Recent content by Malakai

So there is no way to match speed with the atomsphere before you enter it? How would a space elevator negate the need for a TPS barrier? If you used a space elevator by climbing it to reach oribital height, released from the cable and then fired thrusters to reach oribal velocity at that...

So if a space shuttle kept half it's fuel on board, and used it to do a powered deceleration, would this negate the need for such an extensive Thermal Protection System? Or is there some threshold, where once you begin to decend into the atomsphere, slowing your decend by thrusting back out...

Hope this is the right forum. Rather daunting task to pick the right forum when you don't understand what differentiates each topic... Anyhow, I've been reading Feynman "QED The Strange Theory of Light and Matter" (lectures). Actually, I've read it about 3 times, cover to cover. I get some of...