Abstract
NASA and the US Navy are exploring magnetic fields in search of quicker, smoother, and cheaper launches. A Navy program based in Lakehurst, NJ, wants to learn if magnetic propulsion is the answer. It awarded two contracts in December for what it calls the electromagnetic aircraft launch system. One award went to Northrop Grumman of Sunnyvale, California, and the other to General Atomics in San Diego. NASA is in the second year of a three-year program to investigate magnetic launch technology. The systems under study by NASA combine linear induction, to accelerate the vehicle to launch speed, with magnetic levitation, using opposing magnetic fields to suspend the vehicle above its track. The Navy’s catapult program does not require magnetic levitation. The US Maglev Technology Assessment, written jointly by the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Transportation, points out that since ‘magnetic drag is small at high speeds, only aerodynamic drag consumes appreciable energy.
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