Supersonic Skydive Attempt Delayed 24 Hours 68
First time accepted submitter poofmeisterp writes "Felix Baumgarner's planned record jump from 120,000 feet has been delayed due to 'bad wind.' Humor aside, it's good that careful thought is going into this potentially record-setting public act. From the article: 'The Austrian - who described himself as "like a tiger in a cage waiting to get out" - was due to leap from his Red Bull Stratos space capsule today at a planned altitude of 36,576m (120,000ft) over the New Mexico desert. However, the weather has forced a 24-hour launch delay. In July, Baumgartner jumped from an altitude of 29,455m (96,640ft), hitting 586.92km/h (364.69mph) during the free fall part of his drop.'"
Re:Any guesses on the diameter of the crater? (Score:4, Funny)
Jumping from that height, he'll be lucky if he doesn't miss the earth
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Probably not.
I imagine if anything went wrong he would probably be torn limb from limb long before he reaches the ground.
Re:Any guesses on the diameter of the crater? (Score:5, Funny)
Only if something distracts him just before he hits the ground. That's apparently how you miss the ground.
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Only if something distracts him just before he hits the ground. That's apparently how you miss the ground.
Like that missing suitcase?
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The one with the olive oil in it?
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he'll be lucky if he doesn't miss the earth
I have not succeeded yet but maybe Felix has learned the knack?
"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - HHGTTG
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Does he have to survive for it to count as record breaking? I mean, he was fine until he hit the ground, right?
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With this jump if something goes wrong he will be dead long before he hits the ground.
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hmmm, his soon-to-be-widow wife is hot ...
If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:5, Funny)
If he succeeds, NASA will have a cheap way to bring astronauts back from the space station without paying the Russians!
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Re:If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:5, Funny)
Also the wind shear from passing jokes could be an issue.
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Re:If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:4, Funny)
Give him a break. You can't go *whoosh* in a vacuum...
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Give him a break. You can't go *whoosh* in a vacuum...
This is Slashdot: the correct phrasing is "In space no-one can hear you whoosh" ;-)
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In space, George Lucas can help us all hear you *whoosh*
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Give him a break. You can't go *whoosh* in a vacuum...
Once. You go *whoosh* ONCE.
Re:If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:4, Funny)
Look ma, brown contrails!
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There's a slight difference between 40km and 400km of falling.
Re:If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:4, Informative)
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He blocks cookies when browsing.
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Less than that if they use imperial measurements.
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kilo-miles?
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I believe that doing anything like this would be only for emergency evacuations without a proper craft. I can't see this being a standard way of coming back to earth.
Re:If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:5, Funny)
I believe that doing anything like this would be only for emergency evacuations without a proper craft. I can't see this being a standard way of coming back to earth.
Of course it would become the standard - just as low-altitude skydiving has become the standard manner of returning airplane passengers to the ground.
PROTIP: That whooshing sound you can hear is not made by Felix Baumgartner.
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How much rocket propellant would it take to put an astronaut into a good entry path and at a speed of maybe 1,000 mph?
I ask because I'm lazy and watching the kids.
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Orbital velocity is 17,500 mph so you'd need enough delta-V to decelerate 16,500 mph. A capsule with a heatshield is lighter and easier to launch than the amount of fuel you would need to get that much delta-V.
Re:If he succeeds, good news for NASA (Score:5, Interesting)
You might be surprised to learn that NASA has already been there and done that.
Back in the early '60s, one of the designs for emergency astronaut return from a space "vehicle" was to leave the capsule, climb into a plastic bag over their space suit, fill it with ablative foam, and fire a small, rocket to de-orbit. The re-entry would be in a physical position that would produce a "butt down" re-entry and a chest-mounted parachute would deploy automatically.
The system was developed by GE and called "MOOSE" for Man Out Of Space Easiest. Some testing was done by GE, but NASA decided that they were not interested.
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This concept sounds so ridiculous I worried I might be getting trolled, but sure enough here's the Wikipedia article on MOOSE. [wikipedia.org]
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If he succeeds, NASA will have a cheap way to bring astronauts back from the space station without paying the Russians!
Small problem: The ISS has 17000 mph horizontal velocity...
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Sure, no problem! All we'd have to do is pump some air into space to make the parachutes work.
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Right guy for the job, I guess (Score:2)
It occurs to me that, if you are Red Bull, and you are going to sponsor a guy to do a giant dive from the edge of space, it is good to know that the guy will not get up there and chicken-out. Baumgartner apparently poses no such risk.
Obligatory Queen (Score:2)
"like a tiger in a cage waiting to get out"
I'm a shooting star leaping through the skies
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me
I'm burning through the skies Yeah!
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man of you
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Bad wind, eh? (Score:2)
"I knew I shouldn't have had that burrito right before the big jump!"
Wings (Score:1)
>> bad wind
Apparently wings aren't the only thing Red Bull gives you.
Official time... (Score:2)
Crap. (Score:2)
With my luck he will impact my jet, as I fly cross country tomorrow.
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Re:Crap. (Score:5, Funny)
If so the last noise he makes may be very similar to how I imagine someone would pronounce your screen name.
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If so the last noise he makes may be very similar to how I imagine someone would pronounce your screen name.
If prop plane, roll the "th".
Darwin sleepily lifts his head (Score:2)
If he wises up between now and tomorrow morning, he'll delay it forever. Red Bull endorsement money and testosterone are sending him the wrong signals.
I would put down $50 that he'll either die or suffer serious and probably permanent injury from this, and I'm $40K in the hole (not from gambling).
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If I had anyway of collecting on that I would take you up on that and I normally do not gamble.
This will go without a hitch.
Well, if anything is going to fail I bet it will be the balloon on the way up which would still leave him without injury.
If anything goes wrong on the way down he will die before he hits the ground.
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Good luck collecting that 50 bux if you win...he said he's already $40K in the hole, which means he's not really keen on the whole paying thing ;)
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Medical debts and student loans, dillhole.
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I would take that bet. These things are very much predictable. You can simulated all the scenarios, and test it before hand on the guy. The guy has done similar jumps before. He has never broken sound barrier, but the simulations and testing should take care of it.
Austrian vs iPhone (Score:5, Funny)
Max Altitude =120,000 ft
Max Speed = 364 mph
iPhone [youtube.com]:
Max Altitude = 100,000
Max Speed = 150 mph
Implications: Apple should patent Austrians
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No no no.
Implications: Apple should SUE Austria.
This is what it will look like (Score:2)
Radar Rider [youtube.com]
Sorry, it make me think of that scene for some reason...
Trajectory (Score:2)