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A comment on SpinLaunch raises $40M to build a machine to catapult objects into space. Parent comment

Re:SpinLaunch raises $40M to build a machine to catapult obj... by JoeAltmaier on Friday June 15, 2018 @10:28AM (#17320010)
I can imagine a heavy dead weight accelerated in the slingshot. Once released, it drags a cable, carefully laid out at an angle, with the payload attached. That payload would be accelerated into line behind the weight over a brief period. Taking fewer Gs and only once.

Very long cables are a lot cheaper than very large slingshots?

Anyway just thinking out loud.

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Re:SpinLaunch raises $40M to build a machine to catapult obj... by JumpCrisscross on Friday June 15, 2018 @10:43AM (#17320092)
> Once released, it drags a cable, carefully laid out at an angle, with the payload attached

Unless your cable were elastic, this would not materially change the payload's acceleration. That said, you might find skyhooks [1][2] interesting.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyhook_%28structure%29

[2] http://adventuretime.wikia.com/wiki/Skyhooks

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Re:SpinLaunch raises $40M to build a machine to catapult obj... by JoeAltmaier on Friday June 15, 2018 @10:51AM (#17320157)
Of course it would. Like a lever has different forces on the short end and the long end, the cable could be curved and lengthened to control exactly the rate of transfer of momentum between weight and payload.
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