Congratulations and kudos to Felix Baumgartner on his record-breaking skydive over New Mexico. I hope Joe Kittinger, the previous record-holder, was a good consultant for you. Kittinger was one of my boyhood heroes. His earlier record-setting balloon jump of 1960 was flown with one hand exposed to vacuum, due to a malfunctioning pressure suit glove.
I wonder if you could see the shock waves around you as you broke Mach 1. Kittinger could see the shock waves from locally-supersonic flow over parts of his body, as he got close to breaking Mach. It's a mostly a condensation-shock phenomena that makes the waves visible, although density refraction also plays a role.
What this event says to me is, that if one adds a sacrificial heat shield material of some kind, then bailouts from orbit are possible. That kind of capability might have saved the crew of the Columbia. It is important to know such things. That kind of accident will happen again.
GW
Coming in from orbital speeds would definitely add heat, but wouldn't it add aerodynamic forces too? By "sacrificial heat shield material" are you thinking a flexible layer on the outside of your space suit? If you go into a spin like Baumgartner at Mach 20 instead of Mach 1, would the human body withstand the aerodynamic forces? Of course the density is much lower, so the dynamic pressure is too. Sounds like a fun thesis topic. "The Ergonomics of Hypersonic Compressible Aerodynamics"
ReplyDeleteHi Jacob:
ReplyDeleteHow about an inflatable something like a big round rubber raft, that you fill with a fairly dense urethane foam, once inflated. It should have a cavity in which you recline until reentry is over. The shape should be round, but also sort of conical around you, so that it is inherently aerodynamically stable. It burns so you don't. You tumble out of it around Mach 1-ish, and land on a personnel chute. Not original with me, the idea was studied decades ago as project MOOSE, Man Out of Orbit SoonEst. They couldn't do it then. We can now.
GW