Free Fall from orbit!!
lol
It will NOT be the first supersonic drop...
Capt. Kittinger jumped from an altitude of 74,700 feet. On the third and last jump in Excelsior III on Aug. 16, 1960, Capt. Kittinger jumped from a height of 102,800 feet, almost 20 miles above the earth. With only the small stabilizing chute deployed, Capt. Kittinger fell for 4 minutes, 36 seconds. He experienced temperatures as low as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and a maximum speed of 614 miles per hour, exceeding the speed of sound.
"Question - Isn't it true that, on earth, where no object really falls "freely", there is a point at which the falling object finally attains zero acceleration? That is, could you say that, in reality, a falling object attains a maximum velocity above which it will not go?"
You are absolutely correct! Gravity accelerates an object high up in the air downward at the usual rate of 32 ft/second/second. As it accelerates, however, the air resistance increases, roughly like speed at low speeds and then more like the square of the speed. Finally, the air resistance exerts an upward force exactly equal and opposite to the force of gravity. The object will then continue to fall at that speed, which is called the terminal speed.
For a person in free fall, the terminal speed is about 60 m/s or 135 miles/hour. When his parachute opens (hopefully), the terminal speed is reduced to around 12 miles/hour.
Best, Dick Plano, Professor of Physics emeritus, Rutgers University
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy00/phy00800.htm
First Man in Space - Skydiving From The Edge Of The World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81gn2oLeC_U