No, you'd be fine if you could do this lowering slowly.
It's technically feasible also, possibly, with near future technology.
First, something we are close to being able to do already and doesn't need new materials: you could be lowered using a momentum exchange tether, down to a suborbital orbit like the Virgin Galactica which needs much less by way of aerobraking because you come in at a slower speed. You'd still burn up unprotected but don't need nearly as much insulation.
This shows how it works to transfer from low orbit to a higher orbit
So this is something we can do, feasibly, in the near future
More about it here: Space Transportation with a Twist
Then there's the space elevator project. This needs us to be able to make long cables using carbon nanotubes, and they would be strong enough to build a space elevator into orbit with the total weight of the cables used similar to the total weight of the cables for the Golden Gate bridge - so something that you can imagine would be feasible in the future, if we are able to make these cables. The speaker in this talk is optimistic that we can do it in the near future.
(The talk is in English, just in German at the beginning).
If that could be done, then driving into orbit would just be like driving horizontally on the Earth as far as friction is concerned. Except you can then speed up as soon as you leave the Earth's thin layer of atmosphere to many hundreds of kilometers per hour, so long as you have the power to do it, and I think surely you'd supply the power from below, wouldn't need to use solar cells?
It's technically feasible also, possibly, with near future technology.
First, something we are close to being able to do already and doesn't need new materials: you could be lowered using a momentum exchange tether, down to a suborbital orbit like the Virgin Galactica which needs much less by way of aerobraking because you come in at a slower speed. You'd still burn up unprotected but don't need nearly as much insulation.
This shows how it works to transfer from low orbit to a higher orbit
It's spinning in such a way that when the lower part of the tether is close to the Earth, then it is moving backwards relative to its orbit, so slower. That lets it be exactly synchronized with the speed of a sub orbital spaceship that can only get up to the lower orbit. Which then hooks onto the tether and gets pulled up into a higher orbit by the system. Meanwhile the tether assembly loses energy so falls into a lower orbit but it can be continually reboosting to compensate e.g. using electrical power generated from solar panels to push electricity through the cable against the tendencies of the Earth's magnetic field, which creates a propulsive force to send it up into a higher orbit again.
Coming back would be the same. Though it's most useful for going up into orbit (saves a lot of fuel that way, while the other way returning from orbit you can do it with no fuel to speak of just parachutes and aeroshell).
So this is something we can do, feasibly, in the near future
More about it here: Space Transportation with a Twist
If we can build a long enough tether, with strong enough materials, no reason why it can't dip into the atmosphere itself and pluck an airplane instead of a spacecraft into a higher orbit. Have it spinning so fast backwards that it is almost stationary relative to the Earth's surface at the lower point. And if it is a really long tether, then at the lower end for as long as it is in the Earth's atmosphere it would be pretty much stationary. So not a huge amount of friction, and you wouldn't be burnt up as it plucks you out of the atmosphere because you only start to travel at huge speeds when you are well out of the atmosphere. I've seen this suggested somewhere but can't find the reference right now. Not sure if it is possible with present day materials such as carbon fibre etc or it needs future materials.
Then there's the space elevator project. This needs us to be able to make long cables using carbon nanotubes, and they would be strong enough to build a space elevator into orbit with the total weight of the cables used similar to the total weight of the cables for the Golden Gate bridge - so something that you can imagine would be feasible in the future, if we are able to make these cables. The speaker in this talk is optimistic that we can do it in the near future.
(The talk is in English, just in German at the beginning).
If that could be done, then driving into orbit would just be like driving horizontally on the Earth as far as friction is concerned. Except you can then speed up as soon as you leave the Earth's thin layer of atmosphere to many hundreds of kilometers per hour, so long as you have the power to do it, and I think surely you'd supply the power from below, wouldn't need to use solar cells?
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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