# The Felix & his Supersonic dive



## pbrme (Oct 9, 2012)

Is anyone else tracking this?

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner plans to make a death-defying, 23-mile free fall into the southeastern New Mexico desert in an attempt to break the speed of sound.

From:

*Skydiver's supersonic jump on weather hold*



> If the mission goes, Baumgartner will make a nearly three-hour ascent to 120,000 feet, then take a bunny-style hop from a pressurized capsule into a near-vacuum where there is barely any oxygen to begin what is expected to be the fastest, farthest free fall from the highest-ever manned balloon.
> ...
> 
> During the ascent, Walshe said, the team will have views from a number of cameras, including one focused directly on Baumgartner's face. Additionally, they will have data from life support and other systems that show things like whether he is getting enough oxygen.
> ...


View live:

http://www.redbullstratos.com/live


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## Master slacker (Oct 9, 2012)

In theory... assuming the suit gives negligible resistance... what would the splat / splatter radius be at impact if the parachute does not deploy?


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 9, 2012)

^^^ He will actually slow down once he's entirely back into the atmosphere and the splat wouldn't be any bigger than that of a "normal" skydiver.


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## Master slacker (Oct 9, 2012)

That still doesn't answer my inquiry.


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## kevo_55 (Oct 9, 2012)

Lame.

This might have been a good Darwin Award.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 9, 2012)

Depending on the surface he lands on, the radius would vary from nothing up to 30-40'.

I've seen videos of guys surviving their splat because they landed in thick bushes (insert airstrip joke here).


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 9, 2012)

You can survive. Here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JWV60S2hRY


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 9, 2012)

Or here:


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 9, 2012)

Here's a real one:


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## Capt Worley PE (Oct 9, 2012)

Dexman PE said:


> ^^^ He will actually slow down once he's entirely back into the atmosphere and the splat wouldn't be any bigger than that of a "normal" skydiver.


You're assuming he'll stay in one piece and the shock waves don't get him.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 9, 2012)

In which case, he would actually gain surface area and slow down further...


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## Capt Worley PE (Oct 10, 2012)

But increase the splat radius by spreading parts of himself hither and yon.


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## Master slacker (Oct 10, 2012)

What would be the hither and yon dispersion radius if the missle defense system locked on and... ?


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## engineergurl (Oct 10, 2012)

this thread is tourture to a rigger's wife... just saying


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 10, 2012)

Understandable. My parents were avid skydivers before I was born. They said the rigging was the biggest challenge.


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## Capt Worley PE (Oct 11, 2012)

engineergurl said:


> this thread is tourture to a rigger's wife... just saying


As long as he doesn't go through the transonic region, go supersonic, and have to deal with shock waves, he should be OK.


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## pbrme (Oct 15, 2012)

Mission complete!

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## roadwreck (Oct 15, 2012)

I happened to be channel surfing yesterday and stumbled across it live on Discovery Channel just before he jumped. It was actually pretty interesting to watch. The communication between Felix and mission control was a little unnerving. He didn't really seem to be that responsive.


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## knight1fox3 (Oct 15, 2012)

pbrme said:


> Mission complete!


Heard about this over the weekend. Wow, quite impressive. Cool little summary video too.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 15, 2012)




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## wilheldp_PE (Oct 15, 2012)

Is there any plans to try to recover the capsule? I'd imagine that eventually, it'd stop going up and fall back to Earth.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 15, 2012)

I would assume it's got a tracking mechanism on it and they're just waiting for it to come back down just like most weather balloons.


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## MA_PE (Oct 15, 2012)

*http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/shortcuts/2012/oct/15/felix-baumgartner-skydive-key-questions-answered*

*What happened to the capsule and the balloon?*

As soon as it was confirmed that Baumgartner had landed safely, the attention of mission control shifted to the balloon and capsule. The team remotely detached the capsule from the balloon, allowing it to fall back to Earth under its own parachute. It hit the ground 55 miles east of Baumgartner's own landing site. The balloon was deflated via a nylon "destruct line", with the lightweight balloon material – known as the envelope – falling back to Earth to be gathered and removed by truck. The capsule could, in theory, be used again, but the balloon envelope can only be used once.


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## MA_PE (Oct 15, 2012)

Pretty cool.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/15/watch-felix-baumgartners-space-jump-reenacted-with-legos/


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## Supe (Oct 15, 2012)

Watched it live, there were a couple unnerving moments for sure. It was bizarre to see him tumbling end over end, and then assuming the swan dive position when he actually hit some sort of resistance. I get the feeling he would have pulled the chutes much later had he not had helmet fogging issues.


