Problem with cats surviving high falls

[mender]

Good explanation. Am I right in thinking that astronauts upon re-entry will initially be weightless, then when the spaceship starts to hit the atmosphere, the astronauts will begin to feel some contact with the floor again, and then when the spaceship reaches terminal velocity, the astronauts will 'feel' just like we do sitting on earth. (apart from the fact that they will get very hot).

Yes; when they reach a constant rate of descent, they will be feeling one g of force holding up their bodies.

This applies to an aircraft at a constant descent or ascent rate; the amount of lift generated by the wings will be essentially the same as when level, contrary to intuitive impressions.

 

[himanshu2004@]

Good explanation. Am I right in thinking that astronauts upon re-entry will initially be weightless, then when the spaceship starts to hit the atmosphere, the astronauts will begin to feel some contact with the floor again, and then when the spaceship reaches terminal velocity, the astronauts will 'feel' just like we do sitting on earth. (apart from the fact that they will get very hot).

Yes, as mender pointed out they will feel the same as they do on Earth as long as the spaceship is ascending/descending at constant velocity (assuming that g is roughly the same at that height). However, I'd like to add that while in all likelihood they descend at roughly constant velocity for large parts, it is very likely not the same as terminal velocity, which is a concept applicable only to free fall against air resistance... unless of course spacecraft s actually adopt the technique of descending in free fall with their engines turned off (till the they need to finally slow down before landing), instead of descending in a more controlled fashion which is most likely what they do.

ETA: And now that I think about it further, it appears that you were accounting for that effect as well when referring to the lack of buoyancy effects when in free fall, in that all balloons become "neutrally buoyant" when in free fall. Well thought out and well done! You are correct on all points!
Thanks for the discussion!

You could say that all balloons become "neutrally buoyant". But its more accurate to say that the concept of buoyancy makes no sense in zero gravity/free fall because there is no concept of weight there.
Yes, it was a good discussion, thank you!