WHAT: Maglev spaceship launch track
WHERE: Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
WHY: Magnetic-levitation technology will drastically reduce launch cost - which now runs about $10,000 per pound - by accelerating spacebound vehicles before their rocket engines kick in.
WHO: Built by NASA and PRT Advanced Maglev Systems, Park Forest, Illinois
HOW: The 50-foot-long, 2-foot-wide test track uses magnetic fields to levitate and accelerate a model spacecraft from 0 to 60 mph in less than 0.5 second. A linear induction motor, powered by 200 kilovolt-amps of electricity, lifts the aluminum vehicle carrier about 0.5 inch above the track. The full-size 1.5-mile track could propel a ship to 400 mph in 9.5 seconds using $75 worth of electricity.
MORE:www1.msfc.nasa.gov
