*Gulp* If you haven’t seen this video yet, its worth a look. On December 10, 2010, the Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun fired a world-record setting 33 megajoule shot, breaking the previous record of 32 MJ. Railguns accelerate a conductive projectile along a pair of metal rails, and are being researched as weapons. The projectiles do not contain explosives, but with extremely high velocities can do quite a bit of damage. “Velocitas Eradico” indeed. (Speed destroys). Of course the other potential use for a railgun would be to launch payloads off Earth or the Moon. Make sure you watch the high-speed portion of the camera following the projectile along its flight. And you might flinch (I know I did!) in the portion where the projectile basically comes right at you.
Space and astronomy news