A Hyperloop Pod, Fired Through a Tube at 200 MPH for the First Time

The first-ever public demonstration of the Hyperloop train-in-a-tube concept was ... underwhelming, with a sled limping along an open-air track in the Nevada desert. But things are  improving. Last month, Hyperloop One managed to fire a sled through a tube in near-vacuum, hitting 70 miles per hour in five seconds. But now the company has fired its first pod–a kind of pointy-looking 28-foot long train carriage—through one of its tubes for the first time. Evacuated of most of its air to reduce drag, the low-pressure tube allowed the pod to retract its wheels, run on mag-lev, and reach 192 mph in five seconds. There’s still a ways to go—the company ultimately promises human transit at speeds of 700 mph—but the company is finally beginning to show the world that the concept works. In a striaght test tube in a desert, at least.