Hyperloop One Becomes ‘Virgin Hyperloop One’
The original Hyperloop paper quotes its design pressure as “about 1&#x2F;6 the pressure of the atmosphere on Mars” [1]. Martian atmospheric pressure is “about 0.6% of Earth&#x27;s mean sea level pressure” [2]. So 0.1% of Earth’s surface pressure, or a 1,000:1 pressure change.<p>To put that in perspective, the Boeing 787’s GEnx-2B67, the most powerful GEnx engine variant, generates a 43:1 pressure ratio [3]. To get a sense of the engineering differences between 6:1 and 1,000:1, look at NASA’s Space Power Facility [4].<p>The Hyperloop’s thermal issues are a hard enough problem that they alone put this in the domain of materials science. That’s the same category of problems separating us from a space elevator.<p>The Hyperloop always seemed like a transportation system not for this planet. The thermal issues, too, become trivial to solve on Mars: bury the tube. Mars does not appear to be too seismically active [5] and has no existing property rights to take into account [<i>citation needed</i>]. (The lack of water also makes steel more viable.)<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spacex.com&#x2F;sites&#x2F;spacex&#x2F;files&#x2F;hyperloop_alpha-20130812.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spacex.com&#x2F;sites&#x2F;spacex&#x2F;files&#x2F;hyperloop_alpha-201...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Atmosphere_of_Mars" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Atmosphere_of_Mars</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;General_Electric_GEnx" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;General_Electric_GEnx</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Space_Power_Facility" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Space_Power_Facility</a><p>[5] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.space.com&#x2F;418-marsquakes-red-planet-rumble.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.space.com&#x2F;418-marsquakes-red-planet-rumble.html</a>