The Buckets by Greg Cravens for July 16, 2018

Darn! How am I going to be an “idea man” when all the good ideas are taken?

and shot the poor Moon in the eye.

It almost worked. But only in a Jules Verne novel.

I would think the initial G-Force would squash the astronauts like bugs, but then I’m not a cannon scientist

I was shot out of a cannon at the circus, but when I left they gave that up. Couldn’t find anyone of my caliber. (old joke)

You see. Tobias, this is what happens when you try to think without reading.

A young Gerald Bull and Project HARP.

That was Jules Verne’s idea. More realistic than H.G. Wells’ “Cavorite”.

Or a giant slingshot. Or a loooong railgun. Or a plane with added rockets. Or an elevator.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (George Santayana)

If you shoot an object into orbit from a cannon, the beginning of the second orbit is the exact same place as the beginning of the first orbit. That’s how orbits work. . So your object would crash into the back of your cannon when starting its second orbit. Building a small rocket into your vehicle would allow you to modify the orbit once above the atmosphere and prevent that.

Of course, there’s the problem others have mentioned: finding a way to survive 100g of acceleration for about 10 seconds. That’s much more than the human body can withstand. Also, in order to get the g forces that low, the cannon would have to be approximately 40 miles long.

But those are just details. Toby is an Idea Man.