Does the idea of leaping out of a spaceship with just a specially-adapted spacesuit and parachute thrill you? Thanks to a group of space scientists, the day you find yourself awaiting the order to jump 120,000 feet above earth could be closer than you think. And it's not just an idea for extreme sports fans, as the two men behind the idea reckon that Space Diving could be used as a safety function for astronauts whose ship has malfunctioned.
Orbital Outfitters, run by Rick Tumlinson, a longtime civilian space booster who founded the Space Frontier Foundation, and Jonathan Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon, has already started to develop the equipment it thinks is needed to achieve the feat. Clark, whose wife Laurel perished in 2003's Columbia disaster, believes that the smaller the body is attempting re-entry, the less the chance it has of breaking up - hence the thinking behind space dives being used for NASA emergencies.
The 120,000-foot jump is seen as mere baby (space) steps, as Rick and Jonathan are aiming to make the 150-mile survival jump reality. This would involve falling at speeds of over 2,500 mph before a special drogue chute opens to stabilize their descent on entry to the Earth's outer atmosphere.
By the time the jumper reaches our planet's denser atmosphere, he or she will be travelling at more manageable 120mph. Then the conventional chute opens, allowing the brave individual a more-or-less normal landing back on land, and it's back to the bar for a celebratory beer with your friends - that is, if you landed close by where you told them you'd meet up. -Addy Dugdale
High Dive [Popular Science via Sci-Fi Tech]
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
There's also the intriguing possibility that, should your chute fail to open, you'll hit the ground at around twice the speed of sound. If Jackson Pollock was still alive, surely he'd be salivating at the artistic possibilities.
I'd love to do that!
This story reminded me of a poem that predates this by 13 years!
Falling From Space
Falling from space my suit was now blazing from searing heat and reentry phasing;
I panic and scream but my screams are not heard through the thunderous roar of the atmosphere stirred.
If I live through this fall it will be the first trip my suit being useless I begin to strip.
But I keep on my chute so I don't go kersplat, I hope it's not it and that is not that!
Jumping from space? ... Well that's already been done, but I'll be the first naked man making this run.
Now I'm starting to get cold as I flail through the air and I'm streaking toward earth with the wind in my hair.
But a high flying jet is now headed at me so while grabbing my ankles I bend over to see.
In a perfect position to kiss my ass good-bye the jet takes a turn and I let out a sigh.
But the wind from the jet stream is making me freeze I let go of giving my ass cheeks a squeeze.
I open my chute and drift through the air unclothed, freezing, alone and bare.
Then I notice the camera all floating near by so I moon them severely so they'll know I'm not shy.
I land on a woman and straddle her face and say, "I'm sorry, I just fell from space."
A PoemAround™ by David Stollenwerk & Orrin Kuhne
Copyright © 1994 All Rights Reserved
Ah! But what about drag! Thus, once the atmosphere is hit, and as velocity increases, so does the drag, thus balancing bouyant and gravitational forces, creating a ceiling, or terminal, velocity! The average of such a velocity for a human falling with outstretched arms as around 120 mph, far slower than the speed of sound.
Thus, a nice human-shaped dent would be made on a soft surface, but the abstract re-presentation of the human form would be less than pronounced even on the most solid of surfaces!
You're not going to hit substantially faster than terminal velocity are you?
& I bet he/she would shout bungee too ha!ha!,
Please!!!!!!!
Nasa built a one man re-entry system in the 1960. They (or was it conjuction with the Russians) also tested a inflatable cone shaped re-entry device that was big enough for a man a few years ago.
Check out Robert Heinlein's book, Starship Trooper. He had a one man re-entry pod and wrote about it in the 1950's!
If you give it rockets it would be a spaceship!