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.

Freefall (1994 film)

Freefall is a 1994 action film starring Eric Roberts, Jeff Fahey and Pamela Gidley. It is directed by John Irvin, written and produced by David Zito and Les Weldon.

The story tells about undercover INTERPOL agent Grant Orion (Roberts), who, after recently being falsely accused of a crime, attempts to prove his innocence to wildlife photographer Katy Mazur (Gidley) while rescuing her from an assassin organisation led by her fiancé Dex Dellum (Fahey).

Originally intended for a theatrical release, the movie was released straight to VHS in the United States by Vidmark Entertainment and in Canada that same year by Cineplex Odeon. In 2002, Platinum Disc released a DVD of the film.

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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.

Martian

A Martian is a native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Although the search for evidence of life on Mars continues, many science fiction writers have imagined what extraterrestrial life on Mars might be like. Some writers also use the word Martian to describe a human colonist on Mars.

Martians in fiction

The word "Martian", used as a noun instead of an adjective, first entered the English language in late 1877. It appeared nearly simultaneously in England and the United States, in magazine articles detailing Asaph Hall's discovery of the moons of Mars in August of that year. An early, brief fictional account of an invasion of Earth by Martians appeared in 1881, in a futuristic article inspired by the International Exposition of Electricity, Paris.

Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds (1883) by W. S. Lach-Szyrma was previously reputed to be the first published work to apply the word Martian as a noun instead of an adjective. The usage is incidental; it occurs when Aleriel, the novel's protagonist, lands on Mars in a spacecraft called an "ether-car" (an allusion to aether, which was once postulated as a gaseous medium in outer space). Aleriel buries the car in snow "so that it might not be disturbed by any Martian who might come across it."

Martian (disambiguation)

A Martian is a hypothetical inhabitant of the planet Mars.

Martian, Martians, The Martian or The Martians may also refer to:

Arts and entertainment

Other uses

Martian (The War of the Worlds)

The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the main antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of England (and later the Earth) and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present challenges for the novel's human characters. They are notable for their use of extraterrestrial weaponry far in advance of that of mankind at the time of the invasion, 1898.

In the novel

Little about the Martians is definitive, the story being told by a first-person narrator.