Skydiver planning world record 120,000-foot jump from space

**pwaldo** · 05-30-2012, 08:50 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...nlwYWdl;_ylv=3

This summer, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will attempt to break the world record for the longest jump, plummeting more than 23 miles from the Earth's stratosphere.

"I've done a lot of test jumps, so I'm good," Baumgartner confidently told Fox News before adding that he would "probably say a little prayer" before making the jump that could literally make his blood boil if something goes wrong.

Baumgartner has been preparing with retired Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger, who set the current world record back in 1960 when he made a 102,000-foot jump.

To prepare for the jump, Baumgartner will breath pure oxygen for nearly an hour to remove nitrogen bubbles from his blood. He will then stay at the peak elevation for three hours, allowing his body to adjust. He will then jump in a pressurized suit that will prevent his blood from boiling at the extremely high elevation.

And if all goes well, Baumgartner will set another world record during his jump, becoming the first human being to break the speed of sound in a free-fall jump.

**duane1969** · 05-30-2012, 09:28 PM

Some people are crazy. This guy is their leader. LOL

Not sure how he figures he might break the speed of sound, unless I missed something in physics class. The speed of sound is around 760 MPH. The terminal velocity of a human in freefall maxes out at around 210 MPH.

**pghin08** · 05-31-2012, 09:34 AM

How long will it take him to actually make it to the ground? If he's jumping from essentially 22+ miles in the sky (did that calculation 3 times, because it seemed so insane), and assuming Duane's terminal velocity number is right, that's like 6+ minutes of falling. And that's faulty because, of course, he won't be falling at terminal velocity the whole time. Geez.

**rchurchward** · 05-31-2012, 10:39 AM

Check this out: http://www.redbullstratos.com/the-mi...sion-timeline/

Underneath the man, if you click on Ascent, The Jump, Stratosphere, Descent, and Landing, it explains a lot of what you guys are wondering. Because the atmosphere is less dense that high up it will enable him to reach a higher speed.

**redwingsfan11** · 05-31-2012, 10:43 AM

yea i've been waiting for this event for a while now. I wish i had the opportunity to do that. It would be so awesome.

**duane1969** · 05-31-2012, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by rchurchward View Post

Check this out: http://www.redbullstratos.com/the-mi...sion-timeline/

Underneath the man, if you click on Ascent, The Jump, Stratosphere, Descent, and Landing, it explains a lot of what you guys are wondering. Because the atmosphere is less dense that high up it will enable him to reach a higher speed.

Hmmm...so the concept is that the less dense air will create less resistance and allow him to fall faster. I guess the scientist have it all worked out and this English guy is just too logical LOL. I realized that the air was thin up that high, just didn't realize that it was thin enough to allow a quadruple of terminal velocity.