Maglev trains use magnets to provide a frictionless environment, so theoretically, it should be possible to get one of them to the roughly 20, 000 mph required to launch an object into orbit.
To date, balloon-borne activities have centered around heliophysics and astrophysics that have not required precision-pointing, says Near-Earth Object (NEO) program officer Rob Landis at NASA headquarters.
Late Friday, Republican Members of Congress indicated they would not object to a three-month increase to the U.S. debt ceiling, which provides the time required to pass a budget.