Space Travel on Earth:
The space travel on earth program uses vacuum tubes with Airlocks at stations, to transport capsules through airless tubes for faster, greener and comfortable ride. The transportation system consists of an electric car-sized capsule for passengers, weighing only 183 kilograms. The capsule travels through the tube of roughly 1.5m diameter, over maglev in a frictionless way. Each capsule can carry up to 367 kilograms of cargo or six people much like an ordinary vehicle, and acceleration is provided by electric motors. Once powered, the capsule is released to propel through the vacuum without extra power.
Although the ET3 tubes resemble the transport system by Hyperloop One since it eradicates the aerodynamic drag by using the vacuum to attain speeds of 6,500 kilometers per hour, however, the technology differs from Hyperloop because it is not a train technology. The speeds of 6,500 kilometers per hour or 4000 miles an hour can allow passengers/cargo to journey between New York and Beijing in merely 2 hours. 2 hours to travel on the other side of the planet.
“Our vision is being able to travel from, say, here in Cincinnati to the Taj Mahal in under three hours for 50 bucks. In ET3 we call it a mag-lev limo, where it’s a car-sized vehicle that operates in a network of tubes much like cars on a freeway. But, it would be international and global in scope” CEO of ET3, Daryl Oster.
The futuristic speeds of the transportation system are not the only wow-factor here. The lightweight capsules need building material as small as 1/20th of what it needs to build high-speed rails. A tubes pair using automated passive switching allows the capacity of a 32- lane freeway. ET3 claims reduced construction cost at 1/10th the cost of high-speed rail, or 1/4th the cost of a freeway.
At the moment, ET3 is in the process to choose the location to build the prototype that demonstrates an operational speed of 600-kilometer per hour or 375 miles an hour. The steps involve a 3-mile straight passage to showcase the functionality and then to extend at the regional level. India and China are the ideal locations for the initial system implementation, according to the company’s Facebook posts. Other desirable features of the location include major cities, unpopulated flat and dry terrain, etc.
The space travel on earth is rightly named for what it offers to masses, with incredible speeds and clean futuristic and inexpensive transportation solutions. We just cannot wait to see it in action.
