Re: Mars in two weeks?

From: Jeff Davis (jdavis@socketscience.com)
Date: Sat Jan 06 2001 - 16:37:54 MST


Zen Master Spike writes:

>Sure but what if they are submerged in water? spike

>From the US Navy dive manual we get:

>The world record depth for experimental saturation, attained
>at Duke University in 1981, is 2,250 fsw, and non-Navy open
>sea dives have been completed to in excess of 2300 fsw.

And from "Extending The Envelope: A Primer On Self-Contained
Diving Technology"

we get

>Today mix technology offers the capability of reliably supporting
>divers to depths beyond 2000 fsw and some believe the technology
>may eventually be extended as deep as 5000 fsw.

So, wrap a person in a carbon-fiber-reinforced cloth pressure vessel (to
save weight) filled with water to a depth of one foot, and equipped with
the appropriate scuba-like pressurized-gas breathing apparatus (or perhaps
liquid-breathing apparatus), and you can likely expose them to an
acceleration of 70 g's. This is based on the fact that at 70 g's, the
hydrostatic pressure at the bottom of that one foot of water is the same as
at a depth of 2300 feet of seawater.

Now, from Nasa's "Welcome to the Planets" page on Mars I find:

>Average distance from Sun (AU).......................1.524

So, the average closest approach--Earth to Mars-- is 0.524 AU

I learned in school that the Earth is 98,000,000 miles from he sun, so

0.524 x 98,000,000 = 51,325,200 mi.

The distance to the Earth-Mars halfway point then is

51,325,200 x 0.5 = 25,676,000 mi.

Starting with d= 1/2 at^2 (distance = 1/2 acceleration x time^2)

and solving for t, gives

t = SQRT(2d/a)

Substituting in the above d=25,676,000 mi and a= 70g, gives

t=time to the halfway point=

   =SQRT((2 x 25,676,000 mi x 5280 ft/mi)/(70 x 32 ft/s^2))
   = 11,000 sec
   = 3 hrs 3 min 22 sec

Total trip time then would be: 6 hrs 6 min 44 sec.

Please place your tray tables in the stowed position.

                        Best, Jeff Davis

           "Everything's hard till you know how to do it."
                                        Ray Charles



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