Those bursts of reusable guided bullets would be shot from another much faster (but with a smaller section) rail gun (see the geography of the region) in order to cross the space rocket path, and to expand/airbrake in front of it. This would create some extra, and fuel free, suction to help the rocket lift off.Each bullet would come back on its own after use (driving its descend to a choice between a set of landing zones, depending on the wind).Security would be better with that initial speed: if the rocket engine doesn't start, you just have to separate the human cap, and make it land with parachutes.You could launch one vehicle every day or even faster (depending on the time you need to full-fill the capacitors with solar power), and assemble their payload on low orbit, like a Lego construction. The need for embedded fuel would be minimal, but still very high (I must agree).But I think that high frequency space launches can not be fuel-only (I know there is no fuel in a rocket ...) energized like today's monthly launches. We need a space elevator. A rail-gun space elevator.The south west side of Mt Kilimanjaro looks appropriate for such a project. A 15-20 kilometers long rail-gun, ending in a vertical bend.Make Space X and Hyperloop fusion.
If you wanted to launch a *lot* of rockets, you could use the mountain to advantage.Build them on the plains below. No altitude issues, not too bad logistics issues.