Roller Coasters Go High-Tech

From zero to 60 mph in three seconds, the "Joker's Jinx" at Six Flags America is more than just the newest, fastest thing in roller coasters. The ride's technology is so state-of-the-art, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, it's even throwing rocket scientists for a loop.

Jim Seay, president of Premier Rides, gave some happy thrill seekers in Largo, MD a sneak preview before his latest creation hit the tracks.

"Absolutely incredible," says one rider, a member of the Virginia-based Coaster Zombies club. "That takeoff is incredible."

Premier has perfected a super-powerful linear induction motor technology for roller coasters, "LIM" for short. It turns electrical current into momentum that floats the cars along the rail.

"They create a magnetic wave which travels down the launch tunnel," Seay explains. "The vehicle will literally surf the magnetic wave forward; nothing touches it except the magnetic wave which pulls it along."

It's so cutting edge even the Navy's been checking out Seay's roller coaster motors. They are interested in adapting the technology to launch airplanes from aircraft carriers.

And if that's not enough to put fear in even the most seasoned coaster lover, Seay says NASA hopes the same technology could be used to launch the space shuttle. The electrically powered LIMs could be a cheap replacement for booster rockets.

John Mankins, of NASA's advanced technology studies department says, "the way we would apply it would be as a cost reduction strategy in future space launch vehicles."

All that may be years away, but right now LIM technology is definitely redefining the way coasters roll. And the "Joker's Jinx" may not be the space shuttle, but Seay doesn't laugh at the comparison.

"I would think it's almost as good," Seay notes. "When you get launched into four inversions and 500 tons of steel going sixty miles an hour ... I think you're going to be pretty satisfied when you come off."

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