low reynolds number...
Actually bacteria or virus particles would probably not burn up, on their own. Even at such a large velocity their low mass/volume would bring them to a screeching halt, and they would fall like rain....
I can vouch for my own experiments when using highly energetic electrons (32 kEV) to observe E.coli using a transmission electron microscope - (atmospheric pressure probably 10-8 Torr).
The bacteria certainly didn't explode, in fact they didn't even lyse...
I'm not saying they were *happy*!!
The ESA has actually tried the experiment with a real rock, here, and bacteria do not survive within the rock, as it gets too hot...
However it is not too hard to imagine the right shaped rock acting as a heat shield , *just* so...
P.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
