Sky Dive From Space.

[Casa Nova]

Popsci - Aviation

For sport or safety, hurtling to Earth from space without the protective shroud of a heavily engineered space vehicle seems like sheer lunacy—a hellish descent punctuated by intense heat and terminal, well . . . splatter. But believe it or not, the physics actually works out. With a heat-resistant space suit and the right kind of chutes, such a daredevil plunge should indeed be possible. And with the right people involved, it edges into the realm of the probable.

Two veterans of the space industry are working to make the idea real. While the rest of today’s space-bound private enterprises—Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, XCOR Aerospace, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin—are fixated on getting humans to space, a company called Orbital Outfitters is working on an innovative way of bringing them back, whether it’s done purely as a sport or as an emergency backup plan in case things go awry. Rick Tumlinson, a longtime civilian space booster who founded the Space Frontier Foundation and helped launch the X Prize Foundation, and Jonathan Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon who has a unique understanding of the extremes of spaceflight survival—his wife, astronaut Laurel Clark, perished in the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003—have begun to develop the equipment needed to return you from the heavens without a vehicle.


Together, the two plan to demonstrate a record-breaking 120,000-foot jump by 2009, and the truly unprecedented 60-mile space dive within two years—an audacious timetable. If all goes well, they’ll reach even higher. “Our ultimate goal,” Tumlinson says, “is to have individual human beings return from orbit alive.” That’s a drop from 150 miles—or more—involving increased heat and near-deadly Gs, essentially turning their divers into human meteorites.

Even that’s survivable, says NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Robert Manning, who designs reentry systems for unmanned craft. Given the right protection—including thermal protection, oxygen, an aerodynamic heat shield and a control system—Manning says, a human being could, theoretically, fall to Earth from any height and survive. The question is whether Tumlinson and Clark can turn theory into fact, and whether anybody would be crazy enough to give their thrill ride a try.

All I can think is..."Where do I sign up?"

[student4ever]

I'll take the 5th ticket in that line... let them work some bugs out of the system... LOL

[Platinum Chris]

They can't even get shuttles back from Space safely without tons of tests, what makes you think you won't be Crispy Fried Casa Nova doing this?

[Casa Nova]

Originally Posted by Platinum Chris

They can't even get shuttles back from Space safely without tons of tests, what makes you think you won't be Crispy Fried Casa Nova doing this?

ahhahaha... Thats why I won't be the first crazy man to try this lol wait a couple deaths before i go haha

[TheLegacy]

just looking at the picture makes me have to pee - scary

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by Platinum Chris

They can't even get shuttles back from Space safely without tons of tests, what makes you think you won't be Crispy Fried Casa Nova doing this?

One thing you have to keep in mind is that NASA's got their heads up their asses with the bidding system they use to get things done. When you give the job to the lowest bidder you end up with crap quality.

The idea is lunacy though. From that height think about how far in any direction you could/would travel. One good wind gust and you'd find yourself bobbing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

[Slippery]

Personally, I think it sounds nuts! Plus, who could afford doing this? Not your average person that's for sure.

[sassygirl]

that sounds terrifying....would prolly pass out before i hit the invisible layers of earth

[Panky]

The guy looks like a Transformer in that pic. I think I'll sit this one out. By the time someone gets around to perfecting re-entry, I'll be sitting on my rocking chair watching it on TV. With the way technology is rapidly developing for TV, I'll probably feel just like I was there anyway.

[Janell]

Yeah Im thinking I'll pass for a few years. Roller coaster are entertaining enough for me.

[SykkBoy]

I want to sign my ex-wife up to be a tester for this thing ;-)