Watch What It's Like To Be Hurled Into Space By A Giant Centrifuge At 1,000 MPH
Start-up SpinLaunch has an innovative way of demonstrating how we can send payloads into orbit without the need for chemical propellent from the get-go. Basically, spin the payload incredibly fast in a very large centrifuge, then let it go on the right trajectory and speed to reach space. For their latest test, they added a camera so you can see what it looks like being shot into space, and the results are dizzying.
The company has conducted several tests with its suborbital mass accelerator, reaching velocities that break the speed of sound and an altitude close to a jetliner. Their eighth test, conducted on April 22, is particularly exciting because they included an optical payload on the 3-meter (10-foot) long projectile – meaning they put a camera on board.
Thanks to that, you can now experience what it would be like to be spun around by a 33-meter (108-feet) centrifuge and then hurled into the sky. The queasiness-inducing footage shows the camera spinning in the centrifuge before being launched, and then the whole rocket spins as it leaves the ground behind. This spinning is actually on purpose to add additional stability in flight.