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## Master slacker (Oct 15, 2012)

Ok, in all seriousness, what's the BFD with this jump? It's not a talent. It's not a skill. Anyone with that exact same support group and engineering group could do the same thing. Do I find this whole sound barrier thing neat? Sure. Am I impressed? Meh.

Seriously, WTF?


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## wilheldp_PE (Oct 15, 2012)

I don't know that I could have brought myself to jump out of a capsule 24 miles above Earth...I think that takes a special kind of crazy. But it was more about the technology than it was the stunt. They were testing a new spacesuit that will be used for private space missions and maybe space tourists in case they have to bail out at extremely high altitude. It was a proof of concept jump to test the suit and the human body's ability to withstand breaking the sound barrier. Red Bull sponsored it because they sponsor all manner of crazy shit. And there were 8 million people watching the jump live with the guy plastered in Red Bull logos, so they got some exposure for their sponsorship.


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## Master slacker (Oct 15, 2012)

Well, since everyone is praising the jump and not the technology, what's the BFD with the jump and the jumper?


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## blybrook PE (Oct 15, 2012)




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## MA_PE (Oct 15, 2012)

Master slacker said:


> Well, since everyone is praising the jump and not the technology, what's the BFD with the jump and the jumper?





> I don't know that I could have brought myself to jump out of a capsule 24 miles above Earth...I think that takes a special kind of crazy.


^This.

The technology worked the way it was supposed to and it was successful. What's the BFD about someone doing a 1080 on a snowboard, riding a 50 ft wave on a surfboard, doing the 1/4 mile at 300+ mph in a jet car, the list goes on. All those "extreme" activities have a death-risk component. Will presented a pretty good assessment of the financials. The guy was a "test pilot" and thanks to the internet lots of folks got to watch it live.

Of course his feat is nothing compared to hoopla surounding real news like did Kim Kardashian have butt implants?, or that Britney Spears made $58M last year or whether or not the Biebs knows about the sixteenth chapel.


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## knight1fox3 (Oct 15, 2012)

MA_PE said:


> Of course his feat is nothing compared to hoopla surounding real news like did Kim Kardashian have butt implants?, or that Britney Spears made $58M last year or whether or not the Biebs knows about the sixteenth chapel.


:Locolaugh:

I agree though, the jump was definitely a death-defying act that was carefully orchestrated. The jumper himself had to be a bit of a daredevil to go through with it too.


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## Master slacker (Oct 15, 2012)

I guess I just can't be convinced to be impressed. There's just as much risk (and talent) jumping from 24 miles as there is from 10,000 feet... or even a few hundred by base jumping... I can think of riskier tasks out there people do for a job with no love.


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## wilheldp_PE (Oct 15, 2012)

I'm not terribly impressed with the person, other than the fact that I don't have the stones to make that jump. I'm more impressed with the breaking of the sound barrier by a human (outside of a plane or space ship). I also read about the spin that he got into right after jumping. Turns out, spinning is a normal thing when sky diving, but there was virtually no atmosphere where he was when he started to spin, so normal techniques to stop the spin were ineffective (the air was so thin, he couldn't reposition his body to direct the air in the other direction to stop spinning). It was a real concern that he would start spinning so fast that blood would be pulled to his extremities (i.e., away from his brain) and he would pass out or die.


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## Supe (Oct 16, 2012)

Master slacker said:


> I guess I just can't be convinced to be impressed. There's just as much risk (and talent) jumping from 24 miles as there is from 10,000 feet... or even a few hundred by base jumping... I can think of riskier tasks out there people do for a job with no love.


There's definitely more risk jumping from 24 miles when you factor in the potential for depressurization, etc. Almost like equating an airplane to a space shuttle.


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## Master slacker (Oct 16, 2012)

Supe said:


> Master slacker said:
> 
> 
> > I guess I just can't be convinced to be impressed. There's just as much risk (and talent) jumping from 24 miles as there is from 10,000 feet... or even a few hundred by base jumping... I can think of riskier tasks out there people do for a job with no love.
> ...


Again, not impressed by the jumper. The technology, however, is way neat.

Besides that, he had an entire crew who did R&amp;D to mitigate all perceivable risks associated with that stunt. How many medical professionals, engineers, biometric sensors, etc... are used for Joe Shmoe when he jumps from a plane (tandem or not) after showing up at the air field and paying a hundred bucks for the thrill?


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## pbrme (Oct 16, 2012)

Master slacker said:


> Supe said:
> 
> 
> > Master slacker said:
> ...


