From: chosp@cox.net   
      
   "Anni"  wrote in message   
   news:dcdluh$h52$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...   
   > OK if the shuttle is going the same orbital velocity required to get at   
   > into   
   > orbital velocity.   
   > Then cannot it be slowed down while in orbit where you would not need a   
   > massive amount of energy to slow it down from 22700mph if done over a few   
   > days which I take it is its approximate speed while in orbit   
   > Could this work?   
      
   No. It would take far too much fuel. Far more than could be carried   
   aboard the shuttle. The shuttle may appear weightless because it   
   is in freefall, but it still retains its 100 tons of mass. Momentum   
   is mass times velocity and 100 tons of mass times 17,500 mph   
   (or thereabouts) is a hell of a lot of momentum and would use   
   an entire external tank's worth of fuel to counteract.   
      
   > And if it was slowed down could they not use parachutes to   
   > keep it from reentry problems?   
      
   The problem here is that the parachutes would be useless until the shuttle   
   was deep into the atmosphere. If the shuttle slowed down sufficiently it   
   still drop like a rock and continue accelerating until it entered the   
   atmosphere   
   at excessively high speeds - far too high to deploy a parachute. Besides,   
   try, for a moment, to imagine the stresses on parachutes trying to slow   
   down a supersonic 100 ton space shuttle. Imagine the size and weight of   
   the parachutes involved.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)