Originally Posted by
Mobile 155
Good article, thanks.
Not to worry though. The proposal makes perfect sense to anyone thinking about material for sci-fi scripts about an alternate reality where the real world engineering and economic issues and societal priorities are easily overcome/ignored by so-called critical thinking, day dreaming, and willful ignorance of reality.
Extract from the cited article:
"The Problems Plaguing the Hyperloop
Constructing a tube hundreds of kilometers long would be an engineering marvel in of itself. However, introducing a tube hundreds of kilometers long that operates at a near perfect vacuum which can support the force of capsule weighing thousands of kilograms as it travels hundreds of kilometers an hour is
nothing short of sci-fi fantasy.
Small scale experiments reveal the fundamentals of the idea are sound. Although,
in the real world, there are too many factors that cannot be accounted for with a small scale design.
In the real world, there are tens of thousands of kilograms of atmospheric pressure which threatens to crush any vacuum chamber. There is also the problem with thermal expansion which threatens to buckle any large structure without proper thermal expansion capabilities.
The Hyperloop would also be stupendously expensive. There are many unavoidable problems facing the Hyperloop that threaten the structural integrity, and every human life on board. The problems can be addressed, but at a great cost."