@neiltyson Can a large object "push" away the atmosphere/air if it was big/close enough?pic.twitter.com/BZKd1MmZ
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@neiltyson Can a large object "push" away the atmosphere/air if it was big/close enough?pic.twitter.com/BZKd1MmZ
@neiltyson @JerboMania You missed a great chance to use the word 'ablation'...
@neiltyson why bother with heat shields? Massive reverse thrust instead? Too much fuel?
@neiltyson @JerboMania Why don't spacecraft slow down and just fall to Earth instead of the delicate, life and death re-entry at 17,000 mph?
@neiltyson if the trajectory is steep enough and speed is reduced to subsonic speeds, would a "burn" still occur?
@neiltyson So, if the ISS somehow went from 17000mph to 0mph, then fell (like Baumgartner, but higher up), it would be mostly intact?
@neiltyson @JerboMania That's why the man "who jumped from very high" didn't burn I suppose.
@neiltyson Wait, so does that mean that a human body equipped with a parachute could survive re-entry if it was traveling slow enough?
@neiltyson @JerboMania Really? Care then to comment on this hypothetical (assuming one could start stationary)? http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/40886/could-someone-jump-from-the-international-space-station-and-live …
@neiltyson Any idea how fast you can enter atmo w/out getting rugburn? I wanna see if I can get a deal w Redbull & Guinness...
@neiltyson @JerboMania But Earth's girth is more than approx 21,000 miles isn't it? So how does ISS get round it in 90 minutes?
@neiltyson So could someone "skydive" from that height? At some height would they need to consider their speed and hitting the atmosphere?
@neiltyson so how much of it would be left when it hit the ground? Car size?? Building size?
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