Felix Baumgartner - hero or maniac?

[dellzeqq]

he's going to ascend to 123,000 feet in a pressurised capsule hanging from a baloon. He's then going to jump out of the capsule and freefall, breaking the speed of sound as he drops, and then pull his parachute chord. Hhhhmmmmm..........

http://www.redbullstratos.com/handl... the intensely harsh atmosphere at 120,000 ft.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

wont he need some ear plugs for when he goes Boooooooooooom

 

[Silver Fox]

If it wasn't for people like Baumgartner the boundaries of human endeavour and achievement would never be broken.

Hero or maniac, bit of both I suspect but then it's better to burn out than just fade away.

 

[Doseone]

I guess they've thought of these things but won't he explode from some sort of pressure imbalancy thing?

 

[martint235]

Complete nutter. Does anyone know how long you have after you've thrown yourself out of a balloon at 23 miles up to think "I really, really, really hope everything goes as planned" before you find out for sure?

 

[Beebo]

Complete nutter. Does anyone know how long you have after you've thrown yourself out of a balloon at 23 miles up to think "I really, really, really hope everything goes as planned" before you find out for sure?

That nagging feeling in the back of your mind that something may go wrong must be hard to keep quiet.

I cant do the maths; but the planned free fall is probably a bit longer than the unplanned freefall, which willl occur after he pulls the rip cord and finds that he forgot to pack the parachute.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

If it wasn't for people like Baumgartner the boundaries of human endeavour and achievement would never be broken.

Hero or maniac, bit of both I suspect but then it's better to burn out than just fade away.

+1

 

[uphillstruggler]

there was an american (who else) back in the 50/60s who did something similar as part of the space programme. he tore his suit too.

Hero for me - that takes bottle

 

[PpPete]

Parachute opening is going to be the last of his worries. If that suit fails as he goes though the sound barrier (or indeed anytime in the first 70,000 ft of freefall) he's dead long before the end of the planned freefall.

 

[uphillstruggler]

i would hope he has an altitude monitor as a fail safe then!!

i doubt they will be able to shoot him down if it all goes belly up

 

[dellzeqq]

how does he slow down sufficiently to open the chute?

 

[slowmotion]

how does he slow down sufficiently to open the chute?

When he is falling through the atmosphere at very high altitude, the air is very thin so he reaches a terminal velocity (if you excuse the phrase) that is far greater than he would nearer the ground. I think normal parachutists reach about 120 mph before the forces of gravity are equalled by the air resistance. As this nutter falls to lower altitudes, the air resistance increases because the air is denser and so he slows down to about 120 mph at which point he can pull his ripcord.

My theory anyway.

 

[martint235]

When he is falling through the atmosphere at very high altitude, the air is very thin so he reaches a terminal velocity (if you excuse the phrase) that is far greater than he would nearer the ground. I think normal parachutists reach about 120 mph before the forces of gravity are equalled by the air resistance. As this nutter falls to lower altitudes, the air resistance increases because the air is denser and so he slows down to about 120 mph at which point he can pull his ripcord.

My theory anyway.

Assuming his suit saves him from the friction generated by slowing to 120mph of course.

He is setting off from only 3 miles higher than the guy in the 60s though and all he suffered was a numb hand. Surely we have learnt enough in 40 odd years? Otherwise we'll have a big hole in the ground shaped like an Austrian.

 

[User169]

But is he as cool as legoman...?

 

[slowmotion]

Assuming his suit saves him from the friction generated by slowing to 120mph of course.

He'll be going a lot slower than the Space Shuttle on re-entry. Anyway, maybe he's going to stuff some refractory bricks down his lederhosen.