Mach 1.1 freefall! Red Bull Stratos

[FastGTi]

They don't really need a guy jumping out of a basket for this. A vacuum chamber will do.



The only reason there is high speed - (not acceleration because gravity isn't changing) is low resistance. Doing nothing he'll eventually slow to the same speeds a normal skydiver will travel.



Hope he's ready for 1g of acceleration and less then that of deceleration. I wonder if he could pop the chute the moment he leaves the capsule. It probably wouldn't do anything until the air density starts to go up anyway.



A difference of 7 to 10,000 feet. Hardly seems worth the effort.

Also: improper use of than invalidates your arguments.

[The Ninja]

edit- beaten!

Were you at VIR this weekend?

[compy222]

as a side note. that kittinger fellow is a giant badass in his own right:

The first test, Excelsior I, was made on November 16, 1959. Kittinger ascended in the gondola and jumped from an altitude of 76,400 feet (23,287 m) .[1] In this first test, the stabilizer parachute was deployed too soon, catching Kittinger around the neck and causing him to spin at 120 revolutions per minute. This caused Kittinger to lose consciousness, but his life was saved by his main parachute which opened automatically at a height of 10,000 feet (3,048 m).

Despite this near-disaster on the first test, Kittinger went ahead with another test only three weeks later. The second test, Excelsior II, was made on December 11, 1959. This time, Kittinger jumped from an altitude of 74,700 feet (22,769 m) and descended in free-fall for 55,000 feet (16,764 m) before opening his main parachute.

The third and final test, Excelsior III, was made on August 16, 1960. During the ascent, the pressure seal in Kittinger's right glove failed, and he began to experience severe pain in his right hand from the exposure of his hand to the extreme low pressure. (See Effects of vacuum on humans.) He decided not to inform the ground crew about this, in case they should decide to abort the test. Despite temporarily losing the use of his right hand, he continued with the ascent, climbing to an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,333 m). The ascent took one hour and 31 minutes and broke the previous manned balloon altitude record of 101,516 feet (30,942 m), which was set by Major David Simons as part of Project Man High in 1957. Kittinger stayed at peak altitude for 12 minutes, waiting for the balloon to drift over the landing target area. He then stepped out of the gondola to begin his descent.

The small stabilizer parachute deployed successfully and Kittinger fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds, setting a long-standing world record for the longest free-fall. At an altitude of 17,500 feet (5,334 m), Kittinger opened his main parachute and landed safely in the New Mexico desert. The whole descent took 13 minutes and 45 seconds and set the current world record for the highest parachute jump. During the descent, Kittinger experienced temperatures as low as −94 °F (−70 °C). In the free-fall stage, he reached a top speed of 614 miles per hour (988 km/h).

"An hour and thirty-one minutes after launch, my pressure altimeter halts at 103,300 feet. At ground control the radar altimeters also have stopped-on readings of 102,800 feet, the figure that we later agree upon as the more reliable. It is 7 o'clock in the morning, and I have reached float altitude ... Though my stabilization chute opens at 96,000 feet, I accelerate for 6,000 feet more before hitting a peak of 614 miles an hour, nine-tenths the speed of sound at my altitude."

A plaque attached below the open door of the Excelsior III gondola read, "This is the highest step in the world".

this man must have his pants custom tailored to fit his balls.

[pentaxshooter]

Were you at VIR this weekend?

Nope, I had taken off far too many weekends recently and actually needed to work so I'm not broke #collegekidproblems

[McBanagon]

Joseph Kittinger is mentoring Felix and will be in communication with him from the ground.

And probably say things like, "How was your heated capsule? Bet it was warm, huh?

[Mikefc626]

Does anyone know if there's going to be any video coming in from Felix's side? From a helmet-cam or side mounted camera on the capsule?

I can't find anything about it

[SidVicious]

They just aborted for today...

[HASSELHOF]

Does anyone know if there's going to be any video coming in from Felix's side? From a helmet-cam or side mounted camera on the capsule?

I can't find anything about it

he'll have two hd camera's mounted to his legs pointing to his head.

[SnowGTI2003]

They just aborted for today...

I was so excited to see the live feed become active with activity. Then scrubbed.... booo

[The Ninja]

Weather tomorrow is not looking good.

[absoluteczech]

yea its been canned.. lame. weird thing is website only shows 0.8mph winds...? sorry but dont think it will get much less then that.

[pentaxshooter]

yea its been canned.. lame. weird thing is website only shows 0.8mph winds...? sorry but dont think it will get much less then that.

That wasn't correct. They need less than 2mph winds @ 800 feet for a launch to take place. It was up to around 17 earlier today.

[G0to60]

Pretty amazing stuff but I've always wondered why they never mention that the speed of sound is different higher up in the atmosphere then at sea level. The speed of sound is about 70mph slower at 120k feet (also at ~ -30F) then at sea level (at ~ 70F). Seems that's kind of fudging the books a little bit.

Don't get me wrong. This is an amazing feet that he and Kittinger will and have done.

[Double-V]

Pretty amazing stuff but I've always wondered why they never mention that the speed of sound is different higher up in the atmosphere then at sea level. The speed of sound is about 70mph slower at 120k feet (also at ~ -30F) then at sea level (at ~ 70F). Seems that's kind of fudging the books a little bit.

Don't get me wrong. This is an amazing feet that he and Kittinger will and have done.

I see nothing wrong with that and it isn't fudging anything. It is supersonic. Science, you're its bitch.

[Jason4]

Pretty amazing stuff but I've always wondered why they never mention that the speed of sound is different higher up in the atmosphere then at sea level. The speed of sound is about 70mph slower at 120k feet (also at ~ -30F) then at sea level (at ~ 70F). Seems that's kind of fudging the books a little bit.

