Universe Today
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.
Navy Railgun Sets a New Record
Nancy Atkinson
Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.
Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.
Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com