MIT students shoot levitating Hyperloop pod down a vacuum tube Thursday, 16 February 2017

Engineering students at MIT have achieve a milestone in the continuing development of the SpaceX Hyperloop, by becoming the first to successfully shoot a levitating Hyperloop pod down a 1-mile (1.6 km) vacuum tube.

The Hyperloop is envisioned by Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as the "fifth mode of transportation", where people will be delivered through a system of vacuum tubes connecting major cities. With reduced air friction due to the vacuum, the pods will travel at close to the speed of sound using low-energy propulsion systems.

In 2015, Musk created an international competition, challenging university students to design and build the best Hyperloop. In January 2016, a MIT team earned the Best Overall Design Award, and set out on their next task, to build a functional pod that can safely travel through a tunnel at hundreds of kilometres per hour.

Thirty-five students, including students in aeronautics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and business management, each worked more than 10 hours per week on the project, while attending classes and working on PhD theses and research work.

They designed a small pod capable of travelling at 402 km/h — and in May 2016 unveiled the first ever physical Hyperloop prototype in the world.

In January 2017, the team competed in California. Of the 27 teams, the MIT Hyperloop Team was one of only three to pass a program of safety and design tests, allowing them to race on the Hyperloop track. The Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) team earned the highest score overall. Technical University of Munich (Germany) secured the award for the fastest pod. MIT placed third overall and won an award for safety and reliability.

According to the MIT team, the research outcome is what matters. According to Max Opgenoord, team captain and a graduate student in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the MIT team's ability to demonstrate stable magnetic levitation of their pod was the key focus.

While the TU Munich team covered the longest distance, Opgenoord said, they were using a wheeled pod.

“Using magnetic levitation is much more efficient at higher speeds,” he says.

For now, while the MIT team did not come first, Opgenoord is happy with the fact that they have built a safe and reliable pod that is capable of magnetic levitation and is imminently scalable.