Don't get me wrong. This is an amazing feet that he and Kittinger will and have done.

I think the people that care about the precision of the speed of sound at altitude will already know that it varies with the density of the fluid that it is being transmitted through and probably don't care about the omission. The people who are shocked by that probably couldn't grasp what's going on anyway.

In one of the notes that I read it said that Felix B. has already jumped from 97,000 feet so he's been pretty close to the record already in his practice jumps.

[G0to60]

I see nothing wrong with that and it isn't fudging anything. It is supersonic. Science, you're its bitch.

Yeah, I can't help it sometimes.

Still impressive feats though.

[McBanagon]

I wish them better luck with the balloon tomorrow.

[OldOyster]

scared? yeah right! you got a 50/50 shot. live or die. more than likely gonna live, so **** it, send it.

Huh? I thought 50/50 means that there is an equal chance of either outcome.

[Prail11]

scared? yeah right! you got a 50/50 shot. live or die. more than likely gonna live, so **** it, send it.

Not sure if you are trying to actually point out the odds of surviving, as I'm sure this guy wouldn't do the jump if he actually had a 50% chance of survival...

That's like saying you have a 50/50 chance of getting into a car accident on the drive home, you either do or don't.
Doesn't make sense.

[Hawk]

It's been done! So he's a few thousand feet higher and a little faster? Big deal.

[SVTDanny]

It's been done! So he's a few thousand feet higher and a little faster? Big deal.

The 911 was done 40 years ago! So every one since then has been a bit bigger and a little faster? Big deal.

I don't see you setting records by jumping out of a balloon at 23 miles up, Captain Awesome.

[Mtl-Marc]

404 car content not found

Now there is.



"Red Bull Athlete Felix Baumgartner Rips Some Drift Donuts with His Ford GT inside a Flight Hangar in Cal City"

[Hawk]

I don't see you setting records by jumping out of a balloon at 23 miles up, Captain Awesome.

ZOMG, I'm not jumping out of a balloon so I can't comment. you're right. I find it funny how the media is making it seem like nobody has ever done anything like this before. They should be reporting he's going just a bit higher than the previous record, instead of making it sound like this is something nobody has every tried before.

[MidnightSpecial]

Where can I sign up to do this? (For free. )

[HCsmokey]

ZOMG, I'm not jumping out of a balloon so I can't comment. you're right. I find it funny how the media is making it seem like nobody has ever done anything like this before. They should be reporting he's going just a bit higher than the previous record, instead of making it sound like this is something nobody has every tried before.

Fact of the matter is, if he does break the sound barrier, he'll be the first. Not sure there is any data on a human doing that without a metal shell around them?
It's not the fact that he's breaking an altitude record, it's the fact that by doing that, he very well could break the sound barrier...

ban hawk..hehe

[Hawk]

Are we sure no fighter pilot has ever ejected at supersonic speeds? I feel like someone would have somewhere in this world in the last 50 years.

Also, it's a supersonic freefall (if it happens) through basically no atmosphere vs say at like 30,000 feet. I dunno, I think it's kinda like with the X-15 goes Mach 6. It's a plane, but it's in space. Whereas when the SR-71 does Mach 3 it feels more 'real'

Anyway, I hope he has a safe fall.

[Mr. Chewbacca]

safe fall.

he he...

[HASSELHOF]

ZOMG, I'm not jumping out of a balloon so I can't comment. you're right. I find it funny how the media is making it seem like nobody has ever done anything like this before. They should be reporting he's going just a bit higher than the previous record, instead of making it sound like this is something nobody has every tried before.

Do you feel better about yourself now that you've belittled someone else's accomplishments? Did you manage to grow a little more hair, so you don't always have to wear a baseball hat? Grow a little taller? Weiner gain a couple of cm? Did your Cayman gain an 'S' on the trunk? See what I did there?

For a grown ass man, you sure act like a child sometimes.

[Time for a GTI]

You guys sure do feed the obvious troll a lot.

[HASSELHOF]

Pretty sure that Hawk has time and time again proven that he actually not a troll, but just a self righteous idiot.

[absoluteczech]

ZOMG, I'm not jumping out of a balloon so I can't comment. you're right. I find it funny how the media is making it seem like nobody has ever done anything like this before. They should be reporting he's going just a bit higher than the previous record, instead of making it sound like this is something nobody has every tried before.

our local news mentioned it. even interviewed the guy that originally did it at 102k feet.

[McBanagon]

our local news mentioned it. even interviewed the guy that originally did it at 102,800 feet.

FIFY.



Edit, I love it how he's in his AF uniform under the suit. Probably went back to the office afterwards.

[yz1337]

Are we sure no fighter pilot has ever ejected at supersonic speeds? I feel like someone would have somewhere in this world in the last 50 years.

Also, it's a supersonic freefall (if it happens) through basically no atmosphere vs say at like 30,000 feet. I dunno, I think it's kinda like with the X-15 goes Mach 6. It's a plane, but it's in space. Whereas when the SR-71 does Mach 3 it feels more 'real'

Anyway, I hope he has a safe fall.

Multiple pilots have, most suffering some pretty gnarly injuries.

[McBanagon]

Multiple pilots have, most suffering some pretty gnarly injuries.

Even at subsonic speeds, things can go wrong.

http://www.gallagher.com/ejection_seat/


King of the world!

[Jason4]

It's good to hear that Felix has a great domestic supercar like the Ford GT, he didn't settle for something that a hairdresser would drive like a Cayman or Boxster.

I already mentioned it once but he has already jumped from 97k feet, just shy of the current record, he's worked his way up to this.