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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!inuxc!fred
From: fred@inuxc.UUCP (Fred Mendenhall)
Newsgroups: net.space,net.columbia
Subject: orbit-60 cents/pound
Message-ID: <1078@inuxc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 16-Nov-84 10:32:25 EST
Article-I.D.: inuxc.1078
Posted: Fri Nov 16 10:32:25 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 19-Nov-84 03:16:23 EST
Organization: AT&T Consumer Products Div., Indianapolis
Lines: 37

I would like to thank those of you who responded to my mass driver
question. The reply that I found the most interesting was from 
Keith Lofstrom. His analysis clearly ignores atmospheric friction and
conversion losses, yet I'm sure that is how the 60 cents per pound 
number was originally calculated. (AT that price even I could afford
to get away from it all)
							
						Fred
						
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In reply to your news message ---
Cost to escape:

One pound        = 0.454 Kg
Escape Velocity  = 11,000 m/s
Energy per pound = 1/2 * m * v^2 = 0.5 * 0.454 * 11000^2 Joules
                 = 27.4 M Joules

1 Kilowatt-Hour  = 1000 Watts * 3600 Seconds = 3.6 M Joules

Energy per pound = 27.4 M / 3.6 M  KWHr = 7.63 KWHr

At 4 cents per KWHr (Pacific Northwest) that's 30.5 cents per pound to escape.

At 8 cents per KWHr (NYC?) that's 61 cents.


The how, of course, is just an engineering detail...



Keith Lofstrom
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