Free fall

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.

Charles "Nish" Bruce

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.

Family & Early Life

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).

Military career

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 (disambiguation)

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:

Books & comics

Halcyon (console)

The Halcyon was a home video game console by RDI Video Systems. The system was planned to be released in January 1985 with initial retail price for the system was US$2500. Fewer than a dozen units are known to exist and it's not generally believed that the system ever made it to retail. The design featured a laserdisc player and attached computer, each the size of an early-model VCR. Of the six games planned only two games were completed: Thayer's Quest and NFL Football LA Raiders vs SD Chargers. RDI Video Systems claimed that the system would be entirely voice-activated, and would have an artificial intelligence on par with HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

History

Rick Dyer was one of the many fans of the interactive fiction game Adventure. He envisioned a game that would feature illustrations of every scene in this game, the first prototype being a roll of printing calculator tape that would be wound forward and backward via microprocessor to show illustrations and information drawn on its surface.

Halcyon (album)

Halcyon is the second studio album by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding, released on 5 October 2012 by Polydor Records. It was recorded between 2011 and 2012, during promotion of her debut album, Lights (2010). Goulding worked with several producers on the album, including Jim Eliot, Starsmith, Billboard, Justin Parker, MONSTA, Madeon and Mike Spencer, in addition to collaborating with artists such as Tinie Tempah and Calvin Harris.

Halcyon received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Goulding's more aggressive showcase of her voice, however, less favorable reviews felt that "the main flaw of Halcyon is that it occasionally feels a bit too much". The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, selling 33,425 copies in its first week. In January 2014, it topped the UK Albums Chart and gave Goulding her second number-one album. Halcyon also debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 in the United States, while reaching number one in Ireland, the top five in New Zealand, and the top 10 in Canada, Germany and Switzerland.

Halcyon (dialogue)

Halcyon (Greek: Ἀλκυών) is a short dialogue with the distinction of being attributed in the manuscripts to both Plato and Lucian, although the work is not by either writer.Favorinus, writing in the early 2nd century, attributes it to a certain Leon.

In the dialogue, Socrates relates to Chaerephon the ancient myth of the Halcyon, a woman transformed into a bird forever searching the seas in lament. The conversation is conducted in the port of Phaleron, also the narrative setting of Plato's Symposium. Socrates advocates epistemological humility for mortals in light of the gods' abilities.

The text was included in the 1st century CE Platonic canon of Thrasyllus of Mendes, but had been expunged prior to the Stephanus pagination and is thus rarely found in modern collections of Plato, although it appears in Hackett's Complete Works. It is often still included among the spurious works of Lucian.

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