The BBC makes the
prediction that we will possibly build a building as tall as ten
thousand meters or as tall as Mount Everest. My real problem with
that idea is that assuming it is possible, just why would we actually
do it? There are far too many problems and unwarranted risks
involved.
However, it still led me
to consider a serious variation. It would really be helpful to be
able to accelerate mass into space. To do this I have proposed
building a slanted launch tube inside a tall mountain and it could
easily be taken to the that height in some locales like Everest. The
tube would be evacuated before launch and the vehicle could leave the
tube at the maximum mach possible for ten thousand meters.
Doing all that makes it
reasonable to tie in the support tunnels and the like into horizontal
access tunnels that reach the surface of the mountain. Then large
structures could easily be built there providing living suites
without over building the base itself at excessive cost. Certainly
at the lower breathable levels, consumer demand should be excellent
and ongoing.
It may not defray all the
capital costs but it would certainly make all the necessary
infrastructure sustainable.
The sonic boom itself
would be on the other side of the mountain away from such structures.
Something like this could
house tens of thousands.
If you want to use a tube for launches, surely it would be less of a problem to set up a wind tunnel MagLev railgun rather than an enclosed/capped system which must nonetheless pass a projectile.
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