By Guest Writer: James Frater
One of my favorite novels remains Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.” One of the many cool things in that story is a linear accelerator they had on the moon, which the moon colony utilized as a weapon to leverage the colony’s independence.
There is a very cool video of some science fiction that has become science fact. The gun is a miniature linear accelerator, mounted on a navy vessel. The round is fired without a chemical explosion; it is rather accelerated by magnets and comes out the end of the barrel way faster than conventional rounds – about Mach 6. Very cool!! (I mean Kool)
Let me direct your attention to the link below and the video below it.
U.S. Navy Readies a Full-Scale Electric Railgun for Sea Trials
