Jump From The Stratosphere

[Riverdance]

There is a plan in place to have a man dive from the stratosphere. Felix Baumgartener will be lifted 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and jump wearing what is basically a space suit. The jump was postponed today due to weather conditions but will be live-streamed. The link to the live-stream (when it starts again) is in the top left corner of the site. At the time of posting it only shows a video of what they hope will happen.

[Dr.Epic]

If Looney Toons cartoons have taught me one thing, his Acme parachute will backfire and he'll create a human shaped crater in the ground.

[Riverdance]

If Looney Toons cartoons have taught me one thing, his Acme parachute will backfire and he'll create a human shaped crater in the ground.

I was reading through the comments coming in and one of them was in spanish. I don't speak spanish too well, but I worked it out as "he will be the next big meat-pancake"

[Dr.Epic]

I was reading through the comments coming in and one of them was in spanish. I don't speak spanish too well, but I worked it out as "he will be the next big meat-pancake"

Great! Now I'm hungry for a big pancake made out of meat.

[Ulysses WkAmil]

We were going to view this in Chemistry today, but it was canceled as you said. Better safe than having your blood boil at 120,000 feet.

[nedz]

Well it was too windy for the balloon to take off safely. The envelope is very thin and so could tear.

[Ravens_cry]

It's been done, well, almost, back in 1960.

[factotum]

It's been done, well, almost, back in 1960.

Colonel Kittinger is actually part of Felix's team for this jump, and there's a bit of a difference between 102,000 feet and 120,000! (A little over three miles of vertical altitude, in fact ).

[Ravens_cry]

Colonel Kittinger is actually part of Felix's team for this jump, and there's a bit of a difference between 102,000 feet and 120,000! (A little over three miles of vertical altitude, in fact ).

True, but it's in the same scale and the technologies needed are similar. In both cases, for example, you need a pressure suit of sorts to survive at altitude.

[Yora]

Kittinger had one. And it broke on the way up. And his equipment was 50 years older, primitive by todays standards.
As fun as the whole thing is, there isn't much of a new technological or human achievement about it. It's repeating of something done before with a slightly higher number involved.

[GnomeFighter]

It's not really, it's more that it shows the slow changes nowadays. They are still pushing the limit of what is possible. Unfortunately the changes in technology since the 60's have been painfully slow in flight, take supersonic flight for example. The SR71 was built in 1964, Concorde in 1969. Nither of them have been bettered.

Computing makes you thing that 60s tech is primitive, but its really not. We have come on leaps and bounds with computers but the easy engineering work was done well before the 60's.

The first 90% was easy, the last 10% is what makes it a challenge. They are pushing the limits of what is possible now just as much as they were then. For example noone has ever gone supersonic before, which in itself brings a whole new set of problems. Noone is entirely sure of what will happen when he goes through the sound barrier. They THINK he should be ok, but there is a possibility that the pressure waves will throw him around like a rag doll.

[Borgh]

The whole thing seems to have been postphoned untill sunday at the earliest.

[Traab]

How will he go supersonic? Will he have some form of propellant pushing him? I only ask because I thought the average terminal velocity of a human was way lower than the sound barrier.

[Riverdance]

How will he go supersonic? Will he have some form of propellant pushing him? I only ask because I thought the average terminal velocity of a human was way lower than the sound barrier.

Maybe it's lower when there's thinner atmosphere.

[Lycan 01]

How will he go supersonic? Will he have some form of propellant pushing him? I only ask because I thought the average terminal velocity of a human was way lower than the sound barrier.

From what I saw on the news the other day, he'll go supersonic almost immediately after jumping, and will be physically unable to breath for 30 seconds. I'm guessing it has to do with the thinner atmosphere, and less friction to slow him down. As he gets closer to the earth, though, he'll slow down, and eventually reach normal Terminal Velocity, where he can safely deploy his parachute.

Hopefully.


I just gotta say, this man is amazing. Not only does he have balls of titanium, but look at his name. "Felix." His name means LUCKY. That's gotta count for something, right?


Honestly, I hope he makes it. Not only because of the scientific advancements it'll make (new safety measures and suit tech for astronauts, research data on human body in supersonic conditions, et cetera), but because this would be an amazing achievement for humanity. Seriously. A human not only surviving a fall from space, but also breaking the sound barrier - WITH HIS BODY.

[Riverdance]

I just gotta say, this man is amazing. Not only does he have balls of titanium, but look at his name. "Felix." His name means LUCKY. That's gotta count for something, right?

And "Baumgartner." That speaks of...the soothing herbal cream that he will... use to soothe his aching muscles.

[Morph Bark]

So, what do I have to do to become the second person to break the sound barrier in free fall?

[GnomeFighter]

1) Wait for him to be the first person

2) get a balloon and allot of gear, and start practicing the jump from a low hight first. Perhaps try jumping off a chair then work your way up.

[factotum]

I only ask because I thought the average terminal velocity of a human was way lower than the sound barrier.

At the sort of altitudes humans usually fall at, yes, the terminal velocity is quite slow. At 120,000 feet, where the air density is something like 2% of what it is at sea level, you can go much faster.

[Ravens_cry]

I just gotta say, this man is amazing. Not only does he have balls of titanium, but look at his name. "Felix." His name means LUCKY. That's gotta count for something, right?

The trouble when people wish you luck is they rarely say what kind . . .

[Cuthalion]

Great! Now I'm hungry for a big pancake made out of meat.

You little.... I'm hungry!!!!

[Thiel]

It's not really, it's more that it shows the slow changes nowadays. They are still pushing the limit of what is possible. Unfortunately the changes in technology since the 60's have been painfully slow in flight, take supersonic flight for example. The SR71 was built in 1964, Concorde in 1969. Nither of them have been bettered.

Computing makes you thing that 60s tech is primitive, but its really not. We have come on leaps and bounds with computers but the easy engineering work was done well before the 60's.

Actually, technology is changing faster than ever before. We only see a fraction of it because we don't come into contact with it directly, but it's happening nonetheless.
As for the SR71 and the Concorde, true, they haven't been bettered, but not for the reasons you seem to think. The Concorde wasn't economical so there's little incitement to make a better one. The SR71 has been overtaken by other technologies, namely surface to air missiles and satellite surveillance so once again there hasn't been a reason to make a better one.

[Riverdance]

He's Jumping Now! Click The Link At The Top If You Want To Watch!

[Kobold-Bard]

If you're in the USA and get the Discovery Chnnel, it's about 1 minute ahead of the Youtube stream.

Plus 4 million viewers is starting to take a toll on Youtube's streaming capabilities.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Oh man, he's ALMOST at the jumping point. Like, just a few more minutes...

[Volthawk]

If you're in the USA and get the Discovery Chnnel, it's about 1 minute ahead of the Youtube stream.

Plus 4 million viewers is starting to take a toll on Youtube's streaming capabilities.

Oh...that's why Youtube is going dodgy on me.

[HairyGuy4]

Freaking sweet is all that comes to my mind.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Surely he's down by now. How'd it go?

[Tebryn]

Surely he's down by now. How'd it go?

He lived, broke the sound barrier.

[Kobold-Bard]

He lived, broke the sound barrier.

He actually broke the sound barrier? Oh sweet, initially people were saying the spinning had slowed him too much. Brilliant.

Here's a gif of the jump. Freefall from 24 miles up, even knowing all the prep they'd done it was still a bit of an "oh my god what the hell did I just watch!" moment:

Spoiler

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