[ExI] De-Orbiting Gold

[Kelly Anderson]

On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:34 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> Hmmm, actually you cannot.  The payload ins not the problem, but rather that
> those kinds of decelerations are not available from any aerobraking reentry
> event.  I don't have those equations memorized, but I worked with them
> extensively a long time ago, and can look it up and post it here if anyone
> is interested, or perhaps write up a spreadsheet.  The equations predict
> maximum deceleration as a function of reentry angle.

What if the package were made to break up in some predictable fashion
half way in... Imagine, if you will a gold hand grenade... At the key
point of reentry, a charge (huge air bag?) inside blows up the hand
grenade breaking the large object into a number of smaller objects...
Inside of each chunk of the grenade would be a parachute that would
slow down it's piece. Each piece would have a transponder in it so it
could be tracked down.

> In order to get high angles of reentry (which go with high G decelerations,
> the kind you would need if you wanted to drop your payload in a specific
> place) you need a lot of delta V delivered in a short span with a good
> sturdy competent control system.  If on the other hand, you use minimal
> control aerobraking, you will likely drop your payload into the sea, and
> even if you hit land somewhere it would likely be lost in the jungle or in
> some commie's backyard, who then would be unwilling to give it back, without
> your paying her a pile-ski of rubles.

So you're saying that I couldn't predict where it would come down
without rapid deceleration? That seems a little hard to believe. At
least I could predict where it might come down a day or two before it
does. They always seem to be able to give a range for falling
satellites within that kind of range, don't they? And could you
install some very simple lower power rocketry that would give it a
nudge at the last minute before it fell of it's own accord? To keep it
from falling in Iran, or North Korea, for example, not flyover
country.

Remember that weird retrieval thing where they got a hook on an
airplane to catch the load from outer space as it was dropping? Some
kind of sample return mission as I recall. Something like that might
keep the gold from falling in the wrong back yard... LOL...

I'll keep thinking, you keep shooting me down. Eventually, maybe we'll
come up with something that will work.

And maybe I don't care if it drops into the sea... If it has
transponders, we have submarine technology able to pick it up from
anywhere if the airplane misses it.

Spike, I have tremendous respect for your knowledge in this area...
but I think you may be thinking inside of a box drawn by the fact that
previous loads were delicate sensitive equipment or primates. If we
can escape from that precondition, I think we could come up with
something cheap and workable. What is the maximum G force or speed
that would not vaporize our little ball 'o gold?

-Kelly