On the days warmed by the sun in the desert North of Las Vegas technology firm demonstrated the modern system of movement. This firm is one of the few companies and universities trying to build the first ‘hyperloop’. In English this word has long become a common noun and refers to what must denote: “hyperloop”, “hyperpoetry”, first proposed by Elon Musk. Hyperloop is a futuristic transport system, resembling a larger version of the pneumatic tubes. How it should work? People sit in the Bob, which will move at the speed of 1200 km/h inside the pipe. It’s practically breaking the sound barrier.
In the afternoon, a three-meter sled dispersed from zero to hundred kilometers per hour in one second. No pipe yet, but the company says a 60-foot pipe is going at the moment for full-scale testing at the end of this year. One Hyperloop, founded one of the first investors in Uber by Servina Pichavaram and former SpaceX engineer Brogan Babagana, attracted $ 100 million investment and should connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas Hyperloop system by 2018.
Sounds cool, but the question remains: is it safe hyperloop?
Two minutes bevatron (sorry)
When Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, proposed the idea in 2013 as an alternative to all possible modes of transportation between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 35 minutes, his proposal was met with equal enthusiasm and skepticism. Wired wrote:
“Hyperloop is a completely fictional device transport, which captivated entrepreneur Elon musk, who continues to talk about him. Presented for the first time not less than 100 years ago, it looks like a green version of the pipe from “Futurama”.
Now it no longer seems fictional. If all goes according to plan, One beans Hyperloop will transport goods and people at speeds of 1200 km/h is 30% faster than the 747 aircraft.
“We are friendly to Granny, the dog and not caused by vomiting,” says Josh, Gigel, senior Vice President, engineering Hyperloop One. — The user experience will not differ much from that received on the ordinary plane”.
But high speed does not turn attraction into bevatron. It acceleration — these exciting moments, when your body accelerates to Mach 1 — it causes nausea.
Imagine a plane taking off. Jet engines explode, pressing you to the seat and squeezing your muscles and bones. This acceleration is usually described as G-force or the force of gravity. Technically referred to as g, but for readability we will leave G.
If you sit at the table or go somewhere at the moment, you are experiencing 1 G. commercial flights, passengers experience an additional 0,1-0,3 G during takeoff and landing. But as soon as the plane gains its constant cruising speed, all again begin to feel 1 G.
“If you fly at a speed of 1000 km/h, you can drink coke and do what you want,” says NASA psychologist Lee stone, not related to any of the teams Hyperloop. — If you in the bus”.
Hyperloop wants to simulate the experience of an airliner by simply connecting additional 0,1–0,3 G during shut-down and start Bob. The required acceleration will last about two minutes.
It turns out that the passenger will feel like during takeoff or landing of aircraft within two minutes. And it seems to be nothing. Only if the hyperloop will not rotate.
“Anyone who has twisted the steering wheel into a sharp turn at speed of 80 km/h, knows that in this moment you ejected from the seat by centrifugal force,” said stone. — The point is that the trajectory of the track will also generate G-forces that cannot be discounted”.
The load limits
Stone knows what he’s talking about. Research center of Ames NASA in studying G-forces from the beginning of 1960-ies. First, they worked with the military and studied the experience of the pilots and the first American astronauts program “mercury”. Over time, the Ames center has built a number of giant centrifuges to test how humans and equipment respond to strong acceleration. The centrifuge whirled on people like a wild carousel. Ames engineers managed to unleash a man to 20 G — he felt the force of gravity to 20 times normal that we feel on Earth.
Trained people can cope with extreme acceleration. The first astronauts who went on the rocket “Saturn-5” in space, have experienced overloads of up to 4 G, says stone. Landing capsule of “Soyuz” Russian production may gain 9 G. giddy (Some birds can reach 7,8 G, is more than gaining some of the most breathtaking roller coaster on the planet in Johannesburg, South Africa).
“Shuttle astronauts experienced at the start of the overload is less than 2 G. It was part of the design of the Shuttle, as we wanted to send into space ordinary people,” said stone. — This overload does not hurt you, but everything changes when congestion is 4-5 G.
The astronauts tightly back and ass during startup, so all the acceleration you have them directly on his chest.
The angle of the seat during launch and landing — a hot topic for discussion. G-force will push you on the chest, this is the most safe direction, ” says Stroun. Because the best thing to do is to send the blood back to you, if you are healthy and not pregnant.”
The fact is that even with the best landing angle, G from the excess turns may cause the blood will splatter on the inside of arteries and veins. As the astronauts take off the blood rushes from the front of the body to the back. Under hard acceleration it’s hard to breathe and get all sorts of things. The astronauts are in the best physical shape in the face of such a test and fighter pilots wear suits that protect them from stroke or loss of consciousness.
One Hyperloop and their main competitor Hyperloop Transportations Technologies say their final versions of beans will slow down during sharp turns, but how much is unknown. The beans will move through magnetic levitation — the same technology is used in trains-Maglev. The fastest speed of the Shanghai Maglev train reaches 500 km/h But at that speed the desired train path on a curve with a radius of 4400 meters so that passengers do not got my hands on your Breakfast or lunch. So what if hyperloop only has no plans to build a giant curves or specifically to slow down when turning, his path will be relatively straight.
Emergency stops have similar problems, given the fact that the rapid slowdown affects the body as well as acceleration. If Bob uses magnetic levitation, sudden power outage will mean a deceleration to zero miles per hour. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies also offers reverse thrust to reduce speed. But a sudden stop would be 10 times worse than a car crash at a speed of 120 km/h.
If you don’t count turns and emergency stop, the consequences for human health on average will be negligible under the condition of maximum overload in about 0.1–0.3 G, says stone. He also said that there are no studies that indicate that short-term exposure to high levels of G causes health problems.
Will your body ride on the Hyperloop?
Ilya Hel