Will be building a Hyperloop test track for companies and student teams to test out their pods. Most likely in Texas.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 15, 2015
Five-mile Hyperloop test track is probably being built in Texas.
There’s all sort of Elon Musk news this week, and we’re not just talking about holding off the robot apocalypse.
First up, the SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO has announced that he wants to build a five-mile-long Hyperloop test track, giving both corporations and student groups a facility to test passenger pod designs.
The facility will probably be built in the Lone Star State, said Musk to an audience at the Texas Transportation Forum (and on Twitter, as evidenced here). Given Musk’s affinity for the state (or rather, its willingness to let him build all sorts of industrial space, like Tesla’s Gigafactory, and a SpaceX launch facility), it’s no surprise that a Hyperloop track is coming its way as well.
For the uninitiated: Musk’s Hyperloop concept is essentially a large pneumatic tube for transporting humans a long distance at an incredible speed. In other words, it’s like the tube your parents used to use at their bank drive-through when they were depositing checks and the like.
Musk’s original idea saw a self-powering track connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, with passenger pods traveling up to 800 mph. The trip would take about 30 minutes at max speed, and the track would theoretically be earthquake-resistant.
It’s important to keep in mind that this is a test track, so the closest you’ll get is if press is ever allowed on-board several years down the line. We’re still many, many years away from this concept being used as a legitimate transportation vehicle.
And that’s not all from Mr. Musk. Earlier today, SpaceX uploaded video (in Vine form, embedded below) of the ocean-based Falcon 9 rocket landing attempt. “Close, but no cigar,” is right, as the rocket touches the platform…but at an awkward angle. It’s hard to gauge how big the rocket is in the video, so keep in mind that the latest version of the Falcon 9 is about 68 feet tall, with a 12-foot diameter.
The landing failure is being attributed to the stabilization fins failing, as Musk explains in a series of tweets to everyone’s favorite game dev, VR nut, and rocket scientist, John Carmack.
Source: ABC News
