Route Planning Task

While this is obviously a critical task, it became even more important and more extensive than had earlier been thought when I learned that Chimborazo had a permanent glacier. How to route the cannon barrel under, through, or over the glacier could be very complex and costly. In additon, each route alternative would have very different long term operating expenses.

Looking for Web Site Host

I have been reviewing candidate web site hosts to see if I can find one that will support this project well. I have not seen an example of a project run from a web site but I am sure it can be done.

I also posted a new study task that will examine the tradeoffs involved in range of escape velocities, accuracy of velocities, accuracies of time of launch, accuracies need to use other bodies (moon, Venus, Mercury) to redirect projectiles. The key here is whether the projectile can be fired with sufficient precision to avoid the need for some of type of mid course correction

New Approach to the Project Management

After seeing the limitations of the BLOG it seems hopeless to try to use it to manage this project. So I will just use this blog to give a summary of progress of my particular efforts. In keeping with this philosophy in the last day or so I have set up a sheet of paper in my hobby room about 3 feet high by about 10 feet long. I have identified 30 or 40 tasks so far that must be accomplished. I have written the title of each of these on sticky pads and placed them on the paper in some semblence of the order in which they will occur. I thought of a couple more tasks today and will add them to the chart the first chance I get. Just looking at what I have so far would lead me to guess that if I received full funding tomorrow, it would probably be 15 years before we fired our first nuclear waste projectile.

1.1 Atmosphere transit study

This the first item on the critical path. Completion is needed to set bounds for other design tasks. The goal of this task is to determine the energy needed to exit the atmosphere after the projectile has exited the cannon. The projectile must exit the cannon with enough energy to pass through the atmosphere and still have a residual velocity that exceeds the earth's escape velocity (or there abouts) when the projectile enters outer space. The task also need to address the type of nose cone that would be needed to allow the projectile to survive the transit. In the worst case it could be assumed that the projectile would lift the entire column of air above it to escape velocity; this should provide an upper bound to the energy for the process and provide some guidance of what the velocity the projectile must have when it leaves the cannon. The design constraints for the nose cone would provide inputs for the size and shape of the projectile.

Goal for the site

I hope to provide a project plan for the development of a nuclear waste cannon (NWC). The NWC will ultimately be used to fire some 1 million tons of nuclear waste into the sun over a period of approximately 20 to 30 years. The overall plan will include an evacuated pipe (cannon barrel) some several miles long. The cannon will be constructed up the side of a tall mountain (Chimborazo) in Ecuador. A projectile of approximately 100 kilograms will be fired through the cannon. As a starting point it will be assumed that the projectile will be accelerated magnetically and will be levitated magnetically. The exit end of the NWC will include a length of specialized cannon that will allow the projectile to exit with minimum loss of vacuum in the main barrel. This exit end will also be used to fine tune the exit velocity. After exit from the cannon the projectile will pass through the atmosphere and will arrive in outer space at the velocity needed to arrive at the sun. The moon, Venus, and Mercury may be used to redirect the trajectory of the projectile such that that the NWC may be used 24/7 if possible.

The first five years after construction will be a test period. During this time the NWC will be used to send fuel and other supplies to either moon orbit or possibly to one of the stable points in the earth's orbit. A net arrangement will allow capture of the projectiles as they arrive at the moon.

Once the NWC accuracy and reliability have been established the NWC will begin firing projectiles containing nuclear waste. These projectiles will be directed into the sun where they will be converted to gas. The projectiles will have no measurable impact on the sun.

Organization of the project: I will try to break out each task involved in the early development of the NWC Project into individual tasks that can be taken on by one or more individuals. I will post these tasks on different days. As time goes on it will be necessary to change the tasks to fit the knowns as the project develops. For example a 100 kilogram projectile may be a bad choice; other factors may move toward a larger or smaller size. Also it may take several nuclear reactors along the route to power the cannon; but further analysis may show that only one is needed. I would like to establish a public link to the person who agrees to take on a particular task. I will try to maintain an overall plan for the project that I will published periodically as we make progress. The first few tasks will be be to find the tall poles in the tent; that is those technical problems that may render the project technically or economically impossible.