In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on it and moves along a geodesic. The present article only concerns itself with free fall in the Newtonian domain.
An object in the technical sense of free fall may not necessarily be falling down in the usual sense of the term. An object moving upwards would not normally be considered to be falling, but if it is subject to the force of gravity only, it is said to be in free fall. The moon is thus in free fall.
In a uniform gravitational field, in the absence of any other forces, gravitation acts on each part of the body equally and this is weightlessness, a condition that also occurs when the gravitational field is zero (such as when far away from any gravitating body). A body in free fall experiences "0 g".
The term "free fall" is often used more loosely than in the strict sense defined above. Thus, falling through an atmosphere without a deployed parachute, or lifting device, is also often referred to as free fall. The aerodynamic drag forces in such situations prevent them from producing full weightlessness, and thus a skydiver's "free fall" after reaching terminal velocity produces the sensation of the body's weight being supported on a cushion of air.
Sergeant Charles Christian Cameron "Nish" Bruce QGM (8 August 1956 – 8 January 2002) was a former British Army soldier and freefall expert of high altitude military parachuting who served in 22 (SAS) Special Air Service (1982–88). He served with the 22 SAS in the Falklands War, on anti-drug operations in South and Central America and in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner for which he was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1986.
He received the South Atlantic Medal in 1982 with B Squadron of the 22 Special Air Service and the General Service Medal with the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment for services in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
Bruce was born in Chipping Norton in 1956, middle son of Ewen Anthony Guy Cameron Bruce. He was the paternal grandson of Major Ewen Cameron Bruce (of Blaen-y-cwm).
Bruce joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973 at age 17 and in 1978 spent 4 years with The Red Devils Display Team participating in test jumping, international exhibitions and competitions before passing SAS selection and joining 22 SAS in April 1982.
Free fall is the ability to achieve the sensation of weightlessness (for example to be falling freely in an atmosphere, or to be in zero-g). In skydiving, the term freefall is also used for the portion of the skydive prior to the deployment of a parachute, even though significant portions of it are at terminal velocity rather than freely accelerating in gravity.
Free fall, Free-fall or Freefall may also refer to:
Esperanza (English: Hope) is a 2011 Chilean telenovela produced and broadcast by TVN.
Esperanza is a Spanish feminine given name, meaning "hope" or "expectation".
Próxima Estación: Esperanza (English: Next Stop: Hope) is an album by Manu Chao. It was released in Europe in 2001. It was released in the United States on 5 June 2001 on Virgin Records. Chao and others sing in Arabic, English, French, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish on this album.
The name comes from a sample of an announcement for the Esperanza station of Madrid Metro's Line 4; in Spanish "esperanza" means "hope". The voice actor Javier Dotú and a Metro announcer later sued for infringement of intellectual copyright over the use of their voices.
Próxima Estación: Esperanza received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Performance. In 2010 Esperanza was listed at #65 in Rolling Stone's "Best Albums of the Decade." In 2012, the album listed at #474 on the Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
All songs written and composed by Manu Chao, except where noted.