Remember the old Jules Verne idea of sending people into space by blasting them out of a cannon? Like many a fictional idea, the whole concept's been given a chance at becoming a reality, courtesy of the US Air Force.

Launchpoint Technologies has just received a two-year, $ 500,000 grant from the said U.S. armed service, which involves them proving that it's possible to send non-living matter into space using something in the lines of a gigantic rail-gun

Going into detail, the plans call for the construction a 1.5-mile wide vacuum tunnel. Inserted into this tunnel is a 220-pound capacity sled, which will be driven along by powerful magnets in tube. The sled picks up speed, and as soon as it hits 6 miles per second, the sled is ejected into space by a launch ramp. And for those asking - yeah, it sounds a helluva lot like the Mass Driver facility featured in Gundam SEED.

And if the idea sounds iffy, or you guys were thinking "Why not just use a rocket?", the project's most promising feature is its low cost - the launcher is estimated to burn only USD $ 50,000 per shot, as compared to spending USD $ 5 million dollars for every rocket launch. The launcher's not expected to send up anything live, though, as the 10,000 G's created on launch will turn the next prospective rider into meat sauce...Guld from Macross Plus comes to mind.

“You could send a block of aluminum, water or even frozen mashed potatoes,” project leader Jim Fiske says about the possible cargo for the gun - probably as a means to resupply orbital vehicles like the ISS.  The Air Force plans to use  the launcher to send micro-satellites into orbit upon completion.