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Skydive from space apparently back on

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by novelist_wannabe, Feb 16, 2012.

  1. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    Make sure to maintain that seal ...

    http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/294640/20120207/felix-baumgartner-space-jump-video-red-bull.htm
     
  2. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    Pretty cool story. I'm sure a bunch of people will jump on him and call him stupid (or worse), but he's a grown man, who knows the risk he's taking. Seems like science can learn a lot from it and it's cool to see someone trying to push the limits of the human experience.
     
  3. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Hell, if that's what he wants to do, that's fine by me. But I predict he doesn't make it. I can't imagine how he'd be traveling at the speed of sound and be able to open his chute. I can't imagine him even being conscious when it's time to open the chute. Also can't imagine the chute or chutes will slow him sufficiently from only a mile above ground. At that speed (over 700 mph) it probably takes half a mile just for them to start to open.
     
  4. mrbigles01

    mrbigles01 Member

    Let me take a WILD guess that the guy who has been planning a skydive from 23 miles up for YEARS has thought of and addressed those problems . . . but maybe you should give him a call just to check.
     
  5. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Presumably so. But if someone asked me to put a wager on it, I'll say he won't live to talk about this on the Today Show.
     
  7. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    This is just fucking insane.
     
  8. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I'm curious about the heat factor. Obviously, the Columbia broke up on re-entry because of the cracked heat shield. Is friction going to be an issue for this guy or would he have to be in orbit for it to become a factor?

    I'm wondering if the suit is designed to withstand the friction or if he simply won't be high enough for it be an issue.
     
  9. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    It's my understanding that he won't be high enough for the heat to become an issue. I mean, the FAA considers outer space everything above 60,000 feet mean sea level. As for the parachute-opening issue, I think he will have a parachute that opens automatically at a certain barometric altitude.
     
  10. Hokie_pokie

    Hokie_pokie Well-Known Member

    Well, of all the possible ways to go, turning into "a giant fizzy, oozing fluid from your eyes and mouth, like something out of a horror film," is nowhere near No. 1 on my list.

    But whatever. Some people are just batshit fucking crazy.
     
  11. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    I kinda bet he doesn't intend to open up the facemask or the suit until he's back on the ground. That's kinda like saying if you were driving your car at 60 mph and opened the door and lowered your face onto the concrete it would be bad for your complexion -- it's true, but why the hell would you do it?? :eek:

    Reaching a speed of 700 mph won't be that much of a problem, friction heating will not be excessive because the atmosphere is still thin enough at that altitude.

    He'll open his chute going 700 mph and will start losing speed immediately. As he descends into thicker air, the resistance of the chute will increase and he will slow down quickly. The chute will absorb and dissipate most of his downward speed and avoid compression heating which occurs on supersonic entry.

    Friction has nothing to do with altitude per se, rather atmospheric density in conjunction with speed.

    Columbia was going 12-14,000 mph when it broke up, but it was also at an altitude of about 180,000 feet.
     
  12. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    At that speed, won't the parachute break his back because of the change in velocity? Could he suffer a compression disease, not unlike the bends, because of the drastic change in air pressure in his descent?

    Oh well. It's his life. What a moron.
     
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