skyjumper aims to break the sound barrier

[brainhulk]

http://news.yahoo.com/skydiver-aims-jump-23-miles-supersonic-072642093--spt.html

This summer, Baumgartner hopes to hurtle toward Earth at supersonic speed from a record 23 miles up, breaking the sound barrier with only his body.

"Keep in mind that at 120,000 feet ... there is no atmosphere to sustain human life," said Dustin Gohmert, manager of NASA's crew survival engineering office at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "To the body, it's no different than being in deep space, save from possibly more radiation shielding from the little atmosphere you have. You need the full protection of the pressure suit."
The record-holder Kittinger was in free fall for four minutes, 36 seconds, and accelerated to 614 mph, equivalent to Mach 0.9, just shy of the sound barrier. For his grand finale, Baumgartner expects to be in free fall for five minutes, 35 seconds, and achieve Mach 1, or 690 mph. All told, the descent should take 15 to 20 minutes.

awesome

 

[-Slacker-]

Yup. Could work, but I imagine surviving the sonic boom is a bit tricky.

 

[zinfamous]

Yup. Could work, but I imagine surviving the sonic boom is a bit tricky.

you nuts? people do it all the time!

 

[lupi]

at least if the parachute fails you won't have long to think about it.

 

[DrPizza]

at least if the parachute fails you won't have long to think about it.

That depends on what altitude it is that the parachute fails at. If he pulls the rip cord at 25,000 feet, it's going to be quite a while that he gets to lament the lack of parachute. He will slow down to terminal velocity fairly quickly.

The only reason he's able to break mach 1 is because he's breaking the speed of sound barrier at an altitude where sound moves much slower than it does at sea level. i.e. at sea level, the speed of sound is about 761 miles per hour. He isn't coming close to that speed. At 30,000 feet, where the air is very thin, the speed of sound is somewhere around 670-680 miles per hour (calculator: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/design/scripts/atmosphere/ )

 

[dave_the_nerd]

you nuts? people do it all the time!

Only if I eat too much Hummus.

 

[ichy]

Yup. Could work, but I imagine surviving the sonic boom is a bit tricky.

I'm sure that's been thought through. These aren't a bunch of amateurs pulling a crazy stunt, it's a team of very experienced people so you can be sure they're planning and testing everything very thoroughly.

 

[skyking]

Odd things happen across the sound barrier. Not that he is trying to make lift, but lift moves aft dramatically as a plane transitions the barrier. It necessitated different control systems to combat the "sonic tuck" effect.
My concern would be stability during the transition. A stable condition below sonic might not work so well during the transition.

 

[dawp]

it's been done before

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kittinger#Project_Excelsior

 

[skyking]

it's been done before

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kittinger#Project_Excelsior

read the OP link, this guy has been working with Kittinger for several years now.

 

[waggy]

it's been done before

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kittinger#Project_Excelsior

that orange thing? its to hold his balls.

 

[dawp]

read the OP link, this guy has been working with Kittinger for several years now.

I had heard that, just referring to the fact he will be breaking the sound barrier on the way down.

I'd like to see someone do this from orbit. that would be really impressive. would have to slow down considerably before entry.

 

[dawp]

that orange thing? its to hold his balls.

if I had the opportunity, I would do it.

 

[skyking]

Kittinger did not break the sound barrier.

 

[dawp]

Kittinger did not break the sound barrier.

I had heard he did. some history/discovery channel show stated he did.

 

[skyking]

Not according to any official record, or according to Kittinger. Why would this guy pursue this, otherwise?

 

[dawp]

Not according to any official record, or according to Kittinger. Why would this guy pursue this, otherwise?

highest jump?

 

[jorken]

Not according to any official record, or according to Kittinger. Why would this guy pursue this, otherwise?

Cause it's fun?

 

[juiio]

Yup. Could work, but I imagine surviving the sonic boom is a bit tricky.

The pressure waves will be behind him, so I don't think they will affect him.

BTW, there isn't just one boom; it is continuous for the length of the supersonic travel.

 

[ichy]

I'd like to see someone do this from orbit. that would be really impressive. would have to slow down considerably before entry.

If you check out their website you'll see that their medical advisor is Dr. Jonathan Clark. His wife was Laurel Clark, one of the astronauts on Columbia's last flight. He's involved with this effort for rather personal reasons, although obviously bailing out from a spacecraft that's moving at 20 times the speed of sound would be a lot harder than hopping off of a balloon.

 

[WelshBloke]

that orange thing? its to hold his balls.

if I had the opportunity, I would do it.

If you ask him nicely he might let you cradle them for awhile.