Quote:
Originally Posted by davidmash
I thought I read somewhere that entering the atmosphere is a gradual thing, not like a layer of nothing and then WHAM!!!! My concern (nott hat you will see me doing this) would be the friction. The Shuttle needs tiles to shield it from the heat.
|
Ya beat me to it. I was thinking that later. The first air molecules you encounter are going to be pretty thin. I mean we know the air is thinner the higher you go. But at some point, acceleration will cease and deceleration begin, until maybe 150 mph, I'm guessing, with the setup he has. But with the right protective gear, shouldn't be a problem.
The real danger with that is like what happened to the crew of the Columbia. They hit the atmosphere doing something like 18,000 mph, and were already in it somewhat. This fellow won't have that problem.