From NY to LA in 45 minutes?

[Sherman123]

And I would bet the trip was necessary, but not at that rate of travel. The only thing I could think of, is if a very close loved one was dying. That's about it.

Necessary is relative. Do you really need to be in California in 7 hours instead of in 7 days? If you could cross the country in 40 minutes the efficiency gain would be incalculable. If you could perfect it and commercialize it you would be conservatively adding hundreds of billions to the economy, reshape entire markets, and save thousands of lives in ways we cannot even imagine.

 

[PirateMk1]

I am so excited about this I could scream like a little girl. Elon Musk is ****ing awesome.

Why? Robert Goddard actually came up with the concept in 1910.

 

[AngryOldGuy]

The 45 min figure may be just a tad bit unrealistic

"I wonder what would happen if you got up to speed and lost the vacuum."

"you'd find out what life feels like at 20+ g's instantaneously "

yes kiddies those pesky lawls of physics just cian't be denied eh?

this eldon dude comes off as a total whack job guess the only reason people pay attention
is cuz he's got money

 

[Dapper Andy]

IF this could actually work and enough people could get behind the project, it'd be awesome. It really would.

It sounds terrible to me.

I would imagine any accident at all involving something going that fast would result in instant death for everyone.

 

[Utility Man]

 

[Sherman123]

"I wonder what would happen if you got up to speed and lost the vacuum."

"you'd find out what life feels like at 20+ g's instantaneously "

yes kiddies those pesky lawls of physics just cian't be denied eh?

this eldon dude comes off as a total whack job guess the only reason people pay attention
is cuz he's got money

People pay attention because he has a track record of accomplishing extraordinary things.

 

[Sherman123]

It sounds terrible to me.

I would imagine any accident at all involving something going that fast would result in instant death for everyone.

Because crashes involving planes routinely have survivors? I think we need to have some perspective on this. Cars, Planes, Trains, Boats are all incredibly dangerous in terms of their mechanics and their potential for damage. But we have grown so accustomed to their smooth operation and they are so ubiquitous that we usually fail to notice this in our daily lives.

 

[Dapper Andy]

Because crashes involving planes routinely have survivors? I think we need to have some perspective on this. Cars, Planes, Trains, Boats are all incredibly dangerous in terms of their mechanics and their potential for damage. But we have grown so accustomed to their smooth operation and they are so ubiquitous that we usually fail to notice this in our daily lives.

Plane crashes do routinely have survivors though.

We just recently saw a Boeing 777 go down and 305 of the 307 passengers survived.

 

[Sherman123]

Plane crashes do routinely have survivors though.

We just recently saw a Boeing 777 go down and 305 of the 307 passengers survived.

It is rare for a high altitude plane crash to have survivors. The ones where you get survivors are like the LAX Asiana Airlines crash where it happened on approaching the runway or the 'Miracle on the Hudson' which occurred just after takeoff. If your commercial plane goes down from 30,000 feet you are almost certainly dead.

 

[Sherman123]

In my book accomplishing all of those things would definitely put him as #1. He's already on my science wall next to my desk.

I can completely admire and get behind that.

 

[Lutherf]

"I wonder what would happen if you got up to speed and lost the vacuum."

"you'd find out what life feels like at 20+ g's instantaneously "

yes kiddies those pesky lawls of physics just cian't be denied eh?

this eldon dude comes off as a total whack job guess the only reason people pay attention
is cuz he's got money

I don't know. It's an interesting concept because you certainly don't need a perfect vacuum. You just need reduced pressure ahead of the vehicle so if you could evacuate the tube fast enough just in the area say 50 yards in front of the vehicle it would do the trick. You could even reduce the volume of evacuation when it comes time to slow the vehicle to aid in braking.

 

[Lutherf]

Plane crashes do routinely have survivors though.

We just recently saw a Boeing 777 go down and 305 of the 307 passengers survived.

That plane was traveling at under 150mph.

 

[RabidAlpaca]

Why? Robert Goddard actually came up with the concept in 1910.

Yes, but Robert Goddard didn't build one, did he?

"I wonder what would happen if you got up to speed and lost the vacuum."

"you'd find out what life feels like at 20+ g's instantaneously "

yes kiddies those pesky lawls of physics just cian't be denied eh?

this eldon dude comes off as a total whack job guess the only reason people pay attention
is cuz he's got money

Huh? Do you have any idea who you're talking about? This is the guy who made the first commercial, private rocket to dock with the ISS, deliver supplies, and return safely. The challenges he'll face for the hyperloop aren't anywhere near as serious as what he's already accomplished.

I could see myself making this trip via tube.. I'd promptly be sick to my stomach and reach my destination dressed to the nines, covered in g force vomit.

I think I'll see the day in my lifetime where I can visit my family in the states (coming from Germany) any weekend I want with just a 2-3 hour trip on the train. The world will become very small at that point.

 

[FederalRepublic]

Assuming that it was a relatively gradual repressurization you'd probably just slow down but if it was close to instantaneous you'd probably find out what life feels like at 20+ g's.

Yeah. Gradual change wouldn't be catastrophic, but if you met an oncoming blast of atmospheric air at that speed the impact, would be rather abrupt.

