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Skydiver preparing for 120,000-foot supersonic fall
CNN ^ | May 21, 2010 | Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd

Posted on 05/22/2010 7:02:04 PM PDT by Malone LaVeigh

An Austrian daredevil is planning to become the first person to break the sound barrier in a free fall, without riding in a vehicle.

This summer in New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner hopes to make the highest, longest and fastest fall ever.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: felixbaumgartner; skydiver; spacediving; spacejump
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To: Malone LaVeigh
Betty, a reaper on "Dead Like Me" comments on jumping:

"Falling is easy - you just fall. Jumpin' takes will power. Landing is like falling - you just land."

Betty died jumping from a cliff into a shallow stream she thought was much deeper.


61 posted on 05/23/2010 7:27:15 AM PDT by newfreep (Palin/DeMint 2012 - Bolton: Secy of State)
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To: Malone LaVeigh

I’ve always said that this is what we need to do with the Gitmo inmates: Modify the “Rods from God” program to use Islamic supremacists instead of tungsten rods, and use them on targets in Waziristan.


62 posted on 05/23/2010 7:34:08 AM PDT by denydenydeny (The welfare state turns us all into zoo animals, mouths open, waiting for the next feeding.)
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To: GGpaX4DumpedTea
Bill does not have enough money to entice you even with all of it?

No.

63 posted on 05/23/2010 10:19:04 AM PDT by rdl6989 (January 20, 2013- The end of an error.)
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To: rdl6989

Bbbbb.b.ut think of your heirs :)


64 posted on 05/23/2010 11:15:49 AM PDT by GGpaX4DumpedTea (I am a tea party descendant - steeped in the Constitutional legacy handed down by the Founders)
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To: muffaletaman

Even so As soon as he hits the atmosphere he’s going to start decelerating and I think at a rapid rate.

I guess we’ll all have to wait and see if the guy actually can do it.

I pray he survives the attempt And can walk when he’s done.so many things can go wrong.


65 posted on 05/23/2010 12:09:16 PM PDT by puppypusher
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To: Erasmus

How fast IS the speed of smell?


66 posted on 05/23/2010 8:33:06 PM PDT by irishtenor (Tag line is on vacation.)
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To: irishtenor

If he breaks the sound barrier will he be able to hear himself scream?


67 posted on 05/23/2010 9:24:09 PM PDT by JohnnyP
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To: FredZarguna; puppypusher
I know Strong Vacuum is not a term in the art - but consider who I was addressing... ;^)

Likewise I know that the atmosphere doesn't end - it just fades away. Compared to parachuting at 20k ft, he is “relatively” unhindered to a huge extent (again considering the audience I was addressing) but there will still be a terminal velocity where drag force equals acceleration due to gravity. IF he reaches his goal - his drag forces will include making a shock wave due to exceeding the local speed of sound.

I know that once a satellite gets down to the “upper fringe” of the atmosphere, the atmospheric drag (as little as it has been) increases rapidly due to the extremely high velocity, and all hell breaks loose!

(How much extra energy goes into the ionization effects? I once saw a space shuttle re-entry at about 3AM near Navasota TX. The orange trail persisted across the entire night sky, until well after the shuttle disappeared into the horizon's haze. WOW was that neat!)

A satellite may have been in really low LEO for weeks, but about 30 minutes after it “hits the fringe”, anything that hasn't vaporized is going to hit the ground (or water) somewhere!

Of course, at its terminal velocity...

Regards rotation - experienced skydivers clearly steer with their arms and hands, legs and feet, and general posture. As soon as there is enough speed to generate some noticeable drag (force), he can hopefully stabilize his fall position. I presume he will try to go headfirst to maximize his terminal velocity.

BUT at near 700+ MPH in the low air pressure environment he will be in - holy mackerel! If he DOES spin up - or something DOES “flutter” - or he tumbles - etc. - he may be pulverized. I totally HOPE not, but the possibility exists.

Best Wishes for good luck to him...

68 posted on 05/26/2010 8:33:33 AM PDT by muffaletaman
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To: muffaletaman
I know Strong Vacuum is not a term in the art - but consider who I was addressing... ;^)

One of the great things about FR is that you never really know who that might be.

Best Wishes for good luck to him...

Agreed. However, he's a base jumper, and to my way of thinking, this may be a less hazardous jump than some he's already undertaken.

69 posted on 05/26/2010 5:46:16 PM PDT by FredZarguna ("They bring a knife, you bring a gun. They put you in the hospital, you put them in the morgue.")
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To: Malone LaVeigh

The math says he can do it. Experience says he can do it. I hope he does it, then charges $100 for the rest of us to give it a try. OK, maybe I’ll go to $105 but no more...then I’m out.


70 posted on 05/26/2010 6:07:39 PM PDT by CodeToad
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To: FredZarguna
... this may be a less hazardous jump than some he's already undertaken.

Yup, that is probably so.

BTW - Looking the the photo from the previous guy's jump taken moments after he left the ascent capsule... it is a mind-numbing "watch that first step - it's a doozy" kind of a situation!

BTW, since we never know who we are talking to... who are we talking to when we talk to ourselves about our spelling...

???

;^)

71 posted on 06/02/2010 9:19:51 AM PDT by muffaletaman
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To: paddles

I leave for Benning in 6 weeks. Any advice? Will it be hot? Ha!


72 posted on 06/02/2010 9:33:01 AM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: muffaletaman
who are we talking to when we talk to ourselves about our spelling...

The same guy I ask where I left my car keys.

He's pretty smart, but I only know him by his screen name. I've always thought this little ditty appropriate to this question, and to several others: Borges and I.

73 posted on 06/02/2010 9:41:30 AM PDT by FredZarguna ("I do not know which of us has written this page.")
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To: FredZarguna

My keys are always in my front right pants pocket... except when they’re not and THEN something is seriously wrong.

THANKS for the link! Someone I know would like to meet someone he knows! You know anyone who would like to meet them too?

Also class of ‘98 I see - VINTAGE STOCK

BTW I had not really heard of this guy Mitch Daniels until this posting today:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2528904/posts

and the WS article accompanying. I am impressed!

;^)


74 posted on 06/06/2010 9:36:59 AM PDT by muffaletaman
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