Red Bull doesn't give you brains!

[MarillionFan]

Imagine a big marble resting on a sheet of elastic, when you put a smaller marble on the the same sheet it will roll towards the depression caused by the first, if you put a bigger marble on the sheet the first marble will roll towards that.

Its a bit like how doughnuts are drawn towards lardies, it's not their fault nor their genes it's gravity.

Nonsense.

As in replies on the 12 April 2011 and subsequent answers in June 2006, all things in the universe contain pixie dust. When the great pixie created the universe 10000 years ago he fused magic dust into all of the things that he created. He then put the remaining pixie dust in bags at the centre of the Earth and gave the earth a little spin. The magic pixie dust then sings a song to all the other bits of magic dust in the universe and they are drawn slowly towards it. That's how all things are drawn to the earth. And for a final joke the pixie wrote a book called the Bible and made references to a fantasy figure called God.

HTH

[EternalOptimist]

Imagine a big marble resting on a sheet of elastic, when you put a smaller marble on the the same sheet it will roll towards the depression caused by the first, if you put a bigger marble on the sheet the first marble will roll towards that.

Its a bit like how doughnuts are drawn towards lardies, it's not their fault nor their genes it's gravity.

no.
If you put a marble on a sheet of elastic it makes a depression. But the thing that causes the depression is exactly the thing you are trying to explain.
This is known as a circular argument.

It also has a hole in it, so I see where your doughnut comes from.

What would happen if you were in space and you put a marble on a sheet of elastic ??

[d000hg]

I wonder who'll be the first to do it from orbit.

It's more difficult since if you're in orbit you won't actually fall towards Earth... you can't just jump out of the ISS You'd need a rocket to give you an initial burn and then I'm pretty sure it's very different hitting atmosphere from orbit than simply floating up to the edge of atmosphere... when you touch atmosphere in orbit you've a colossal 'sideways' velocity.

I guess it's possible but you'd need a miniature space-shuttle?

[SupremeSpod]

Er, yes.

I'm aware of that.

You need a de-orbit burn so that you are going slow enough to re-enter the atmosphere.

Otherwise you have to rely on what little atmospheric drag exists at 100 miles up or so.

Which ain't much.

Toasty...

Just think about all that cosmic radiation... (Note for MF: Pixie Dust).

[d000hg]

<crap troll>

Actually, subatomic particles 'singing to each other' is probably as good a way as any to describe how forces are propagated

Far less weird than philotics.

[EternalOptimist]

if you can match the rotation speed, there would be no atmospheric heating.

what is it ? 24k miles an hour or summat

[EternalOptimist]

Actually, subatomic particles 'singing to each other' is probably as good a way as any to describe how forces are propagated

Far less weird than philotics.

singing is modulated sound waves transmitted by a medium, usually air.
there is no air in space, so what is the medium ?

[d000hg]

if you can match the rotation speed, there would be no atmospheric heating.

what is it ? 24k miles an hour or summat

Quite right. However slowing down fast enough before you hit the atmosphere would be key.

I thought they used two tin cans & a bit of string.

An equally apt metaphor

[d000hg]

singing is modulated sound waves transmitted by a medium, usually air.
there is no air in space, so what is the medium ?

That's why it's a metaphor.
It's a bit like saying an electron is a particle - it's not but it's a reasonable way to paint a picture.

If you want to be overly pedantic then I could counter that at the scales we're talking, space isn't empty anyway but a seething quantum froth. But I doubt you do.

[EternalOptimist]

Quite right. However slowing down fast enough before you hit the atmosphere would be key.

no, you would be geo stationary

imagine stepping from a train doing 100 mph, onto another doing 100 mph.

if there is no lateral movement there is no increase in air pressure which means there is no heating