Supersonic skydive from 120,000 feet

[LongTomH]

From Space.com:

?1349547922

From a capsule suspended 23 miles (36.6 kilometers) above Roswell, N.M., daredevil Felix Baumgartner will skydive in an attempt to set a new altitude record.

Baumgartner will first ascend to an altitude of 120,000 feet (36,000 meters) in a six-foot diameter (1.8 meters) pressurized capsule suspended from a high-altitude balloon.

Once at the correct altitude, Baumgartner steps from the capsule and begins to fall. Within about 40 seconds he accelerates enough to break the sound barrier, which has never been done by a free-fall skydiver.

In 1960, United States Air Force Col. Joseph Kittinger made a similar jump from the lower altitude of 102,800 feet (31,000 meters). 8 Craziest Skydives of All Time

Edited to add: The two links are fun. The first is to an animation on the Space.com site; the second is to a list of famous parachute jumps, including Baumgartner's.

[matt819]

1. That's pretty nifty

One question, though. How does the balloon get back down?

[LongTomH]

2. The balloon would be under automatic control, of course.

There might also be radio commands from the ground if it drifts too far.

[mysuzuki2]

3. Just out of curiosity. What happens when you deploy a chute at

the speed of sound. Assuming that the deceleration didn't rip it completely off your body, wouldn't the sudden change cause internal or brain injury?

[bananas]

4. He'll be subsonic when the chute opens

http://www.redbullstratos.com/technology/parachute/

DROGUE STABILIZATION CHUTE AND G METER

The drogue stabilization chute and G meter offer breakthrough skydiving technology. This is the first personal drogue equipment ever designed for supersonic deployment, and it's the first ever designed to function completely independently of the main and reserve parachutes.

If Felix becomes unstable, he may need the drogue chute to keep from spinning uncontrollably. However, in his quest to break the sound barrier, he doesn't want to deploy a drogue unless absolutely necessary, as it could slow him down. The solution: If Felix experiences 3.5 Gs or more for a continuous period of 6 seconds, a G meter will open the drogue stabilization chute automatically.

A drogue deployment button will also be available on Felix's glove. If he holds down this button for three seconds, the drogue stabilization chute will fire.


PARACHUTES

If all goes as Felix envisions, the main parachute is the only parachute in his rig that will be deployed. This nine-cell, ram-air, 270-square-foot/25-square-meter canopy will not open automatically. It is expected that Felix will pull the handle to deploy it at 5,000 feet/1,524 meters.

Felix's main and reserve (emergency) parachutes are rated to be opened at 150 knots, which means that he must slow to about 172 mph / 277km/h for safe deployment.

Felix can deploy his reserve parachute manually, but the system also includes CYPRES (Cybernetic Parachute Release System) technology to deploy the reserve automatically if he exceeds a vertical speed of 35 meters (115 feet) per second at a predetermined altitude (around 2,000 feet / 610 meters).

http://io9.com/5949077/how-felix-baumgartner-will-set-the-new-skydive-record--and-break-the-speed-of-sound-in-the-process

Assuming everything will be a go, he will then leap from the capsule.

At this point, Baumgartner's rate of velocity will be nothing short of intense. He will enter into what's called the "delta position" (head down with arms at his side) in order to achieve maximum velocity. And because of the exceptionally thin air in the stratosphere, he will experience virtually no wind resistance, and he will not hit any kind of terminal velocity. As a result, he's expected to achieve the speed of sound (690 miles/hour or 1,110 km/hr) after only 40 seconds of freefall. It will be crucial for Baumgartner to maintain a stable delta position, otherwise he may enter into an uncontrollable spin and lose consciousness.

It's worth noting that Baumgartner will experience a sonic boom, but because the air is so thin it won't present a problem. At least that's the theory.

As Baumgartner falls away from the edge of near-space and makes his way into the troposphere, he will start to hit resistance and gradually slow down.

Once he hits the 5,000 feet mark (about five minutes after his jump), Baumgartner will deploy his parachute. It should take him another 10 to 15 minutes to reach the surface.

[tinrobot]

9. So, there's no backup for the drogue chute?

If that one fails, he's not going to slow down enough for the main or reserve to open.

[bananas]

10. You misunderstand - the drogue chute won't be used at all

unless he goes into a dangerous spin.

The drogue chute isn't needed to slow him down to subsonic velocity,
atmospheric drag will do that.

The purpose of the drogue chute is not to slow him down,
but to reduce his spin if it is too high,
which could cause him to black out or die,
because the centrifugal force would push his blood away from his heart and lungs,
it would pool in his limbs and not be refreshed with oxygen.

He shouldn't spin that fast, but in case it happens, the drogue chute will open automatically,
to reduce his spin rate.

[YankeyMCC]

8. Or what happens when you look in your hand mirror

and it hasn't deployed.

Yikes

[bananas]

5. This will be quite a week for space - it's Keep Space For Peace Week, too.

Skydive, spacex, sarah brightman, and Keep Space For Peace Week, too!
http://www.space4peace.org/actions/ksfpw12.htm

[friendly_iconoclast]

6. Do they eschew the use of GPS technology? I doubt it...

[Posteritatis]

13. Most hardcore anti-space people don't have the first clue about what's in orbit anyway. (nt)

[krispos42]

7. The novel "Article 23" has a scene in it...

...if I recall correctly, where the main character does a dive off of a platform about 100 miles above the Earth's surface. The platform is on the tether for Earth's space elevator. So there's a spot where thrill-seekers can put on a spacesuit with a parachute and jump off.

Even though the platform is 100 miles, up, it's not orbiting... it stays above a specific geographical location. So you basically fall down, with a slight eastward vector. You accelerate through LEO in a near vacuum, until the gradually thickening atmosphere starts slowing you down.

I believe a heat shield may be involved.

Anyway, it's like this guy's jump, but on steroids.

[Bosonic]

11. live feed

#!

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Launch expected in 45 minutes from now

though that youtube link say "not available", for me.

[Bosonic]

14. Aborted because of heavy winds

http://gizmodo.com/5950136/watch-the-first-human-supersonic-space-jump-updating-live?post=53351226

I think the youtube link will still be valid for whenever it is rescheduled.

[bodem1955_om]

15. whoa

that guy has some balls