Travel the Solar System Aboard a Train That Never Stops

No time to do an extensive post. This article is about a conceptual Space train.

In space, the most expensive portions of travel are speeding up and slowing down. They demand tremendous energy, a problem if you want to move lots of people or cargo around the solar system. That’s why I’ve created the Solar Express, a conceptual space train that would ferry humans, supplies, and minerals between celestial bodies and space stations. Instead of constantly stopping and starting up again, the Solar Express would run non-stop—much like a ski lift—and smaller vessels looking to catch a ride would hop on as it passes by. The Solar Express would be made of six aligned cylinders, each at least 165 feet long and split into four cargo bays. Maintenance robots would swap those containers out as necessary. Rocket boosters would supply the initial acceleration up to one percent of the speed of light, about 1,865 miles per second. Extra fuel stashed in the train’s core would enable course adjustments, and the train would use the force of gravity to slingshot around planets or moons.

This is a great idea, me thinks. What says ATS?

www.wired.com...

a reply to: lostbook

You posted two sentences. Arent we not supposed to post something with little or no explanation?
Im just sayin'....

a reply to: lostbook

Sign me up. Sounds amazing. Thanks!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

You posted two sentences. Arent we not supposed to post something with little or no explanation?

To be fair the title does pretty much explain what the thread is about.

And though you are right sometimes you can let the article speak for itself.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

I agree, the title speaks for itself. I feel like I copied your words. Lol

a reply to: lostbook

This is a great idea, me thinks. What says ATS?

It is definitely intriguing that's for sure.

Would love to see this, but I don't think we will be alive to see this become a reality.

a reply to: lostbook
2 tickets on the next one out. One way

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it will keep on accelerating, as time goes by (gravity assist?) ? If that is the case, "smaller vessels looking to catch a ride" might have a hard time docking with said "train".

a reply to: lostbook

I love this futurist stuff.

We'd wear our jetpacks to hover to our flying cars that would take us to the space elevators. They'd hoist us up to the terminals and platforms in geostationary orbit and then we'd be shuttled to the 'Solar Express.'

The Solar Express would then speed us off to the vacation worlds of our Solar System.

Funny how all these 'predicted' devices are no closer than they were back in the 50s and 60s!!

The human and non-human payload would still have to be accelerated to catch up with the "train", and decelerate in order to land at their destination. How would that use less fuel than doing it the regular way?

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: lostbook

You posted two sentences. Arent we not supposed to post something with little or no explanation?
Im just sayin'....

As I stated in the 1st sentence of the OP, I didn't have time to do a write up for the article. Still don't have time now...

a reply to: Kandinsky

When I was a kid I used to pick up and read my fathers Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines and be in awe of my future with all these gadgets and things just on the horizon.

Now that I have walked the Earth for over 50 years I cancelled my subscriptions to those very same magazines because they are still pushing the Super Super ocean liners and space platforms to vacation to. I feel as if I AM in the Matrix where we are stuck in the pinnacle of human endeavor with teasers of the futures that will never come.

Color me jaded...

originally posted by: Terminal1
a reply to: Kandinsky

When I was a kid I used to pick up and read my fathers Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines and be in awe of my future with all these gadgets and things just on the horizon.

Now that I have walked the Earth for over 50 years I cancelled my subscriptions to those very same magazines because they are still pushing the Super Super ocean liners and space platforms to vacation to. I feel as if I AM in the Matrix where we are stuck in the pinnacle of human endeavor with teasers of the futures that will never come.
Color me jaded...

I feel the same way...but I still hold out hope.

a reply to: kaskad

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it will keep on accelerating, as time goes by (gravity assist?) ? If that is the case, "smaller vessels looking to catch a ride" might have a hard time docking with said "train"

I am gonna guess that by the time a space train is able to do this that will have been figured out.

a reply to: Terminal1

When I was a kid I used to pick up and read my fathers Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines and be in awe of my future with all these gadgets and things just on the horizon.

Those were what I looked forward when going to the dentist...always had a couple of them just laying around.

Those were the days of great imagination for our future.

Ok, now I have a minute. What I want to say is that I had an idea about travel in the Solar System or Intergalactic travel. One that involves a Space highway of sorts. I envision doorways or portals stationed at various key points in Space and between these doorways there would be some kind of push or pull that would allow a traveler to reach really ridiculous speeds; almost like a highway between the entrances and exits. Once you get on the entrance you get on the highway to achieve high speeds until you get off. Of course, it would require a technology that allows for attraction over vast distances and I know we're not there yet.

This guys concept reminded me of the idea I had.

a reply to: Terminal1

Same here. As a kid, we'd get these cards in boxes of tea bags that showed the future with Mars bases and outposts on the Moon. I'd watch TV shows like Tomorrow's World and they frequently showed a bright future where we'd be exploring space. Newspaper supplements had full-colour pages of what we could expect and it was exciting stuff.

Here we are and we're realising that the obstacles are sometimes greater even than our collective imaginations.

Yeah, it can leave us 'jaded' and pessimistic that any of it will occur in our lifetimes or even during our grandchildren's lifetimes.

Let me add a 'but' here.

It's fantastic that we still dream and that some scientists have ambitions to take us out into space. I remember the Hubble being criticised as a waste of money and how it was doomed to fail. People were saying, "What about Third World hunger?" They were writing it off and budgets were being cut that placed Hubble in a position of being short-lived. That big-ass spy glass has provided images to ignite a sense of wonder in millions and millions of people of all ages.

Since then, we have these massive arrays looking at the stars. Kepler has discovered exoplanets galore and our sense of place has expanded to an awareness that didn't exist before.

Sure, we don't have the material things like jet-packs and flying cars, but the essence of fuelling our dreams has driven successive generations to become scientists and to keep on dreaming. Private investors like Musk and Bigelow have been formed by the same technicolour concepts and they're paying the same scientists to help create that anticipated future many of us desire.

That in itself is exciting. Isn't it better to aim high and fall short than wallow in all the # of politics and religion?

a reply to: lostbook

It's a nice idea, but impractical for use within our own solar system, 1% of the speed of light is simply too fast. The energy it would take a "boarding" craft to match speeds to board the space train would be enormous, and not to mention 1% of the speed of light is about 6.7 million MPH, meaning to reach Jupiter at its farthest distance would take roughly 90 hours at that speed.

Slow the thing down to realistic speeds and maybe it's feasible, but then there is also the violent nature of our solar system and the chance for hitting a stray comet or meteor, which at such speeds would equal a really bad day.