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what about vacuuming the cannon? like those ping pong ball cannons?


You would also have to vacuum all the space between the cannon and space, and at that point you have a space elevator you can just climb up.


What happens when you leave the cannon? Either the cannon exit is near ground level, in which case you still have the air resistance problems; or it's not, in which case you have the problems of building very a tall cannon.


you don't have to exit the cannon at high speed, the v^2 drag will kill you. You're just trying to put some kinetic energy in the rocket in a way that doesn't make you carry it. you don't have to put all the energy in it that way, the current system works, it's just a tentative improvement.

But your answer makes me feel you've not seen the ping pong ball cannons, because they have very good results with a very low mass.




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