Yesterday’s blog post was all about space skydiving and the two major problems scientists have to overcome before this extreme sport becomes a reality! You learned that a space skydiver will fall at about 2500 miles per hour before hitting the atmosphere. Unless you wear a protective suit, the force generated at this speed would seriously damage your body.

So what is the second problem? The second problem you would encounter occurs when you re-enter the planet’s atmosphere. Can you guess what the problem is? Many meteors (rocks from space) are captured by Earth’s gravity, but even though they fall to Earth, very few ever reach the ground. Instead, they burn up in the atmosphere due to friction. Terrific heat is generated when an object that is travelling 2500 miles per hour slows down to 120 miles per hour when it hits the atmosphere. In fact, things get so hot that a space skydiver would need a special suit that could protect him or her from temperatures of over 450° F. Set your oven to this temperature and you’ll quickly see how “hot” space can get. Hot enough to cook a turkey dinner…that’s hot!

So, will scientists be able to create a super suit that will allow humans to skydive from outer space? Plans are already in the works and scientists are working together to solve the problem. It might even happen in your lifetime! Would you buy a ticket to go space skydiving? Or would you be content to stay on good old solid ground?