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A skydiver is set to become the first person to break the sound barrier during a free fall by leaping from a balloon on the edge of space later this year.
It is the ultimate in parachute jumps: from the edge of space, Felix Baumgartner will leap from a balloon, plummeting to the ground 120,000 feet below.
After 35 seconds he will break the sound barrier, and finally, at 5,000 feet he will deploy a parachute and ââ¬â hopefully ââ¬â land safely on the ground.
During his 10-minute journey to earth the Austrian will travel at more than 690 miles per hour inside a special suit, which must protect him from temperatures as low as -94 degrees F.
He will rely on its oxygen tanks as the air is too thin to breathe ââ¬â and hope that the sheer force of the fall does not make him blackout.
The team working with the Austrian will this week announce that an attempt to make the record breaking jump will take place in August above New Mexico.
Mr Baumgartner, who is a helicopter pilot when he is not skydiving, will travel into the Earth's stratosphere in a specially adapted scientific weather balloon.
The huge helium balloon, which will inflate to be around 400 feet wide, will carry a pressurised capsule up to 120,000 feet in around three hours. Commercial airliners typically cruise at altitudes of between 30,000 to 39,000 feet.
At 23 miles up, the air pressure is 1,000 times less than it is at sea level and air is so thin that without his own oxygen supply Mr Baumgartner would suffocate. His blood would begin to boil because the boiling point of liquids falls as pressure falls.
A custom made pressurised suit similar to those used by Nasa astronauts will protect him from the harsh environment. Engineers have spent nearly two years developing and testing the suit in preparation for the jump.
Oxygen cylinders packed into the parachute pack will supply him with 20 minutes of oxygen, more than enough for the 10 minute skydive.
The parachute itself has also had to be adapted so that Mr Baumgartner can reach the cords to open it while inside the pressure suit, which makes it difficult for him to move around freely.
Once the balloon reaches its highest altitude, Mr Baumgartner will open the specially constructed capsule, before launching himself into the unknown.
Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...und-barrier-with-jump-from-edge-of-space.html
This is crazy and I hope the parachute has an altimeter attached so that it can open automatically if he blacks out.
It is the ultimate in parachute jumps: from the edge of space, Felix Baumgartner will leap from a balloon, plummeting to the ground 120,000 feet below.
After 35 seconds he will break the sound barrier, and finally, at 5,000 feet he will deploy a parachute and ââ¬â hopefully ââ¬â land safely on the ground.
During his 10-minute journey to earth the Austrian will travel at more than 690 miles per hour inside a special suit, which must protect him from temperatures as low as -94 degrees F.
He will rely on its oxygen tanks as the air is too thin to breathe ââ¬â and hope that the sheer force of the fall does not make him blackout.
The team working with the Austrian will this week announce that an attempt to make the record breaking jump will take place in August above New Mexico.
Mr Baumgartner, who is a helicopter pilot when he is not skydiving, will travel into the Earth's stratosphere in a specially adapted scientific weather balloon.
The huge helium balloon, which will inflate to be around 400 feet wide, will carry a pressurised capsule up to 120,000 feet in around three hours. Commercial airliners typically cruise at altitudes of between 30,000 to 39,000 feet.
At 23 miles up, the air pressure is 1,000 times less than it is at sea level and air is so thin that without his own oxygen supply Mr Baumgartner would suffocate. His blood would begin to boil because the boiling point of liquids falls as pressure falls.
A custom made pressurised suit similar to those used by Nasa astronauts will protect him from the harsh environment. Engineers have spent nearly two years developing and testing the suit in preparation for the jump.
Oxygen cylinders packed into the parachute pack will supply him with 20 minutes of oxygen, more than enough for the 10 minute skydive.
The parachute itself has also had to be adapted so that Mr Baumgartner can reach the cords to open it while inside the pressure suit, which makes it difficult for him to move around freely.
Once the balloon reaches its highest altitude, Mr Baumgartner will open the specially constructed capsule, before launching himself into the unknown.
Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...und-barrier-with-jump-from-edge-of-space.html
This is crazy and I hope the parachute has an altimeter attached so that it can open automatically if he blacks out.
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