Felix Baumgartner live!

bobg4400

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Yeah I know, I skipped a lecture earlier so as not to miss the launch time, it got postopned.
Do you know when its gonna start tomorrow?
 

TheRedBull

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No idea. On Austrian TV they said that they aren't even sure whether they can start tomorrow or not. Pity. Actually he was even supposed to launch yesterday, but apparently it was windy then, too. And the balloon seems to have gotten a scratch. They have to overhaul it, maybe they even have to get a new one. This should take some time. They also said that over the following days and weeks the weather conditions are not very likely to improve. That's all I know so far. I'll keep you updated though. :)
 

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What do you think his chances of surviving the whole thing are?

Sorry if this sounds morbid. but it seems a tremendously risky thing to do; the first planes to pass through the sound barrier just broke up and many pilots were lost.
 

bobg4400

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What do you think his chances of surviving the whole thing are?

Sorry if this sounds morbid. but it seems a tremendously risky thing to do; the first planes to pass through the sound barrier just broke up and many pilots were lost.

Well people have broken the sound barrier before when they ejected form supersonicp planes and things. It's not like the shockwave is going to strip the flesh from his bones:rolleyes:
There'll probably be a jolt and a sonic boom but afterwards it'll just be really quiet, plus hes in a suit so there won't be supersonic air forcing itself into his lungs, cos that would almost definitely kill him.
 

bobg4400

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On another note does anyone know why the balloon is so thin?
If they made it a bit more robust it could have flown today?
 

tbrguy

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On another note does anyone know why the balloon is so thin?
If they made it a bit more robust it could have flown today?

Well the balloon is 750 feet high and I don't know how wide, but a few grammes per square inch multiplied by that amount must make a huge difference to the volume of helium required; and as it's strength is only really an issue during take off I suspect that explains it.
 

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Well, experts say that if his head breaks the sound barrier before his feet do, he could break his neck. Also, if he starts spinning, he can reach speeds of up to 120 rpm. Because of all the blood rushing into his brain, he is likely to pass out. Also permanent damage to his brain might occur.

On another note, next launch date is Thursday, earliest. The crew had basically had 12+ hours work days recently, so they are taking a day off tomorrow. So see you guys on Thursday. :)
 

bobg4400

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I'm super pissed I missed it lol
my power was down up till about 10 mins after he landed :mad::mad::mad:
Stupid electricity company
 

TheRedBull

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Those are the records Felix set:

Jumping from an altitude of 128,100ft/39,045m
Reaching a vertical velocity of 834.6mph/1342.8kph/Mach 1.24
Longest free fall (distance) 86,950ft/26,500m

He also attempted to break the record for longst free fall (time), but due to his high velocity, he was in free fall for 4 minutes, 20 seconds. So the current record remains at 4 minutes, 36 seconds.

The former records were not broken for over 52 years.

Felix did an incredible job there. Billions of kudos to him!!
 

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Related info...

Skydiver Baumgartner in 128,000ft plunge from brink of space

"If the heroic Baumgartner did go supersonic he will not be the first to do so, nor the record holder for fastest human body travelling through the air. That title is held by Bill Weaver, the pilot of an SR-71 "Blackbird" ramjet spy plane, whose aircraft disintegrated in midflight in 1966 while travelling at better than Mach 3. Weaver, though he did black out, survived, despite the fact that his ejection seat reportedly never left the plane: and he will probably remain the holder of this particular exotic record for some time to come. Sadly his systems-operator companion Jim Zwayer died during the crackup."
 

bobg4400

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Related info...

Skydiver Baumgartner in 128,000ft plunge from brink of space

"If the heroic Baumgartner did go supersonic he will not be the first to do so, nor the record holder for fastest human body travelling through the air. That title is held by Bill Weaver, the pilot of an SR-71 "Blackbird" ramjet spy plane, whose aircraft disintegrated in midflight in 1966 while travelling at better than Mach 3. Weaver, though he did black out, survived, despite the fact that his ejection seat reportedly never left the plane: and he will probably remain the holder of this particular exotic record for some time to come. Sadly his systems-operator companion Jim Zwayer died during the crackup."

That's why baumgartner is the first person to go supersonic unaided not the first person to go supersonic ever