I never said he was throwing the object. What I said was "impart excape
velocity" to the object. This can be from a number of ways, such as an
attached rocket, for example.
Pete
----- Original Message -----
From: "AL Mitterling" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Just Another Question
Hi Doug, Pete and all,
Thanks Doug for the figures you would have to throw at. Looks like our
astronaut isn't going to be launching anything too far out. I appreciate
the figures to back up my claim!!
--AL Mitterling
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Al M. wrote:
"I don't think it would be possible for an astronaut to throw an object,
rock or otherwise out of the orbit of the Earth."
Hi Al, Pete, Friends and Listees,
Haven't kept with this thread, but I thought I'd add this info for the
throwing arm of the astronaut to create an artificial meteorite from some
favorite heights.
I noticed Dr. Grossman mentioned the need for extraordinary evidence
(i.e., claims by necessity must be treated with skepicism, until at least
someone can show you a piece of it).
Here are some of the "physics": the minimum speeds the clever Astronaut
would have TO THROW any object to gain an independent orbit from Earth:
From the International Space station (One of the lowest satellites):
11,412 mph (7,091 Km/h)
From a GPS satellite (nearly the highest):
3,692 mph (5,941 Km/h)
He has to be clever as he needs to throw it exactly in his direction of
motion to make the satellite's speed additive and also away from the Moon
so that doesn't add significant additional speed required. I just used
the 11.2 km/s value at Earth's surface which fails to take into
consideration the air resistance (this is only partly why expecting
material to survive the shear force going up through Earth's atmosphere
is an Extra-ordinary claim). Not a problem - these are the right answers
for space.
The best baseball players on Earth have been clocked at around 100.9 mph.
The best Jai-alai ball has been levered at about 188 mph.
These speeds are taken over a very short distance from the throwing arm
on Earth, so would be nearly the same in space.
BTW, if an astronaut on the Moon wanted to "throw" something out of Lunar
orbit, he would need to throw at 5,315 mph (8,554 Km/h) which would leave
it barely moseying away from a Lunar orbit, but he would need it to end
up at a minumum of over 3,220 mph (5,188 Km/h) more to then escape Earth.
Throwing things at these speeds is of course hypothetical given the
capabilities.
Back to the original question Earth meteorite possible? to comment: These
same capabilities need to be taken into consideration with regards to the
mass integrity of any Earth ejecta. Assuming an object can hit Earth
fast enough to impart sufficient velocity at cratering which will survive
the trip back up and more importantly an order of magnitude more to rip
it from Earth's gravitational grasp, is like assuming you can find a
Nolan Ryan to pitch a ball at about 12,000 mph. It is also a possibility
that no physical Nolan Ryan exists.
Earth meteorites don't have a chance due to this reason, unless you make
one modifying assumption: That the original impactor causing them creates
a transient vacuum behind it long and straight enough for backspauled
material to find its way out. THAT is an extraordinary claim unless we
are talking major planet smasher and vapor condensation in space just to
make sure the ejecta aren't too small or just plasma or molecules! Ojo,
this means the cloud MUST condense in outer space while it is moving away
at these speeds. That just adds another degree of complexity. Not
impossible, of course. The jury is still out. I'd repost a recent
answer about 6 months ago I made talking about the atmospheric dynamics
required for Earth meteorites to happen but I'm not good at maintaning
these old met-list links as some others :(
Best wishes,
Doug
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