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Post by chew on Mar 18, 2010 14:23:16 GMT -4
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Post by PhantomWolf on Mar 18, 2010 16:26:53 GMT -4
I guess they'll find out. Hopefully he won't go Mach 1 into the ground.
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Post by smlbstcbr on Mar 19, 2010 22:32:10 GMT -4
I think it will be very difficult to do that, if not impossible, at least if you are not falling head-on to the ground to achieve the highest speed. He can overheat or freeze and if he manages to remain in one piece and with his helmet pointing to the Earth, how will he decelerate without braking his neck because of the whiplash?
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Post by LunarOrbit on Mar 19, 2010 23:04:26 GMT -4
I think it will be very difficult to do that, if not impossible An Air Force pilot named Joe Kittinger made three high altitude parachute jumps in 1959 and 1960 that came close to breaking the sound barrier. His third jump was from 102,800 feet (20,000 feet lower than Felix Baumgartner plans to jump from). Probably by deploying a small drogue chute first, and then his main chute after slowing to a safe speed. |
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Post by PhantomWolf on Mar 20, 2010 1:57:32 GMT -4
For those that didn't read the article in the OP, Kittinger is actually helping with the planning of this attempt.
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Post by gwiz on Mar 20, 2010 5:37:14 GMT -4
...how will he decelerate without braking his neck because of the whiplash? He will automatically decelerate because the lower he gets the denser the air becomes and the higher the drag he experiences. By the time he gets to normal skydiving altitudes he will be down to normal skydiving speeds. As the link says, he's main problem is going to be maintaining attitude control in the transonic region. |
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Post by randombloke on Mar 20, 2010 17:01:25 GMT -4
On the other hand, humans have a marvellously adaptable brain and if he has control surfaces that can actually alter this position and not be destroyed by the forces involved, he'll figure out a control method after a couple of goes...
Assuming he has a couple of goes.
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Post by Data Cable on Mar 21, 2010 23:53:15 GMT -4
Assuming he has a couple of goes. Or, as I recently ran across somewhere: "If at first you don't succeed, maybe skydiving ain't for you."  |
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Post by echnaton on Mar 22, 2010 10:14:11 GMT -4
I wish him luck. There seem to be fewer and fewer barriers to explore or that can be broken by a single person or a small team. The well concealed daredevil in me wishes I could try that.
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Post by echnaton on Mar 22, 2010 10:19:19 GMT -4
The best way to get to the speed of sound would be to jump from a Virgina Galactic ship. Way cooler than BASE jumping.
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Post by smlbstcbr on Mar 23, 2010 22:09:26 GMT -4
An Air Force pilot named Joe Kittinger made three high altitude parachute jumps in 1959 and 1960 that came close to breaking the sound barrier. His third jump was from 102,800 feet (20,000 feet lower than Felix Baumgartner plans to jump from). The matter is terminal velocity, given that he will not have any propulsion means to keep accelerating. Then, it is more likely to not achieve supersonic speeds... |
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