Ignition New Zealand August 2017 | Page 21

the future is here Hyperloop high speed travel Imagine travelling from Christchurch capsule to the appropriate speed. of a commercial airliner taking off to Auckland in a little over an hour With rolling resistance eliminated and landing. At those speeds, there without stepping on a plane. and air resistance greatly reduced, would not be a sonic boom. The future of high speed, mass the capsules can glide for the bulk transit transport is closer than we of the journey. think with Hyperloop. The brain child An electrically driven inlet fan and of billionaire, Elon Musk, Hyperloop air compressor would be placed at is set to revolutionise transport. the nose of the capsule to actively The Hyperloop concept operates by transfer sending specially designed capsules the front to the rear of the vessel, or pods through a steel tube which resolving the problem of air pressure is maintained at a partial vacuum. building in front of the vehicle, In the original Hyperloop concept, slowing it down. pods would float on a thin layer of When the So how long until we are boarding air which is under pressure, allowing Hyperloop is truely mind blowing. the Hyperloop for our long haul it to be suspended much like a puck The proposed average speed is journeys? Still very much in the on an air hockey table, allowing for around out testing and development phase, the ultra high speeds that wheels could at a top speed of approximately first Hyperloop links are scheduled not sustain. 1,200km/h. design for approval between 2020 - 2025. located proposes passengers will experience Construction and completion of the along the side of the steel tubing a maximum inertial acceleration of approved links will commence in would accelerate and decelerate the 0.5g which is about 2-3 times that earnest after that. Linear induction motors it high-pressure comes 970 to km/h, The air from speed, maxing current Imagine travelling from Christchurch to Auckland in a little over an hour without stepping on a plane. CAPRICORN IGNITION AUGUST 2017 21