Is it technically possible to skydive from the moon to earth?

Question

For all you NASA people!!

I am a skydiver and would like to know the technicall possibilities of doing a skydive from the moon to earth. What would I need to have in order to do it?

Answer 1

First, you'd need a way to escape the gravity of the Moon. I wouldn't count this as skydiving, just as I wouldn't count the chairlift as skiing, but just like skiing, you'd need this part anyway.

Second, you'd need protection from the hazardous environment of space (a protective suit of some kind, enough air to make the trip, etc.)

Third, you'd need to calculate your trajectory of "falling" in order to hit the earth.

Fourth, you'd need protection equipment to keep you from burning up in Earth's atmosphere while you slow down.

and Last, you'd need a parachute that would open at an altitude where ite could a) slow you down and b) not rip to shreds when it first opens.

Since the "skydiving from orbit" portion of the trip has been done once before, then the chute you'd need and altitude and speed sensors are already exist.

I wish you good luck with it, but I hope you have lots of finances if you're gonna try it. I'll be sitting at home on my easychair on the weekend in my underwear and eating Cheetos while watching you make the trip, should you decide to do it. That is, unless you're looking to hire an engineer to help overcome the obstacles, then we can talk price for me to help.

: D

It's a cool idea, but it would take a lot of work try it, much less succeed. I suggest corporate sponsorship.

Answer 2

The short answer to your question is no, for the simple reason that the Moon's gravity would hold you to the Moon so you would never leave the Moon. Now if you were out in space at the same distance that the Moon is from Earth, i.e ~240,000 miles (or at an altitude above Earth of well over a billion feet) and your starting velocity relative to the Earth were near zero, (a difficult feat to accomplish but still possible), then you would indeed start to free fall towards the Earth, slowly accumulating speed, until you slammed into the Earth's atmosphere at ~25,000miles per hour. This free fall would take you some four days, so you would need to bring along food and water and of course, some oxygen to breathe during this period. If you were composed of solid steel with a solid steel parachute, then perhaps 50% of you might make it to the surface. If you were constructed of anything more feeble, such as flesh and bone with a cloth parachute, you would not survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere, but instead you would completely burn up somewhere in the stratosphere. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

You will need over 2,000mph to leave the moon's tight tight loving grasp which is already almost 20 times the speed achieved by normal skydiving.

You are now moving over 2,000mph forward because the moon carried you.

If you do not completely kill this orbital velocity then you will slingshot around the earth and miss it entirely. If you have just a little less than full full orbital velocity extermination then you will hit the earth somewhere off-center.

Maybe by leaving the Moon straight up from the trailing side you will reduce the velocity requirement but you will always need at least several thousand mph just to do it.



Once falling you will be falling for several days. The earth's inevitable but feeble gravity is so far away at this point that you will be in for more like a journey than a skydive.

You will need oxygen, water, food, you will urinate, defecate, sleep, get bored.


Once you are in the vicinity of Earth you have traversed almost the entirety of the Earth's theoretical gravity well, you have as much energy from Earth's gravity as you'll ever achieve(within ~10%), and falling from higher won't really add much for you. You could take forever to fall from forever and hardly go any faster.


You'll hit Earth at 6 miles a second and die. At 240000 ft your body begins to break up. You explode with the force of 75 pounds of dynamite and reach 5,000 degrees.
An extremely glancing entry might be survable in a suit that can survive 3,000ºF. Get a body suit that can be dipped in lava, 4 minutes..


And lunar tickets start at billions of dollars each.

Answer 4

No. The moon has its own gravitational field (5 times smaller than that of the Earth). Jumping from it is not like jumping from a bridge or a mountain. Because the gravity of the earth is not enough to overcome the gravity on you from the moon, you would not be able to "dive" from the moon. Just like when people landed on the moon, they were walking on it, and not falling from it towards Earth.
If you want to skydive from the moon, you'll first need to overcome the moon's gravitational force. You'll need to attach yourself to a rocket directed towards Earth, and let yourself go when you're in the open space. Then you'll enter the Earth's gravitational field and will be moving at an enormous speed. It'll also take you about a week to get to the Earth, depending on your speed. Most meteorites break down before the reach Earth, so your chances of survival are virtually zero if you are without any protection.

Answer 5

Well you first fly to the moon. Next put on your space suit and launch yourself towards the Earth using some kind of jetpack device. It's not a skydive yet because you are not yet in Earth atmosphere. Wait a few weeks to get into Earth orbit. By the time you reach Earth your jetpack fuel will be gone and you must wait for your orbit to deteriorate. This could take a while; also, you are constantly building speed. After you lose orbit, you will enter Earth atmosphere at approximately 16,000 mph and will likely incinerate. You will be visible for a moment as a shooting star to people below. So yes it is technically possible but highly dangerous and not recommended.

Answer 6

Hmmm

well all of what has been said is true: you face the obstacles of moon escape, moon to earth trajectory, and oxygen over the distance just to get back to the earth. then there's that earth re-entry until you can get to air thick enough to support a parachute to slow you down till you reach the surface.

This may sound crazy, but read the first chapter of Robert Heinlein's book "Starship troopers". I'm not talking about the movie version, but the original where the mobile infantry landed on planets by being dropped from a space ship. maybe this could give you an insight on how this could be done.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 7

The Moon to Earth jump isn't possible, however it might be possible to jump from low Earth orbit and survive the reentry by finding some way to coat your jump suit with something like asbestos to protect you from the heat, plus you would need a internal oxygen supply because the reentry stage wood burn any air you would try to breath, but i think a jump from orbit would be possible but a jump from the Moon just doesn't sound right because even in a very fast spacecraft it takes three days.

Answer 8

Technically, you can't just fall from the moon to Earth. It would be a bit like trying to fall from Earth to the moon. Standing on the moon, you would be bound to its surface by gravity -- you'd just feel a little lighter. You would need a way to escape the moon's gravity, like a rocket, or a personal jetpack system to preserve the "skydive" feel. Afterwards, you'd have to know where to aim to be captured by Earth's gravity. From there, it's just a matter of falling. Of course, hitting the Earth's atmosphere at those extreme speeds would be fatal, as the friction would burn you up. You might even look like a shooting star to two lovers on the ground, and your bones might land on somebody's Mercedes.

Answer 9

you would have so many obstacles

1) you would have to escape the moon's gravity so that requires rockets
2) you would have to be able to survive the 6 day trip to the Earth (hopefully you would be going in the right direction)
3) you would have to enter the Earth's atmosphere at the right angle and trajectory. if you were off by 1/10 of a degree you could either burn up or bounce right off
4) then you would have to survive the extreme heat
5) oh yeah...You would need a HUGE supply of Oxygen


so if you can do all of those things, than yes its possible. LOL

Answer 10

Even if you were wearing a space suit that protected you from radiation, low pressure, and had oxygen tanks strapped on it, you would eventually be falling extremely fast because the Earth's gravity would be acting on you for a long time on the way down... I'm no expert in this field, but I wouldn't be surprised if a person in a space suit who did a free fall from the moon to the Earth would burn up in the Earth's atmosphere on the way down...