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Science

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LongTomH

(8,636 posts)
Sun Oct 7, 2012, 04:37 PM Oct 2012

Supersonic skydive from 120,000 feet [View all]

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.


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