From: a@b.c   
      
   "Mike Miller"  wrote in message   
   news:5dcb47db.0309260349.711f770@posting.google.com...   
   > DP  wrote in message   
   news:<3f6e2897$1@nntp.unige.ch>...   
   >   
   > That's a bit different than Jovian atmosphere re-entry. Like,   
   > a lot slower. Cassini's RTGs were expected to (IIRC) burn off   
   > 33% of their mass if Cassini hit Earth during its sling shots   
   > past Earth. Cassini swung by Earth at 19km/s. Galileo hit Jupiter   
   > at 48km/s. 2.5 times the entry velocity translates into 6.25   
   > times the kinetic energy to be converted into heat per kilogram   
   > of spacecraft.   
      
   I don't understand why kinetic energy increases quadratically   
   with speed while the energy it costs to increase speed itself   
   seams to be directly proportional to the speed. After all,   
   speed = acceleration * time. What's wrong with my reasoning?   
      
   Wim   
      
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