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According to early reports the Hyperloop's initial tests (open air tests) were a success at their test track in North Las Vegas. Image.
It didn't go far but it did work. A metal sled accelerated from zero to 116 mph in 1.1 seconds, or about 2.4 Gs of force. It traveled little more than 100 meters, then stopped, kicking up a cloud of sand in the process.
The Verge has a couple articles Here, before the test and test pictures here.
Pencilled in for Q4 2016, however, is what the company is describing as its "Kitty Hawk" moment - a reference to the Wright Brother's first flight - where it plans to run a full-scale test track. Expected to be more than two miles of low-pressure tube, the pod inside should run at over 700 mph if all goes as planned.
Even if the system scales as Hyperloop One expects it to, human passengers may not be welcome, at least initially. The company is looking to cargo transportation as the most likely use for a commercial Hyperloop system - presumably because boxes and crates are less fragile than families - with interest already from a number of countries in a potential logistics system that would run through tubes and underground tunnels.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday May 12 2016, @04:22PM
> Design it around shipping containers, and you've knocked billions off of the cost of transport.
This.
If you can't drop a container straight inside a hyperloop carrier without opening it, you don't integrate with the container system, and therefore you can't really win big.
Shipping containers save handling money and time. Airline containers save handling and time. Heck, even moving companies bring you pods to save handling time.
If you have to open the box to transfer stuff at both ends of the tube, you lose your value proposition.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday May 12 2016, @08:40PM
What about the illegal immigrants hiding in the shipping containers? Every so often a few dozen of them turn up dead or dying at our ports. It's a serious problem. Putting them in one of those tubes wouldn't be beneficial to their health.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Tuesday May 24 2016, @06:10AM
Rather than placing a shipping container inside a vacuum carriage, would it be feasible to place one or more vacuum carriages inside a shipping container?
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