More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (28 Jan 2018 01:22 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (28 Jan 2018 02:15 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Thomas Jones-Low (28 Jan 2018 02:33 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (28 Jan 2018 02:49 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (28 Jan 2018 03:43 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Phil Pugliese (28 Jan 2018 19:23 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Kelly St. Clair (28 Jan 2018 19:43 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Phil Pugliese (28 Jan 2018 20:11 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Douglas Berry (29 Jan 2018 00:31 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Edward Swatschek (28 Jan 2018 11:41 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Ashley Greenall (28 Jan 2018 14:23 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Jim Catchpole (28 Jan 2018 15:08 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (28 Jan 2018 03:08 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Graham Donald (29 Jan 2018 12:12 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Kelly St. Clair (29 Jan 2018 15:24 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Graham Donald (30 Jan 2018 00:42 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (30 Jan 2018 05:31 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Graham Donald (30 Jan 2018 10:22 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (30 Jan 2018 13:41 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (30 Jan 2018 22:07 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (31 Jan 2018 00:40 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (31 Jan 2018 01:39 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (31 Jan 2018 01:43 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (31 Jan 2018 05:12 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (31 Jan 2018 05:54 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (30 Jan 2018 22:26 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (31 Jan 2018 00:58 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (31 Jan 2018 05:18 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (31 Jan 2018 09:20 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Thomas Jones-Low (31 Jan 2018 13:02 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Bruce Johnson (31 Jan 2018 19:49 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Bruce Johnson (31 Jan 2018 20:15 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (31 Jan 2018 22:46 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Rupert Boleyn (29 Jan 2018 02:33 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (29 Jan 2018 02:58 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Rupert Boleyn (29 Jan 2018 03:10 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (29 Jan 2018 03:12 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Kurt Feltenberger (29 Jan 2018 03:35 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (29 Jan 2018 03:42 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Kurt Feltenberger (29 Jan 2018 03:55 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Douglas Berry (29 Jan 2018 05:25 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (29 Jan 2018 06:35 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Kurt Feltenberger (29 Jan 2018 06:56 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Caleuche (29 Jan 2018 07:11 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim (29 Jan 2018 08:59 UTC)
Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Evyn MacDude (29 Jan 2018 03:33 UTC)

Re: [TML] More meteoric reentry thoughts Tim 28 Jan 2018 02:15 UTC

On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 08:22:15PM -0500, Caleuche wrote:
> No matter how gentle a descent angle, there's no workable meteoric
> reentry profile for my 800 Dton 10:1 Cd=0.22 ship, when mass is set
> appropriately.

Yes, that sounds right.  If a ship with that mass is unpowered and
uncontrollable, then it's not going to survive a descent from orbit.
Even if it started with zero speed, it would hit the ground faster
than a rifle bullet.

> So I turned to the next obvious option: lifepods. Somewhere I had
> once seen a drawing of a Traveller lifepod intended for reentry that
> was not pressurized (and open to space even) which basically was a
> mass of ablative material on the front, with a space for the
> Traveller to lay down on immediately behind it.

That doesn't seem survivable.  You would want at least some shielding
from the radiative heat flux and later transsonic airflow around the
pod.

> The whole thing as probably on the order of 1-2 Dton, most of which
> was just a frame. It would include some means of propulsion to give
> something like a 20-40 m/s kick to deorbit it, and that would supply
> a low orbiting craft or space station a means of evacuating
> personnel.

Contragrav and thruster plates powered by energy cells would be a lot
safer and usable in many more situations, while adding very little to
the cost and volume.  It might still have heat shielding material in
case the pod needs to be ejected just before or during a meteoric
entry gone wrong.

- Tim