Space Diving

Anonymous Coward writes "There's a Canadian company that wants to introduce a new sport called "space diving." It's like sky diving, but from space down to earth. But the interesting thing is the inspiration behind space diving: NASA had a wacked-out idea in the '60s for astronauts to return to earth without a capsule. The astronauts were expected to leap from the capsule toward earth with nothing but a spacesuit, a backpack, and a retrorocket gun to save them. A ballute (maybe filled with nitrogen or helium but I checked and a light foam was considered) in the backback would slow the reentry so the astronaut wouldn't char, and then parachutes would guide a traditional descent. But the weirdest part is they'd have to fire the gun to point themselves to the right height and position to come down over land. I'd never heard of this escape system before. Read the article."

Comments

That's what ballutes are for

[XNormal]

Ballute=baloon+parachute

A regular parachute will not deploy because there is not enough air, but the ballute will inflate and create just enough drag in the thin atmosphere to stabilize the spacediver.

I wonder if Cheryl Stearns is also considering using a ballute for her record setting dive.

----

MOOSE, Paracone, et al.

[SEWilco]

Here is a collection of space rescue designs. I personally like the Paracone -- a cone unfolds around you after the retro burn. Accuracy only good enough to hit a continent, but as long as there's air that's good enough.

And let's not forget the space diving scene that Voyager's Torres does. Hopping out of a shuttlecraft and doing reentry wearing a spacesuit covered with heat tiles.

Re:Easy to see now why this never launched.

[Aphexian]

Mmmmm....Sounds tasty....Hell, they could use the rockets to slow-roast the lamb on the way up...

Absurd

[AndyMan!]

As a skydiver, this is quite possibly the single most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

The article mentions jumping from a hight of 62 miles. That's interesting.

The highest jump ever performed to date was done by a guy name Joe Kittinger back in the 60's. His jump from a weather balloon was from an altitude of about 103,000 feet - or 19.5 miles.

The highest skydive EVER done was only at 19 miles, when this space article is talking about over 60 miles. Hrm. Yeah, I'll just line up for that one.

Whenever you hear stories about NASA (the air force, actually) testing escape procedures during the moon program, well - this is it. Kittinger was an air force captain.

It's interesting to note that Kittinger actually experienced a failure of his spacesuit during the jump. He landed with a (american) football sized right hand. He did not suffer any long term effects of the injury.

Kittinger's jump was scheduled to be one of three jumps. It was not repeated because a: it was two dangerous, b: it was too expensive.

Cheryl Sterns is going just a few thousand feet higher in her attempt. Read about it on Discover.com Should she succeed she will hold the record for the highest jump. To pay for her jump, Cheryl has organized the support of a great many sponsors.

You'll often hear snipits about both Kittinger and Sterns having to wear drogue parachutes to help keep them stable. While it was true for Kittinger, it is not true for Sterns. Kittinger required a drogue parachute for one simple reason: they hadn't figured out how to maintain a stable body position at any altitude.

Sterns will not require one, but may choose to use one. As she gets higher, obviously the air preasure gets smaller. The reduced air preasure will allow her to fall faster. The higher you go, the faster you fall. The faster you fall, the "wind" in your face increases. Your ability to control yourself is dependant upon the amount of "wind" in your face.

IE - if you're at terminal velocity, you can control yourself. As the air preasure decreases, terminal velocity increases.

Anyways, why is this absurd?

First of all the cost. Skydivers are really going to pay for a DISPOSABLE TWO-PHASE SOLID FUEL ROCKET???? WTF??? ARE YOU NUTS?

Secondly, it's a HELL OF A LOT cheaper to go to the altitude that Kittinger did or Sterns will. Why? weather balloons are a hell of a lot cheaper then two-phase rockets.

Thirdly, the return on investment just isn't that great. I mean, you've tripple the altitude (19 miles vs 60), but you need to remember that the higher you go, the less air resistance, the faster you go. By tripleing the distance, I seriously doubt you'd get a significantly longer freefall.

known estimated freefall times:

10,000 feet: 40 seconds. [*]
15,000 feet: 60 seconds. [*]
26,000 feet: 100 seconds. [*]
100,000 feet: 220 seconds!
327,000 feet: ???

* - from my personal log book.

Anyways, I'm offering bets that we won't be seeing this anytime in our lifetime... or our kids... or our grandkids... It just doesn't make sense.

_Am

Isn't one prize enough?

[El Puerco Loco]

These folks are obviously trying to win both the X-Prize and a Darwin award in one go. Thats getting a little too greedy if you ask me.

^. .^
( @ )

Soylent Foods, Inc.

Here's somebody who's allready thinking about this

[thomkt]

Here's somemore from Discovery.com

Re:The new ValuJet

[grantdh]

I'm seeing new uses for building roofs. Executives could land exactly on the building they wanted to visit, rather than waiting for cabs and lugging luggage through security checkpoints. As a frequent flier, let me just say that this is one heck of an idea.

"Thank you for flying air re-entry - you are about to touch down on your chosen building in downtown Boston. Your hand luggage is touching down in Manhattan and your underhold luggage is touching down in London, Paris and Prague. We hope you will appreciate the fact that your body is still intact. We look forward to trying to correct this oversight on future flights."

:)

Tandem Jumping

[grantdh]

OK, so right now I can go and do a sky-diving tandem jump - I strap on to an instructor and off we go. I wonder if they'll have this facility (or equivalent) in this service. Hmmmm - given the joys of orienting/stabilising in zero-g, I'd prefer to do this the first time with an instructor.

Of course, this immediately leads to:

"Any ol' loser can be in the Mile High Club, but I joined the 50 Mile High Club!"

Man, this thing just brings whole new meaning to the concept of re-entry :)

Sub-Orbital Skydiving...

