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Basejumper Felix Baumgartner to break sound barrier with leap from the edge of space
Telegraph ^ | 2-7-12

Posted on 02/07/2012 11:05:54 AM PST by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

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To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
It is 1959 all over again. The Excelsior Project...
21 posted on 02/07/2012 11:38:46 AM PST by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.......)
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To: mamelukesabre

They are claiming that 680 MPH IS the speed of sound at 120k ft. I’m not sure if that is correct or not. I know that the speed of sound is about 760 mph at sea level.


22 posted on 02/07/2012 11:39:43 AM PST by jaydubya2
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To: dead
Some guy in the Air Force did this, sometime around 1960, and still holds the free fall record. With all the new technology, I don't know what's taken it so long for somebody to try it again.

He had a small drogue chute and did not exceed the speed of sound.

What I would be concerned about is when he breaks the sound barrier the dynamic forces on his body will change such that he becomes an unstable falling object and then experience G forces that may render him unconscious.

I wear a parachute when I fly my glider. I sure as hell am not stepping outside unless the glider is total uncontrollable.

23 posted on 02/07/2012 11:41:21 AM PST by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Mud Man, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist. THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR!)
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Colonel Joe Kittinger, Jr.

24 posted on 02/07/2012 11:42:24 AM PST by A.A. Cunningham (Barry Soetoro is a Kenyan communist)
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To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

I’m obviously no scientist, and I wonder why terminal velocity (120 mph or something) doesn’t come into play here if it’s supposedly “terminal”. I mean, he isn’t using power to drop, is he?

I’m confused. Help!

cheers
Jim


25 posted on 02/07/2012 11:46:44 AM PST by gymbeau (Free Tibet! (limit two per customer))
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To: gymbeau

There’s no terminal velocity in space. Thinner air = higher terminal velocity.


26 posted on 02/07/2012 11:51:23 AM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: A.A. Cunningham
According to that link:

On the way, he (Kittinger) became the first man to exceed the speed of sound -- without a plane.

27 posted on 02/07/2012 11:51:52 AM PST by Never on my watch (As a matter of fact, IT IS something worth getting angry over!)
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To: A.A. Cunningham
THAT is a hell of a resume!
28 posted on 02/07/2012 11:54:44 AM PST by Never on my watch (As a matter of fact, IT IS something worth getting angry over!)
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To: gymbeau

I think you reach speeds in excess of TV just by going into a delta position arms to sides.


29 posted on 02/07/2012 11:56:15 AM PST by Rappini (Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: gymbeau

Terminal velocity depends on air resistence and gravity.
120 mph is only good for 10,000 feet or so.
Terminal velocity from stationary in space is 7 miles per second = escape velocity, which is the same thing in reverse if there is no air.


30 posted on 02/07/2012 11:59:50 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (REPEAL WASHINGTON! -- Islam Delenda Est! -- I Want Constantinople Back. -- Rumble thee forth.)
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To: mamelukesabre

Thanks! Does that mean he’ll start slowing down as the atmosphere gets more dense?

cheers
Jim


31 posted on 02/07/2012 12:00:40 PM PST by gymbeau (Free Tibet! (limit two per customer))
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To: A.A. Cunningham

Man that gives me the heebee jeebees just looking at that picture!


32 posted on 02/07/2012 12:02:49 PM PST by GourmetDan (Eccl 10:2 - The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.)
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To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

Is it too late to add this guy to my “Dead Pool?”


33 posted on 02/07/2012 12:02:59 PM PST by GreenHornet
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To: Rappini

Thanks.

cheers,
Jim


34 posted on 02/07/2012 12:03:04 PM PST by gymbeau (Free Tibet! (limit two per customer))
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To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

Can he hold off attempting this until next January so I can put him on my Celebrity Dead Pool list for 2013?


35 posted on 02/07/2012 12:05:40 PM PST by Hatteras
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To: GreenHornet

Dang, I knew I should have read all the posts before posting a comment... ;-)


36 posted on 02/07/2012 12:08:57 PM PST by Hatteras
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To: DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis

This is definitely a Special Darwin Experience! Will we get to see Video of the explosion that will win him the Darwin Award of 2012???????


37 posted on 02/07/2012 12:12:11 PM PST by True Republican Patriot (May GOD SAVE OUR AMERICA from ALLAH and his Prophet, HUSSEIN OBAMA!!)
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To: jaydubya2

The speed of sound is dependent on air temperature.


38 posted on 02/07/2012 12:12:44 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: massgopguy
When he breaks the sound barrier. Every organ in his body will explode.

He won't reach that speed.

Based on wind resistance, the terminal velocity of a skydiver in a belly-to-earth (ie:face down) free-fall position is about 122 mph.
This velocity is the limiting value of the acceleration process because the effective forces on the body balance each other more and more closely as the terminal velocity is approached.

In this example, a speed of 50% of terminal velocity is reached after only about 3 seconds, while it takes 8 seconds to reach 90%, 15 seconds to reach 99% and so on.
Higher speeds can be attained if the skydiver pulls in his or her limbs. In this case, the terminal velocity increases to about 200 mph which is almost the terminal velocity of the Peregrine Falcon diving down on its prey.
The same terminal velocity is reached for a typical .30-06 bullet dropping downwards—when it is returning to earth having been fired upwards or dropped from a tower—according to a 1920 U.S. Army Ordnance study.

Competition speed skydivers fly in the head down position and reach even higher speeds. The current world record is 614 mph by Joseph Kittinger, set at high altitude where the lesser density of the atmosphere decreased drag.

So this guy hopes to break the current world record by 76 mph? The physics don't support it.

And if he does, as you say, he's dead meat.

39 posted on 02/07/2012 12:16:33 PM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Do all He commands. Receive all He promises.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine
Thanks Jack,

So, based on your comment, and what I read on the web, Altitude is not a factor in calculating the speed of sound. Temperature (density) is the determining factor. So, at 120k ft @ -94F, the speed of sound is 638.97 mph.
40 posted on 02/07/2012 12:29:26 PM PST by jaydubya2
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