[geeks] ultralight suicide mission

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 @ 15:05 -0500, Phil Stracchino said:

> Sandwich Maker wrote:
> > many years ago i made the rough calc that if you killed your velocity,
> > from a low orbit - 100-200 miles - in free fall you'd be going about
> > mach 1 when you hit serious air.
> > 
> > this is trivial for vehicle reentry, tough but probably doable for a
> > person.
> 
> You'd need to start out with a ribbon chute to shed speed.

Personally, I don't think it is possible, mainly because you can't shed
orbital velocity without going into reentry, and you have to strictly
control how you reenter. Since deceleration causes you to start dropping
immediately, reentry paths seem unavoidable.

I think it will require at least a body shell, maybe something like in
"Starship Troopers". Not just for protection, but to give you the right
flight path. I would imagine they could be shed at parachute height.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["The trade of governing has always been
monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of
mankind.  -- Thomas Paine"]