[systmc]

There was an article on here awhile back about a lady, Cheryl Stearns, who is planning on skydiving from over 31 miles up (165,000 ft). She'd reach upto 1.5 Mach coming back to earth.

http://slashdot.org/articles/00/11/02/0411221.shtm l

Not a "whacked out idea"

[patreides]

First, NASA didn't come up with that, the Air Force did in Project Manhigh.

Second, it's not far-fetched, it worked! Twice! both paticipants survived the incident unharmed, and had NASA had chosen to inherit the technology it might have saved Challenger.

Re:Not a "whacked out idea"

[WolfWithoutAClause]

One or more members of the crew were alive and conscious for atleast a few tens of seconds after the accident. The compressed air was switched on, and pretty much that can only have been done by human intervention. The astronauts weren't wearing pressure suits during the launch, so gas can only be supplied at ambient pressure, which at that altitude would have been insufficient to maintain consciousness for very long. Pure Oxygen would have allowed longer survival, but not radically so as the disaster involved impacting the sea at 200mph, so being unconscious is probably preferable.

However, there's no proof to what extent the vehicle leaked, as it was significantly damaged on impact, and all power was cut which stopped the audio recorder at the point when the spacecraft's tanks exploded.

Possibly if the crew had been in a pressure suit and/or were supplied with oxygen, and they had a bail out system then they might have survived, but it's probably unlikely even then. Bailing out at supersonic speeds is nearly impossible even with ejector seats.

Um. parachute reentry?

[griffjon]

so, how do baloons and parachutes work? Baloons work by being lighter than the air around them (hence, hot-air baloons work in cold air, helium (or hydrogen) baloons work in standard air. PArachutes work by using the resistance of the air to slow one down.

Neither of these really work outside the atmosphere!

I can only presume they only fly you up to a height that, while arguably 'in space' is not totally out of the atmosphere--just most of it.

I think I won't be first in line for this. MAybe 100th.

Mildly OT: space.com

[FroBugg]

I don't know if anyone's noticed this yet, but every article that shows up on the space.com slashbox get submitted for a story within a week. Couldn't we just hurry things up and funnel those directly to the frontpage?

Easy to see now why this never launched.

[NeMon'ess]

Just like the woman who is attempting to set a world record for highest free fall. (She's starting from the edge of the atmosphere) She still has to deal with the issue of control. The atmosphere is so thin that she or these astronauts could very easily slip into non-recoverable flips and spins. Firing a hand-held rocket is useless if the astronaut is spinning, flipping, and falling two or three times a second. Trying to counter three axis of movement with one direction is next to impossible for a human. A computer maybe.

Ob skydiving post

[SCHecklerX]

This was a great song we sung when I was an active skydiver (my buddy was an excellent acoustic guitar player!) Ahh...the memories!

For more humorous skydiving things, check out
http://www.afn.org/skydive/humor/

Blood on the Risers

Sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
Revised and edited for sport by Little David

First jumper on the wingstrut called the spotter as he looked
Our hero now was fearless for he'd read Russ Gunby's book
He jumped right out into the blast, his static line unhooked
He ain't going to jump no more.

Chorus:

Gory, Gory, what a helluva way to die,
Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die
Gory, gory what a helluva way to die
He ain't going to jump no more.

He counted long, he counted loud, six thousand was his goal
He tumbled out of stable and began a forward roll
He spun out flat, began to dive and went out of control
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome
The lines were snarled and tied in knots around his skinny bones
The canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

He pulled the handle on his reserve and threw it far away
He tried to grab the skirt, but all his thumbs got in the way
He threw it out all full of holes and then began to pray
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

The days he'd lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind
He thought about the girl below, the one he'd left behind
He thought about the medico's and wondered what they'd find
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

The ambulance was on the spot, its mighty siren wailed
The medics rolled their sleeves and smiled as through the air he sailed
For it had been a week or more since last a chute had failed
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

The drop zone coming fast, a hundred miles or more
"I get his helmet and his boots," he heard a buddy roar
He bounced around the runway in the welter of his gore
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

His pelvis crashed into his chest, his ribs poked through his side
His helmet bounced a hundred feet, his head was still inside
The ground crew stood there laughing as he rolled around and died
He ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus (above)

The new ValuJet

[Brento]

Hey, this has incredible implications for the airline industry. Instead of paying ridiculous fares to get yourself somewhere you don't really want to be (the airport), you could just hop on a rocket, head for the stratosphere, and then guide yourself down to the general vicinity using your handy rocket-powered backpack.

I'm seeing new uses for building roofs. Executives could land exactly on the building they wanted to visit, rather than waiting for cabs and lugging luggage through security checkpoints. As a frequent flier, let me just say that this is one heck of an idea.

Not.

Us Crazy Canucks

[tbo]

..this is how we plan to take over Earth. Our spaceborne regiments of hockey-stick armed toothless warriors will plunge towards the Whitehouse and burn it (again) just as the Presidential transition is taking place, eliminating both of your "great leaders". This will leave you with no choice but to bring back Jimmy Carter.

Essentially leaderless, you Americans will be easy pickings for our elite spacedivers. Imagine the surprise advantage of having a regiment of troops show up out of nowhere. Once military objectives have been achieved, we will appropriate your radio stations, and subject you to Canadian content, 24-7. Those Americans who do not kill themselves after two continuous hours of Celine Dion will be given the option of slavery or becoming part of FROG (France Reconnisance Operations Group).

Our next objective will be Buckingham Palace. A quick, effective strike on the Royal Family will destroy the tabloid industry and thus destabilize the world economy. Demoralized and destitute, the rest of the world shall fall beneath the crunch of our hockey skates.