XPost: sci.space.policy   
   From: mikecombs@nospam.com_chg_nospam_2_ti.retro.com   
      
    wrote in message   
   news:1138649079.077432.314090@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...   
   >   
   > , as I think electromagnetic mass driver   
   > proponents have suggested, lasers beyond the release point could zap   
   > the payload and tweak the trajectory.   
      
   I think you mean electron beams.   
      
   > Again, it's the superconducting 'buckets' that make a 'simple' mass   
   > driver not so simple.   
      
   I've been wondering recently if Halbach Arrays of permanent magnets might   
   could replace the superconducting coils of a mass-driver bucket.  I do know   
   they can be arrayed in toroidal shapes.   
      
   --   
      
      
   Regards,   
   Mike Combs   
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------   
   By all that you hold dear on this good Earth   
   I bid you stand, Men of the West!   
                                                        Aragorn   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)