Man wants to be 1st skydiver to break sound barrier, from 23 miles up.

[powderman]

http://www.whas11.com/news/national/174072031.html
 
Skydiver hopes to break sound barrier on Sunday  Associated Press Posted on October 14, 2012 at 8:01 AM
Updated today at 9:30 AM       ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — An extreme athlete that is striving to become the first skydiver in history to break the sound barrier has begun preparations for his record-setting jump.
 
Felix Baumgartner hopes no more last-minute cancellations will thwart his attempt at the 23-mile- (37-kilometer-) high plunge over New Mexico.
The former Austrian paratrooper's team began unpacking the 30 million cubic foot helium balloon that will lift him to the stratosphere.
 
The jump was postponed on Monday and Tuesday because of unexpected winds.
Mission control officials say the three hour ascent is expected to begin Sunday at 7:30 a.m. MDT.
If successful, "Fearless Felix" will break a 52-year-old altitude record by Joe Kittinger, who jumped from 19.5 miles (31 kilometers) and reached a speed of 614 mph (988 kph), just under the sound barrier.

[powderman]

Read full story at link. POWDERMAN. 
 
As Baumgartner ascended in the balloon, so did the number of viewers watching on YouTube. Nearly 7.3 million watched as he sat on the edge of the capsule moments before jumping. After he landed, Red Bull posted a picture of Baumgartner on his knees on the ground to Facebook, generating nearly 216,000 likes, 10,000 comments and more than 29,000 shares in less than 40 minutes.
 
On Twitter, half the worldwide trending topics had something to do with the jump, pushing past seven NFL football games.
Among the tweets was one from NASA: "Congratulations to Felix Baumgartner and RedBull Stratos on record-breaking leap from the edge of space!"
 
This attempt marked the end of a five-year road for Baumgartner, a record-setting high-altitude jumper. He already made two preparation jumps in the area, one from 15 miles high and another from 18 miles high. It also was the end of his extreme altitude jumping career; he has promised this will be his final jump.
Baumgartner has said he plans to settle down with his girlfriend and fly helicopters on mountain rescue and firefighting missions in the U.S. and Austria.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/14/supersonic-skydiver-hopes-to-break-sound-barrier/?test=latestnews#ixzz29JWbY3bN

[Swift One]

I watched it.  Unbelievable.  700+ miles an hour and like a 4 minute free fall.  That man has **** of steel.   

[Old Fart]

Stuff like this will never be my cup of tea....... just sayin'. 

[Conan The Librarian]

It's quite a feat, and I'm glad somebody does these adventurous things I would never think of.
 
If it were me on that mission:
1) There would be a 23 mile poop streak extending from the capsule to the ground
2) I would have worn out my larynx screaming all the way down
3) I'd still be kissing the ground after landing safely
 
The amazing thing to me is how he got up there so he could do the jump. Really amazing.

[SHOOTALL]

so when will the tin hat guys clain it didn't happen ? 
Brave man for sure .

[powderman]

What an exciting experience that had to have been. POWDERMAN. 

[powderman]

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1902173330001/
 
 
What a trip. POWDERMAN. 

[magooch]

Well so much for physics.  In my high school and college physics courses the force of gravity was a subject of study.  I clearly remember that we were given to believe that the terminal speed of a falling human body would be somewhere under 200 mph; due to wind resistance.  So I guess, just like the laws of man, the laws of physics are subject to revision.

[guzzijohn]

Quote from magooch:
"Well so much for physics.  In my high school and college physics courses the force of gravity was a subject of study.  I clearly remember that we were given to believe that the terminal speed of a falling human body would be somewhere under 200 mph; due to wind resistance.  So I guess, just like the laws of man, the laws of physics are subject to revision."


In lower atmosphere that is basically correct. But remember at the height he jump at it was pretty much a vacuum so there was no air resistance for awhile and that is why he could obtain the high speeds. It is also the reason he had to be so careful to avoid spinning as there would be no air resistance to use to stop the spin.
GuzziJohn

[Bear Rider]

From the reports, it appears that the only thing that was learned in this stunt was that the suit needed better visor defrostors -- something that was known before he jumped.

Now, if could figure out a way to jump from the space station, THAT would be a contribution to science.

[powderman]

I always wanted to skydive. Years ago we went to TN and found a place up in the mtns where they did that. I saw it 1 day and went back the next day to go for it. They said it would be several hours cause the guy just jumped. He said go on, take a look. I walked out to the jump site, looked down, felt the wind in my face, closed my eyes for a minute, looked again, left, and never went back. I really wanted to  go but could NOT see myself jumping off that ledge. POWDERMAN. 

[SwampThing762]

Impressive to say the least.

ST762