http://www.onorbit.com/node/4805

 

Watch Star Trek much? -_-

 

People much much smarter than me believe this will work. I keep thinking buffeting and turbulence are going to be..... a problem (at freaking mach one!)

 

Today, July 25, 2012, Felix Baumgartner completed the final milestone remaining before he attempts to achieve his dream of becoming the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall. According to preliminary data, his test jump from a 5.3 million cubic-foot / 150,079 cubic-meter balloon achieved an altitude of over 96,640 feet / 29,455 meters, seeing Baumgartner execute a 3 minute, 48 second freefall jump reaching speeds of 536 mph / 862 kmh.

 

ROSWELL (New Mexico). Baumgartner landed in a desert area of the U.S. state of New Mexico, just about 15 minutes by helicopter from his launch site at Roswell International Air Center. As the ecstatic team gathered in Mission Control to welcome his return, technical project director Art Thompson commented: "It's hard not to get emotional about today. We are just so glad to have Felix back on the ground after a long week with significant weather challenges. The crew did a great job."

 

The test launch was twice delayed due to thunderstorms, wind and rain. But the team of aerospace experts was never discouraged, well aware that even Space Shuttle launches sometimes faced several days of postponement. Baumgartner's successful test is proof that patience pays off.

 

The balloon for Baumgartner's final ascent will rise as tall as a skyscraper - requiring surface winds of no more than 4 miles / 6.5 kilometers per hour to avoid endangering its delicate plastic envelope. The date for the record jump is now subject to favorable weather conditions and critical post-jump assessments of the capsule and equipment.

 

Today's successful test, with a balloon over four times as large as the one that carried the pilot at the first test flight in March, delivered new insights for the progress of the project and also new research data for the benefit of aerospace research.

 

"It was a rough couple of days and an exhausting endeavor. I am now really excited. It has always been a dream of mine. Only one more step to go," Baumgartner said after the successful landing.

 

Pending official data review and confirmation, the leap from over 96,640 feet / 29,455 meters takes Baumgartner past Russia's Yevgeny Andreyev (83,523 feet / 25,458 meters) to make him only the second man to have successfully completed a jump from such an altitude. His planned freefall from 120,000 feet / 36,576 meters would finally break the record of 102,800 feet set 52 years ago by the only man who has jumped from a higher altitude, Baumgartner's mentor Joe Kittinger.

 

By the way, if anyone is interested, his attempt to break the world record will occur this upcoming Monday, in New Mexico.

Awesome......I always liked the starting sequence of the original Crysis game, so this is getting really close to that.

Awesome......I always liked the starting sequence of the original Crysis game, so this is getting really close to that.

 

I was actually reminded of the jump-from-orbit scene from the 2009 Star Trek film. :-)

The space dive attempt has been pushed back one day, till tuesday 10/09

 

http://www.redbullstratos.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Stratos-National-NB-Tablet-Broad&utm_group=Events-Space_Jump&utm_term=jumping+from+space

Unfortunately, it will be 1.20 am this end of the world, so I have set it up to be recorded. I really hopes this goes well and that I can watch it over breakfast without knowing the outcome (not that I want to see a bad outcome)

I was actually reminded of the jump-from-orbit scene from the 2009 Star Trek film. :-)

 

That one was awesome...Head first through the atmosphere. I love Science Fiction:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=167vbnZ8Sqw

He even has the spacesuit. When I first posted this, I also did some reading on previous jumps, and its really interesting.

 

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Space_diving

 

There are several technical requirements and challenges to the possibility of space jumping. The space diver suit would have to protect against hostile temperatures, pressures, and lack of oxygen. At the heights involved, low pressure would cause decompression sickness within the space diver. This would turn the blood to gas and would be fatal.

 

Furthermore, depending on the weight of the diver, the reentry suit would likely have to be armored to survive the heat of reentry. While there is no "fire layer" of atmosphere, the speed of orbit is in the thousands of kilometers per hour. To go from this speed into the atmosphere would cause friction on the air, and could cause the diver to heat up to 400+ degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Gravity is also a challenge. As the diver presses through the thin atmosphere to the thicker air below, he could slow at such rates that he experiences negative G-forces from 2-8, possibly contributing to black outs or other pressure-related complications.

 

Robert Heinlein, the author of Starship Troopers and a former spacesuit designer, conceived of a (fictional) reentry system involving multiple ablative shells and parachutes. These requirements would be somewhat eased when entering the atmosphere from a simple drop, where the heat of reentry would be considerably less than that of reentering from orbit.

 

Parachutes would require increased strength to slow the higher weights associated with the added equipment. NASA is known to have investigated the concept in case of an emergency situation on the shuttle where alternative methods of reentry are not available — however, such planning has not moved beyond the conceptual stage given the high energies involved in reentry from orbital speeds.

I love the opening picture on this thread, in fact this old fart loves anything to do with Redbull :rolleyes:

Some of the risks Baumgartner faces are:

* Colliding shock waves, triggered by a human body moving faster than the speed of sound, could hit with the force of an explosion, though the risk of this is much less likely in the stratosphere where the air is extremely thin.

* The low-pressure environment could cause Baumgartner to go into a flat spin. If a spin lasts for too long, he could lose consciousness and injure his eyes, brain and cardiovascular system.

* Exposure to vacuum, even for a short period of time, could cause Baumgartner's blood literally to boil. The condition, known as ebullism, causes fluids in the body to turn to gas.

* Gas seeping into the body due to a relatively rapid exposure to low pressure can cause decompression sickness, or "the bends".

* As pressure decreases, trapped gas in the body can cause ear blockages, dizziness and acute tooth, sinus and gastrointestinal pain. When decompression is sudden, lungs can over-inflate and collapse. A gas bubble in an artery could stop blood flow.

* Extremely cold temperatures pose a threat to Baumgartner and his equipment. Excessive heat from the sun is also a risk.

* Ultraviolet radiation is more than 100,000 times as strong at 120,000 feet (36,576m), where Baumgartner plans to begin his jump, as it is at ground level, but Baumgartner should have a very short exposure time.

* Wind shear could make Baumgartner nauseous and could destroy his balloon.

* A breach in Baumgartner's protective spacesuit or the accidental deployment of a parachute are considered the biggest safety concerns.

Source: Red Bull Stratos

half hour to go: http://www.redbullst...aunch-progress/

 

 

EDIT: Dang! The call just made to cancel launch due to winds. 14:43 GMT

Unfortunately this will be delayed again to tomorrow because of gusty winds.

Unfortunately this will be delayed again to tomorrow because of gusty winds.

 

Well, like they say, better safe than sorry........

otherwise those winds may take him way off course and he could end up landing in my backyard...

:LMAO:

otherwise those winds may take him way off course and he could end up landing in my backyard...

:LMAO:

 

Off to see the wizard?