Re: Drifting to DSII (was Re: New Fighter Types (drifting OT....))

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 tom.anderson@altavista.net wrote:

>  ---- jerry han wrote: 
> > 15m long, 2m diameter, titanium cylinder, dropped on you from orbit?
> > 
> > That's a LOT of kinetic energy.  (8-)
> 
> 7.2e+15 joules, to be a bit more exact. you don't want to know how i
> figured it out, do you? 

Actually, I do. Mass is easy enough, but the simplest formula for
potential energy (E=mgh) has two problems: It assumes constant gravity
and
ignores atmospheric friction.

Taking that orbit is "high enough", you need to calculate the terminal
velocity for the rod and go from there. I trust you did this?

I'll forgive you for ignoring heat build-up effects from atmospheric
friction.

Not that a 15m x 2m solid metal cylinder didn't have enough mass to make
a
dent in tank-sized objects from nearly any height.

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