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Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

(Not sure if I saw someone else mentioning this or not...)

http://www.canadianarrow.com/spacedivin … pacediving

Ok, 99.9% of the 'normal' people that read this will think: "sheer lunacy," but, OTOH... 99.9% of the 'crazy' skydivers will surely sit up and take notice...

On its own, it probably "does not a viable launch industry make," of course, but it *is* a market. Imagine the (filthy rich) thrill seeker, pondering over buying yet another Ferrari or having a go at this thing... Meanwhile pulverising the current altitude record, so get mentioning in Guinness, to boot!
There could be more than one handful, coming back for more, every year...

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

Another looney Cobra suggestion from years past vindicated by people more crazy than I.    

Hmm, if they can pull it off though, suddenly that space-paratroopers idea has merit... ???  Troops on the ground anywhere on Earth in 90 minutes or less, guaranteed.

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

clark

Member

Registered: 2001-09-20

Posts: 6,363

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

Maybe this can be the alt.space answer to human rated re-entry.

:laugh:

"Ship goes up, but the people come down..."

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

Maybe this can be the alt.space answer to human rated re-entry.

"Ship goes up, but the people come down..."

Actually, I'll go so far as to say this isn't entirely without merit. If the whole crazy space-diving thing works, of course.

Say you launched shuttle-sized payloads with crews who did on-orbit assembly, then space-dived back. All the hardware stays in orbit, so you could get a significant mass of stuff up there fairly quickly. We could build a kickass Mars ark that way.

Gettin' ahead of myself again.  Damn re-entry heat.

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

Laughing myself silly!

Just imagine the guys working up there, forever delaying the job, too scared to finish it, and to go back, 'the rough way...'

"Wait-errr... Ground control, i think that supportbeam really needs to be re-tightened, yes.. ummm... Could take a while, care to send up some more oxy, please?"

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

Actually, the links are a lot of 'fun' for the thrill-seekers,  http://www.astronautix.com/craftfam/rescue.htm]like this one (Astronautix) quite detailed plans...

Bill White

Member

Registered: 2001-09-09

Posts: 2,114

Re: "Killer app" for Alt.Space industry? - Is this it?

Maybe this can be the alt.space answer to human rated re-entry.

"Ship goes up, but the people come down..."

Actually, I'll go so far as to say this isn't entirely without merit. If the whole crazy space-diving thing works, of course.

Say you launched shuttle-sized payloads with crews who did on-orbit assembly, then space-dived back. All the hardware stays in orbit, so you could get a significant mass of stuff up there fairly quickly. We could build a kickass Mars ark that way.

Gettin' ahead of myself again.  Damn re-entry heat.

Actually, Cobra's idea would work great with a Soyuz descent module.

Skip the orbital module and the service module just send up the DM (or 2) with a really, really big tether terminator. Bring 24 hours of oxygen and water and a few high calorie energy bars for the DM ride.

:;):

Do your on-orbit assembly and return in a tiny Soyuz DM.