up up and away in a: cannon!

[InigoMontoya]

Hello folks. Newb here. First post. But I'll give it a stab.

 

1) I'd position the muzzle of my cannon atop a high peak as near the equator as I can. Mt. Kilamenjaro would be nice were it not for the fact that it's an inactive volcano that still has Hot Stuff not too far from the surface. Maybe something in the Andes? In any event...

 

2) Atop that mountain I would drill a hole similar to those used in nuclear testing. You know, about 5000' deep and arrow straight. The hole would, of course, be jacketed.

 

3) Set a 500 kTon (or so) nuke at the bottom of the hole.

 

4) Place an enormous copper slug on top. I say copper because it's reasonably dense, ductile, and has good heat transfer characteristics. A Tungsten pusher plate might be desirable. I don't know... 'Tis not like this is going to be built any time soon.

 

5) Boom.

 

 

Would it work? Well, I know that vault doors were thrown great distances at very high speeds during underground testing at the NTS (not on purpose, mind you) so there's clearly propulsive capabilities to nukes in tunnels.

 

In any event... I figure it's reasonably cheap, totally doable with current technology, and whether it works or not it would be spectacular to witness.