[geeks] ultralight suicide mission

[Brian Dunbar]

Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> Wed, 01 Nov 2006 @ 09:55 -0700, Dan Duncan said:
> 
>> On Tue, 31 Oct 2006, Phil Stracchino wrote:
>>> Jump off the trailing side, on the other hand, and you'll smack into the
>>> cable.  You'll smack into it relatively gently, as far as lateral
>>> velocity is concerned; but you'll be moving downward at a pretty good
>>> clip by then, and it'll probably hurt, especially if you hit a car on
>>> its way up.
>> Even if you don't hit a car, think "belt sander" or "bandsaw."
>> If it didn't flay your skin off, it would probably at least
>> shred your spacesuit at which point you'd be dead anyway.
> 
> Also, how would you jump off of the tether?
> 
> I would think the only place you could jump off would be the station,
> which needs to be fairly far out because they want it to be zero or
> slightly negative Gs. The counterweight is at geo-synchronous altitude.
> 
> Also, from what I've read if you jumped off the station, you would not
> fall, you would be flung away from Earth. Part of the reason for the
> station location is to make launches easy.
> 
> 

How?  Just step off.  You will fall - from your frame of reference
you're on a really tall tower.  Gravity will have it's way with you.

Undo your seat-belt first or you'll look foolish getting halfway out of
your seat and having the retraction mechanism yank you back.

Step off below GEO you'll fall.  Far enough up and you'll fall around
the earth - hey presto an elliptical orbit.  Step off at GEO and you're
in orbit at GEO.  Step off above the point and you're on your way out
and up.  If you 'lift' all the way to the end at 100,000 km  and let go 
you'll reach escape velocity.

If you're lucky you'll be the first human to leave  cis-lunar space and 
have some notoriety attached to your name.

I've kidded around that the vehicle that deploys the ribbon and ends up
at the bitter end needs to have the following signage on the hull in
bold font

"WATCH THAT LAST STEP .. IT'S A DOOZY"


-- 
Brian Dunbar
System Administrator
Liftport - The Space Elevator Company

brian.dunbar at liftport.com
aim: bdunbar1967

this email is: [ ] bloggable [x] ask first [ ] private

Remember.
But move forward, too. Light a candle, yes. But also drive a rivet.
~Lileks