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Red Bull doesn't give you brains!

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    Red Bull doesn't give you brains!

    The Project Stratos: a Red Bull sponsored skydive that will take place for real tomorrow at midnight.

    In a jump planned for the last five years, Felix Baumgartner will drop from 23 miles above the earth in the hope of becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier on the way down.
    How can they be sure they can slow him down enough after 23 miles of freefall



    And you can watch it live.



    Fiscal nomad it's legal.

    #2
    Originally posted by alreadypacked View Post
    How can they be sure they can slow him down enough after 23 miles of freefall
    Why worry? Do you think he's going to dent the earth?
    And what exactly is wrong with an "ad hominem" argument? Dodgy Agent, 16-5-2014

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      #3
      If you break the sound barrier, don't you go back in time?

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        #4
        Originally posted by alreadypacked View Post
        How can they be sure they can slow him down enough after 23 miles of freefall
        Up there where the air is very thin the speed of sound is much lower, so I'd guess that's where he'll break the barrier.

        Then as the air thickens on his descent, the air will slow him down, presumably enough for a chute.

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          #5
          Originally posted by alreadypacked View Post
          How can they be sure they can slow him down enough after 23 miles of freefall
          You obviously drink Red Bull a lot (or you had a Labour educashun)

          They can slow him down because eventually he'll reach a terminal velocity (air resistance=gravity) which you can be sure they've worked out.
          Hard Brexit now!
          #prayfornodeal

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            #6
            Originally posted by Doggy Styles View Post
            Up there where the air is very thin the speed of sound is much lower, so I'd guess that's where he'll break the barrier.

            Then as the air thickens on his descent, the air will slow him down, presumably enough for a chute.
            And possibly light him up like a Roman candle!
            "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
            - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

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              #7
              Originally posted by cojak View Post
              And possibly light him up like a Roman candle!


              He won't be re-entering that fast though. If he's dropping from a balloon he'll start at something close to 0 mph, not several thousand mph like space debris.

              He'd still get a bit warm though I'd imagine.

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                #8
                Chap here says people fart as they descend as the rising air pressure pushes the gases out of their intestine. It'll pong a bit in that space suit.
                And what exactly is wrong with an "ad hominem" argument? Dodgy Agent, 16-5-2014

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by alreadypacked View Post
                  How can they be sure they can slow him down enough after 23 miles of freefall



                  And you can watch it live.
                  Interesting stuff. I'm going to watch that.

                  The real risk with a HALO jump isn't in failing to slow down enough (he'll have a drogue chute for that), or in missing his mark for opening the chute (he'll have a hitefinder that opens his main chute automatically for that, and most likely he'll be opening at a safe altitude anyway). Ironically, his biggest risk is probably going to be a safety device: his reserve chute. If you accidentally deploy your reserve chute too early on that type of jump, you're screwed one way or another. Because you need oxygen to make it through the highest altitude part of the descent (which lasts just over two minutes or so at 35,000 ft, and probably about five minutes freefall for this guy at the altitude he's jumping from, depending on when he opens his chute).

                  You need to breathe pure oxygen to avoid getting the equivalent of the bends as you ascend to that sort of altitude. And you need to stay on that pure oxygen until you're at a safe altitude again during the descent. To do that you've got a "bailout bottle" (a little bigger than soda stream bottle), which contains about fifteen minutes' worth of oxygen. If your reserve chute accidentally deploys too early, you're faced with either running out of oxygen before you reach a safe altitude, or trying to use a hook knife to cut the reserve cords manually so you can continue freefalling. (Reserve chutes, unlike the main, are physically attached to the harness). It'd be unlikely you'd be able to cut away a canopy like that without falling into a spin and getting entangled in it.

                  He certainly deserves some respect for the attempt. I just hope he stays away from that reserve toggle!

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by zeitghost
                    Odd.

                    I've have thought it more likely you'd fart as you ascend.
                    Indeed; perhaps he means 'fear-farting'.
                    And what exactly is wrong with an "ad hominem" argument? Dodgy Agent, 16-5-2014

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