Red Bull Stratos

[kilo delta]

Hadn't heard about this project before. :isadizzy:


Test jump pilot Felix Baumgartner, the champion skydiver and BASE jumper with a passion for expanding boundaries, can become the first person to break the sound barrier and reach supersonic speeds in freefall when Red Bull Stratos lifts off later this year.

The 40-year-old Austrian will shatter numerous world records which have stood for over half a century when he undertakes a stratospheric high-altitude helium balloon flight in a capsule to more than 120,000 feet.

At this level, wearing a specially modified full-pressure suit and helmet, parachute, and chest pack with data recorders, Baumgartner will jump and bid to become the first person in history to break the speed of sound with the human body.

Roughly 35 seconds into his freefall, Baumgartner is expected to break the speed of sound. He will then parachute to earth where he will be met by a retrieval team, after which descent of the capsule and balloon will be triggered remotely.

Team scientists and physicians will analyze mission data and release their findings for the benefit of the research community, establishing critical health and safety protocols for existing and future aerospace programs worldwide by developing learning into psychological and physiological human survival in space.

Joe Kittinger, who opened the door for space exploration when he made a parachute jump from 102,800 feet above sea level as part of the Excelsior programme on August 16, 1960, is part of the Red Bull Stratos mission team.

Kittinger's remarkable effort, which Baumgartner will be out to beat, proved that full-pressure suits could protect humans in the harsh environment of the stratosphere and influenced the 1969 mission to the moon.

The exact date of Red Bull Stratos, which will set off from North America, will be determined pending completion of equipment testing and assessment of weather patterns - conditions need to be optimal for the final jump.


http://www.redbullstratos.com/

Awesome project. A Supersonic man?.....makes me think of this...

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[Dain Arns]

Hmmmm, I had always assumed Colonel Kittinger exceeded the speed of sound on his descent in 1960.
I saw the camera footage from that jump in a documentary one time, long ago. It was pretty amazing.
Last two attempts to break Kittinger's record have been fatal, if I remember right. :kilroy:

[Bjoern]

Boards Of Canada used some footage of Kittinger for a music video.

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[kilo delta]

Extremely risky project alright. I'd have thought that the human body would not be capable of standing up to the extreme forces of supersonic freefall....even with a pressure suit?!

[Matt Wynn]

remember KD the air is thinner so does not impact on the body as it would at sea level, most of us parachutists dream of jumping to beat Kittingers record, remember too the higher you are the slower the speed of sound is... and a human bodys max vertical speed in the flat position is about 130mph if i recall right... it's a feasible jump, i'd give anything to do it myself...

[tigisfat]

... remember too the higher you are the slower the speed of sound is... and a human bodys max vertical speed in the flat position is about 130mph if i recall right... it's a feasible jump, i'd give anything to do it myself...

They say terminal velocity for a human is 120mph speaking in general terms about a body simply falling and not really taking a position but I know that higher speeds can be reached by going down like a bullet.

The speed of sound doesn't slow down; the gap between relative wind and speed through space increases making it possible to feel less 'wind blast' and other effects but still achieve higher speeds. The SR-71 can cruise at about 360KEAS when it's going 2000MPH across the earth's surface.


I was also under the assumption that supersonic speeds had been reached before in freefall. In fact, I know I've seen it in a video even if the video I saw was wrong.

[Quixoticish]

Absolutely spectacular. To be sat with the balloon at 120,000 feet waiting to jump... what a feeling.

[Piglet]

They say that ejecting from a SR-71 at mach 3 and 80,000ft. is just like ejecting from a F-16 at 20,000 ft and KIAS 300 KTS. This due to the thinner air at 80K.