RedBull Stratos...Felix Baumgartner....700mph+ FreeFall
Discussion
Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall from 120,000 ft will be the ultimate scientific experiment in a near-space environment.
http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/
Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space, will attempt to transcend human limits that have existed for 50 years. Supported by a team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend to 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump rushing toward earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future pioneers.
The Red Bull Stratos team brings together the world's leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. It includes retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who holds three of the records Felix will strive to break.
Joe's record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960 was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and had already taken a balloon to 97,000 feet in Project ManHigh and survived a drogue mishap during a jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his 33rd parachute jump.
Although researching extremes was part of the program's goals, setting records wasn't the mission's purpose. Joe ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola. Scientific data captured from Joe's jump was shared with U.S. research personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix and his specialized team hope to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more than 50 years ago and press forward to test the edge of the human envelope.
God Speed Felix
http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/
Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space, will attempt to transcend human limits that have existed for 50 years. Supported by a team of experts Felix Baumgartner plans to ascend to 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and make a freefall jump rushing toward earth at supersonic speeds before parachuting to the ground. His attempt to dare atmospheric limits holds the potential to provide valuable medical and scientific research data for future pioneers.
The Red Bull Stratos team brings together the world's leading minds in aerospace medicine, engineering, pressure suit development, capsule creation and balloon fabrication. It includes retired United States Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, who holds three of the records Felix will strive to break.
Joe's record jump from 102,800 ft in 1960 was during a time when no one knew if a human could survive a jump from the edge of space. Joe was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and had already taken a balloon to 97,000 feet in Project ManHigh and survived a drogue mishap during a jump from 76,400 feet in Excelsior I. The Excelsior III mission was his 33rd parachute jump.
Although researching extremes was part of the program's goals, setting records wasn't the mission's purpose. Joe ascended in helium balloon launched from the back of a truck. He wore a pressurized suit on the way up in an open, unpressurized gondola. Scientific data captured from Joe's jump was shared with U.S. research personnel for development of the space program. Today Felix and his specialized team hope to take what was learned from Joe's jumps more than 50 years ago and press forward to test the edge of the human envelope.
God Speed Felix
Jsyphil said:
GTIR said:
It's a shame his name's not "Bumgardener".
ETA. What about all this terminal velocity guff?
How can a human go fast enough?
Very thin air - The higher you go, the thinner the air, the less resistance....ETA. What about all this terminal velocity guff?
How can a human go fast enough?
Edited by GTIR on Tuesday 9th October 08:13
Megaflow said:
A thought that occured watching this on the news this morning, how far up do you have to go before re-entry becomes an issue?
I suspect, by the very nature of re-entry, that you'd have to leave the atmosphere totally, and therefore there is no gravity to pull you down.
I presume you are concerned about the atmospheric heat friction that is normally associated with a spacecraft or satellite re-entering the atmosphere from earth orbit (or even direct from the moon, as in Apollo and Zond missions).I suspect, by the very nature of re-entry, that you'd have to leave the atmosphere totally, and therefore there is no gravity to pull you down.
Atmospheric heating is not a function of altitude. It is a function of speed.
If you climbed a tower 100 miles high - you would be in space. If you jumped off that tower and started falling towards earth, your velocity would never exceed 800 mph - and at that speed frictional heating due to the atmopshere would be almot undetectable.
If you are in orbit around the earth at an altitude of 100 miles, you will start entering the atmosphere at 17,500 mph (25.000 mph if coming back from the moon). At those types of speeds atmospheric heating is a major issue and a specially designed heat shield of some sort is required to prevent the spacecraft from burning and breaking up.
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