reply to post by zorgon
As I read the article....one thing jumped out at me....
The phrase "any sort of 'negative' gravity would be miniscule"
I am not citing, exactly....just repeating what I saw. So, sorry, zorgon.
The mere fact that the Solar System has been stable for, ermmmm the past several BILLION years seems to show that, as far as we know....gravity is
pretty well understood, and observed.
I'd LOVE to see some evidence to the contrary....in fact, when you find it, sign me up, because I want to win a fortune, and share the Nobel Prize
with you!!!!
OK....that was bad....bad, bad me!! I was being sarcastic.
Back to the point of this thread. There is little doubt, in my pea-sized brain, that we do not yet know everything. SO, matters that stimulate
imaginations...well, let's corral them and discuss.
BUT.....there has to be some logic invoked, as well. See....we ALL know the Earth is flat, right??? I mean....how ELSE do you account for the fact
that we are stuck to its surface???
Of course, I was, again, being sarcastic. The fact of the Earth being round is obvious.....but, I hope I have made a point. THE MASS of our planet,
our good Earth, is known to provide the gravity that keeps us safely on her surface....even as we attempt to defy it. (Mountain climbing, and
such....)
Galileo described it firstly.....it, gravity is now recorded to quite exacting standards. For the Americans in the audience, the acceleration due to
oneG is defined as 32 feet/per second/per second. (In metric, is is 9.8 metres per second per second)
This is not debatable....it has been demonstrated to be true. Again, we need to understand the acceleration....and to realize that other forces, such
as atmospheric drag, will interfere. This is why parqachutes work, for instance....in Earth's, atmospheres, and other planets with atmospheres.
Mars, for instance....thin atmosphere, but able to sustain, up to a point, a deceleration via a chute, prior to drop on the surface.
The Moon, as a counter example, will require a differnent method of retrograde, in order to achieve a safe landing...and we've seen that already.