Re: ballistic package delivery

On Sat, 6 Jan 2007, Williamknowsbest wrote:

A decade ago I proposed that sub-orbital rockets be used to deliver
pizza. This at a time when there was great furor over Pizza Hut's
delivery in 30 minutes or less or its free. Lots of pizza delivery
folks were getting in accidents and so forth, since Pizza Hut was
taking the free pizza's out of their limited salary! I showed where a
centrally located pizza kitchen in Kansas could deliver pizza and
drinks anywhere in North America in about 5 minutes. I even opined
that control of the thermal profile during re-entry could finish baking
a pizza so it arrives just out of the oven fresh. Drinks could be
stored in a way so that the venting of cryogenic propellants would keep
them bone chilling cold. Advanced GPS guidance - similar to JDAMs which
would come later - would deliver payloads precisely, and the re-entry
vehicle could even land on an outdoor table and the lid would pop off
revealing a hot pizza, and cold beers would roll down the landing gear
to stop at the footpad.

Yea, but how do I recycle the container?

This fanciful idea has been studied more seriously recently by an MIT
graduate; Jared Martin, who now works at The Aerospace Corporation.

I received my Masters of Engineering in Aeronautics and Astronautics
from MIT in 1999. My thesis was titled, "Exploring Fast Package
Delivery from a Systems Perspective," and was a collaborative effort
with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Emery Worldwide, and UPS.
Fast Package Delivery refers to the delivery of precious cargo over
intercontinental distances in a matter of hours, and provides a
potential market to help offset the enormous costs associated with the
development and operation of Reusable Launch Vehicles.

While Jared focused on precious cargo, its a step in the right
direction. Sending things across town or around the world
ballistically is energetically favored over dragging it through the air
or across the land or sea. Compare tossing a baseball across the field
to rolling it across the field.

With low cost disposable propulsive skins powered by Earth bound and
space based lasers, which are part of a beamed power system for the
planet (powernet) it is a certainty that ballistic transport and
package delivery systems will be common place on this world at some
point in the future.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: My first convention (and I met JMS!!!)
    ... David Williams wrote: ... There was one guy who ordered a small cheese pizza, late every Saturday night, but always tipped $2-3. ... And we would drive PAST other delivery points, even if their pizzas were older to get him his first, still mouth-blistering hot - sometimes in as little as 10 minutes from hanging up the phone ... My manager and I joked about "The Holy Grail", that is, a cute girl who tips well and answers the door in a form-fitting wifebeater and boxer shorts (they tended to be in the apartment complexes on Holloman near 2818, on the far side of College Station). ...
    (rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)
  • Re: Needle guns
    ... Nostra Pizza" over the company logo on my nametag, ... delivery times and highest "total $$ of business that passed through my ... and "go around instead of through the traffic light" trick available. ... Hint to pizza drivers who may be reading: ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: hey Jay, other hotel stayers
    ... As for pizza delivery drivers, ... "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, ...
    (rec.sport.football.college)
  • ballistic package delivery
    ... This at a time when there was great furor over Pizza Hut's ... delivery in 30 minutes or less or its free. ... My thesis was titled, "Exploring Fast Package ...
    (sci.space.policy)