Quote:
Originally Posted by dammage79
Talking about inertia right? Someone should understand what I am getting at when I ask this: In a zero G environment what is the speed at which you can get to before the inertia gets too strong for the human body to withstand it?
Liquid stasis could solve this issue as well I think.
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Same as on earth, with the exception of going up. And the issue isn't speed, it's acceleration. On earth going sideways, inertia is the same as in microgravity going in any direction. That's why astronauts practice/test in those spinning centrifuges. Inertia is the same everywhere regardless of atmosphere or gravity well, except in gravity wells you must add the inertia attributed to gravity.
Going sideways, you know for a fact, that those spinning centrifuges do not make anywhere near a fraction of the speed of light, no matter how you multiply it up.
The big problem with humans riding on rail guns is that all the acceleration occurs within the barrel. The faster you go, the more acceleration needed within that short distance. Liquid stasis, or "inertial dampers" i guess you could call it, are not the most efficient method of accelerating a vessel to fractions of the speed of light. You gotta do it relatively slowly, certainly slower than a rail gun, if you are going to have humans aboard it. You can use them as assisted launchers in space, though not at it's fullest capacity, but the big value in my humble opinion, is for cargo. Launch all the kit you need ahead of you, then follow it with a lot less fuel with humans aboard using other methods.
The only way you could make a rail gun work for humans is to lengthen the barrel. And it would have to be loooong. the distance from the earth to the moon would probably not be long enough.