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A comment on NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites into orbit. Parent comment

Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i... by bArray on Friday April 15, 2022 @12:50AM (#31036686)
> Though if NASA have chosen to enter into a contract them that gives a big credibility boost. It'll be very interesting to see how it goes.

NASA also funded experiments into the microwave engine thing [1], and that turned out to be bunk [2].

The point is, these are just tests. They give them a fair shake and see what happens. I highly suspect there are simply too many problems with flinging stuff into space for it to be practical.

[1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/nasa-impo...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RF_resonant_cavity_thruster

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Re:NASA will test SpinLaunch's ability to fling satellites i... by jazzyjackson on Friday April 15, 2022 @02:03AM (#31037022)
Plus the soul of NASA is innovating material and techniques for doing what can't yet be done -- even attempting the plainly impossible is likely to give engineers a fair shot at inventing something novel just trying to make it work.
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