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From: peterb@pbear.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: reentry of paper airplanes?
Message-ID: <3000007@pbear.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-May-85 17:37:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: pbear.3000007
Posted: Sun May 19 17:37:00 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 21-May-85 04:20:42 EDT
References: <1631@mordor.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:mordor:-163100:pbear:3000007:000:591
Nf-From: pbear!peterb    May 19 17:37:00 1985



Dani,

Do you have pointers to the equations for orbit decay, and heat-reentry?

I can beleive the 40 day orbit decay, but 1500 deg F reentry heat???
I can beleive it for the shuttle, it has so much FRIGGIN mass. But as
you stated, a paper airplane weighs  ~ .01 pound. So I think its
deacceleration would be quite high, so I just can't see it streaking
throught the atmosphere at speeds fast enought to make that much heat.

(If it did, it wouldn't even burn up, it would blow up as the paper
disintegrated into itty bitty bits.)

Peter Barada
{ihnp4!inmet|{harvard|cca}!ima}!pbear!peterb