One lucky guy!

[Rich H]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8475288.stm
Wow! I wonder what it'll be like to break the sound barrier.
Sure would be fun. 

[Alphajet_Enthusiast]

What kind of special device is the guy expected to wear to increase his terminal velocity? I can only imagine a bow shock forming in front of the guys face... actually, this seems like a pretty bad idea. 

[machineman9]

[quote]What kind of special device is the guy expected to wear to increase his terminal velocity? I can only imagine a bow shock forming in front of the guys face... actually, this seems like a pretty bad idea.

[Steve M]

Soon there will be one less mouth to feed, I think. If his remains crash through my roof, I'll be plenty p*ssed off!

[Hagar]

I'm not sure what's so lucky about it. Sounds risky to me.

[Jeff.Guo]

...if his blood doesn't boil on the way up, he might just freeze to death on the way down.

[beaky]

[quote][quote]What kind of special device is the guy expected to wear to increase his terminal velocity? I can only imagine a bow shock forming in front of the guys face... actually, this seems like a pretty bad idea.

[beaky]

...if his blood doesn't boil on the way up, he might just freeze to death on the way down.

He'll probably wear a heated pressure suit (a "spacesuit")... that's pretty standard when going above 50,000 feet.

[TacitBlue]

...the first person to break the sound barrier without the aid of a machine.

Unless he can jump 120,000 feet this wouldn't be strictly true either. No one can get high enough off of the ground without using some kind of machine like say, a balloon. Even so, it will be interesting. I wonder what the turbulent airflow and buffeting during transonic speed will do to him. I also wonder if a person in a space suit wouldn't create so much drag that it wouldn't be possible at all.

[beaky]

...the first person to break the sound barrier without the aid of a machine.

Unless he can jump 120,000 feet this wouldn't be strictly true either. No one can get high enough off of the ground without using some kind of machine like say, a balloon. Even so, it will be interesting. I wonder what the turbulent airflow and buffeting during transonic speed will do to him. I also wonder if a person in a space suit wouldn't create so much drag that it wouldn't be possible at all.

He will only attain a velocity equal to the speed of sound (about 768 mph at sea level, and about 650 mph at 100,000 feet) when he is at an altitude where there is practically no air, thus no transsonic anything.

[CD.]

Bonkers or brave. I can't think of any other words to describe the bloke.

[machineman9]

Bonkers or brave. I can't think of any other words to describe the bloke.

Well, it's sort of been done before (at that height, I don't really think 20,000 feet really makes all that much difference) so he is brave to try it - The first guy to do it would've been brave and bonkers.

[Jeff.Guo]

Anyone actually know how many attempts the military did in total? I seriously doubt they only tried it once...

...just because we know of a successful attempt, doesn't suggest there weren't unsuccessful, and probably fatal, unsuccessful jumps. Especially when I have this awful mental image of the guy powering his suit with a hand crank in a flimsy weather balloon.

[beaky]

Anyone actually know how many attempts the military did in total? I seriously doubt they only tried it once...

...just because we know of a successful attempt, doesn't suggest there weren't unsuccessful, and probably fatal, unsuccessful jumps. Especially when I have this awful mental image of the guy powering his suit with a hand crank in a flimsy weather balloon.

Kittinger made three jumps as part of the Excelsior project: from 76,400 feet, 74,700 feet, and finally from 102,000 feet.

The equipment involved was pretty simple, but not so primitive that Joe needed to crank anything. They did have batteries in 1960, y'know...

Of course, had anything gone wrong with the balloon or gondola systems, he did have a parachute...

This clip shows some closer looks at his rig, including the gondola...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKRqNu23 ... re=related


And here, Kittinger tells about his jump, with some great footage (there was a film camera mounted on the suit or helmet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VdSeDqU ... re=related



I don't think there were any other high-altitude jump tests done in the US, but prior to Excelsior, there was Project Manhigh, which carried pilots aloft into the stratosphere in balloons to study the effects of gamma rays. Kittinger was also involved in that project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Manhigh


I think if any USAF or NASA personnel had been killed in similar tests, we would have heard about it. Remember, when the Apollo I crew died in a terrible pad-test fire, it was announced the very next day to the entire world (including the Soviets).

As for the Soviets (who would certainly have not revealed that they lost any crewmen), they did make similar jumps later, but I don't think they did prior to Excelsior, even though parachute egress in an emergency was part of the standard Soyuz flight plan, if I remember right.

[machineman9]

I can only imagine that in a few years this becomes the next 'extreme sport'. Perhaps they could develop a way of getting the balloon back down to Earth or something like that.