 

[FederalRepublic]

It is rare for a high altitude plane crash to have survivors. The ones where you get survivors are like the LAX Asiana Airlines crash where it happened on approaching the runway or the 'Miracle on the Hudson' which occurred just after takeoff. If your commercial plane goes down from 30,000 feet you are almost certainly dead.

Most plane crashes happen during takeoff & landing, but I still think you make a fair point on what we're accustomed to.

 

[Dapper Andy]

It is rare for a high altitude plane crash to have survivors. The ones where you get survivors are like the LAX Asiana Airlines crash where it happened on approaching the runway or the 'Miracle on the Hudson' which occurred just after takeoff. If your commercial plane goes down from 30,000 feet you are almost certainly dead.

That plane was traveling at under 150mph.

I would imagine most plane crashes occur during take off and landing when the plane is moving relatively slow.

And plane crashes are easily the most deadly of the four major modes of transportation.

Something moving several thousand MPH would blow that away in terms of danger though. Due to the nature of it, I would imagine most of the accidents would occur while moving at full speed too.

 

[Lutherf]

I would imagine most plane crashes occur during take off and landing when the plane is moving relatively slow.

And plane crashes are easily the most deadly of the four major modes of transportation.

Something moving several thousand MPH would blow that away in terms of danger though. Due to the nature of it, I would imagine most of the accidents would occur while moving at full speed too.

A crash is deadly due to the extreme g forces exerted by rapid deceleration. If you were traveling 300mph and skidded to a stop you'd be a lot more likely to survive than if you were traveling 40 mph and hit a wall.

 

[SMTA]

I am so excited about this I could scream like a little girl. Elon Musk is ****ing awesome.

Holy ****!

I knew about Tesla, but has forgotten that he was also SpaceX!

Yea, he is damned impressive and unequaled in my book.

 

[Dapper Andy]

A crash is deadly due to the extreme g forces exerted by rapid deceleration. If you were traveling 300mph and skidded to a stop you'd be a lot more likely to survive than if you were traveling 40 mph and hit a wall.

I'm not sure how that would make these hyperloops any safer.

 

[Lutherf]

I'm not sure how that would make these hyperloops any safer.

Well, if the rate of evacuation in front of the vehicle was pegged to the speed of the vehicle it would be reasonably safe.

 

[PirateMk1]

Yes, but Robert Goddard didn't build one, did he?



Huh? Do you have any idea who you're talking about? This is the guy who made the first commercial, private rocket to dock with the ISS, deliver supplies, and return safely. The challenges he'll face for the hyperloop aren't anywhere near as serious as what he's already accomplished.



I think I'll see the day in my lifetime where I can visit my family in the states (coming from Germany) any weekend I want with just a 2-3 hour trip on the train. The world will become very small at that point.

If Musk actually builds it yea he's up there in the top 10 maybe 5 people in history. But to do it he going to need a LOT more cash then he has.

 

[Dapper Andy]

Well, if the rate of evacuation in front of the vehicle was pegged to the speed of the vehicle it would be reasonably safe.

I suppose it would be relatively safe if whatever went wrong caused it to gradually slow to a stop but if the capsule ever came off the tracks it would be a missile cruising at 4,000 MPH. Hitting the wall would probably rip the entire thing to shreds instantly.

Of course the likelihood that anything like this comes to fruition is probably less than my winning Powerball so I suppose talking about this is just a way for two guys to pass a slow day in the office.

 

[RabidAlpaca]

If Musk actually builds it yea he's up there in the top 10 maybe 5 people in history. But to do it he going to need a LOT more cash then he has.

Of course, but getting cash is one of the things he's really great at. Science wise this isn't any harder than building rockets to get to the ISS.

I suppose it would be relatively safe if whatever went wrong caused it to gradually slow to a stop but if the capsule ever came off the tracks it would be a missile cruising at 4,000 MPH. Hitting the wall would probably rip the entire thing to shreds instantly.

Of course the likelihood that anything like this comes to fruition is probably less than my winning Powerball so I suppose talking about this is just a way for two guys to pass a slow day in the office.

You apparently don't know anything about Elon Musk.

 

[PirateMk1]

Of course, but getting cash is one of the things he's really great at. Science wise this isn't any harder than building rockets to get to the ISS.

The engineering is not totally cutting edge. But there are a lot of other hurdles. I would have to see what is detailed proposal puts out. One thing this vac train would be good for is cargo if its sizable enough. Same day delivery of FED EX and UPS packages and the like. Revolutionize logistics to a degree if it gets cheap enough.

 

[RabidAlpaca]

The engineering is not totally cutting edge. But there are a lot of other hurdles. I would have to see what is detailed proposal puts out. One thing this vac train would be good for is cargo if its sizable enough. Same day delivery of FED EX and UPS packages and the like. Revolutionize logistics to a degree if it gets cheap enough.

Well it's going to start very small, and very expensive. People just need to realize that. He wants to start with a route between LA and SF. He's publishing the technology open hardware (yeah, seriously!), so when people see how the first one works, progress can go pretty quickly after that.

We have to keep the goal in mind, which is the ability to visit anywhere on the globe within hours. One could theoretically live in LA and work in NYC. I could visit my family in the US any weekend I wanted. The possibilities are endless.