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How is it possible the manhole cover went "too fast to burn up" before exiting Earth's atmosphere? Why wouldn't it instead speedily transition to some kind of
by metadat 4y ago
How is it possible the manhole cover went "too fast to burn up" before exiting Earth's atmosphere?
Why wouldn't it instead speedily transition to some kind of a plasma? The friction from air had to go somewhere..
- justin66 4y agoI think the idea there is that it would pass through the portion of the atmosphere offering significant friction vertically (i.e., taking the shortest possible path) and too quickly to heat up to the temperature needed to vaporize. I believe "what really happened to that manhole cover?" was the topic of a few fun scientific debates on Usenet back in the day. I think the question might have landed on one of the groups' FAQs.