Blatantly Ripped from Slashdot
"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
"As a Canadian Arrow customer you would rocket for 60 seconds, coast for five minutes to the edge of space and then leap into a free fall to Earth. A "ballute" (a parachute and balloon combo filled with nitrogen or helium) would slow descent to prevent your adrenaline rush from ending in a fiery death upon atmospheric reentry. According to the Canadian Arrow Web site, the company?s founders are all heat-transfer specialists, so maybe you can trust them -- if they jump first. A small drogue parachute would then stabilize the trip down until succeeded by a regular parachute for a soft landing. The entire plunge to terra firma would take about 10 minutes. The concept is based on an individual escape system developed as part of the Gemini missions. NASA?s plans for higher orbit escapes included another element ? a handheld retrorocket gun meant to slow and guide the astronaut with hopes that he?d find a spot over land. Any solid ground on the planet would do. Canadian Arrow?s jumpers would, of course, have a more deliberate and controlled experience. "That?s why they call it a sport," jokes team leader Geoffrey Sheerin."
Suweet!
"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
"As a Canadian Arrow customer you would rocket for 60 seconds, coast for five minutes to the edge of space and then leap into a free fall to Earth. A "ballute" (a parachute and balloon combo filled with nitrogen or helium) would slow descent to prevent your adrenaline rush from ending in a fiery death upon atmospheric reentry. According to the Canadian Arrow Web site, the company?s founders are all heat-transfer specialists, so maybe you can trust them -- if they jump first. A small drogue parachute would then stabilize the trip down until succeeded by a regular parachute for a soft landing. The entire plunge to terra firma would take about 10 minutes. The concept is based on an individual escape system developed as part of the Gemini missions. NASA?s plans for higher orbit escapes included another element ? a handheld retrorocket gun meant to slow and guide the astronaut with hopes that he?d find a spot over land. Any solid ground on the planet would do. Canadian Arrow?s jumpers would, of course, have a more deliberate and controlled experience. "That?s why they call it a sport," jokes team leader Geoffrey Sheerin."
Suweet!
Facebook
Twitter