Seriously MS? He broke a record that has stood for over 50 years, where others have tried and died. At this risk level, you have to have a skilled professional team. He's also the first person to have broken the sound barrier durring freefall, which is only possible at those extreme altitudes as terminal velocity for the regular Joe Shmoe's who jump all day long from 14-15k ft prevents this.


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## Master slacker (Oct 16, 2012)

Let's try this again...


My point = missed

My point, part 1, was that the dedicated team to which you referred is the exact team I stated was the neat part.

My point, part 2, was that the job of this dedicated team was to identify and mitigate those hazard which would cause one to die.

The intent was to show that Joe Shmoe does NOT have these resources... can be of unknown or unsound physical condition for any jump... and relies only on a 20 minute safety walk through and proper rigging procedure / equipment by professional diver.


So, yes, seriously.


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## roadwreck (Oct 16, 2012)

They could have pushed a 20 lbs bag of potatoes out of the capsule with all that technology wrapped around it and that support team behind it, would you have been impressed by the technology then?


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## Master slacker (Oct 17, 2012)

Do differing opinions of this event really rattle your cages that much?


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)

I think it's silly to say that the man in the suit is irrelevant and could be replaced with anyone. Is he given to much credit for the success of their "mission"? Probably. But he was also the only one on the team that was in danger of dying.


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## Master slacker (Oct 17, 2012)

Again, I can think of riskier tasks out there people do for a job with no love.


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)

sigh...

...you are entitled to your opinion and I'm not going to change your mind so I'm not going to try.


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## MA_PE (Oct 17, 2012)

Master slacker said:


> Again, I can think of riskier tasks out there people do for a job with no love.


not to prolong this, but....exactly what jobs are you thinking of? (please don't list professions like fireman, policeman, military, etc. where the potential for lethal attack or emergency circumstances pose a lethal threat).


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## pbrme (Oct 17, 2012)

^


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## Master slacker (Oct 17, 2012)

Off the top of my head... coal miners, high elevation structure or antannae techs, construction workers, oil rig roughneck, or even the operators in the HF plant onsite.


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)

I would have to hazard a guess to say that the fatality rate for people people who have ventured to an altitude above 100,000 feet is much higher then any of those professions.


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## MA_PE (Oct 17, 2012)

Master slacker said:


> Off the top of my head... coal miners, high elevation structure or antannae techs, construction workers, oil rig roughneck, or even the operators in the HF plant onsite.


And I suspect years of expereince and subsequent OSHA regualtions on all of these professions have pretty much identified all of the potential hazards associated with these jobs. The regulations are intended to minimize any risks and make the job as safe as possible. Sure accidents happen but they are typically due to some sort of worker error and/or improper training. In other words they get the equivalebnt of "an entire crew who did R&amp;D to mitigate all perceivable risks associated with that stunt".


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)

MA_PE said:


> Master slacker said:
> 
> 
> > Off the top of my head... coal miners, high elevation structure or antannae techs, construction workers, oil rig roughneck, or even the operators in the HF plant onsite.
> ...


And if you attempted this "stunt" a few hundred thousand times I'm pretty sure you'd end up with plenty of failures.


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## Master slacker (Oct 17, 2012)

(ugh)

All for having a different opinion.


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)

It's fine. You are entitled to have your own opinion...

...even if it's wrong.


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## Master slacker (Oct 17, 2012)

And you're entitled to have a belly button...

... even if it's wrong. 

Wait...

what? :huh:


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)

But what if I don't have a belly button?


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## MA_PE (Oct 17, 2012)

and you can pick your friends....

and you can pick your nose....

but you can't pick your friend's nose.


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## roadwreck (Oct 17, 2012)




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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 17, 2012)

roadwreck said:


> sigh...
> 
> ...you are entitled to your opinion and I'm not going to change your mind so I'm not going to try.


I think he is part of the 47%...


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## Master slacker (Oct 17, 2012)

psh... 47% is for losers. I am a 1%'er!


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## pbrme (Oct 17, 2012)

^ srsly? 

... turkey bubbles freeze to nuts fiiled with moose rust :blink:


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## pbrme (Oct 17, 2012)

wait. what were we talking about again?

Oh yeah, how to put a wetsuit on right.


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## humner (Oct 18, 2012)

MA_PE said:


> Master slacker said:
> 
> 
> > Again, I can think of riskier tasks out there people do for a job with no love.
> ...


Walmart greeter on Black Friday.


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## roadwreck (Oct 18, 2012)

^^ lol


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## Master slacker (Oct 19, 2012)

IT'S FAKE!!! You impressed now, suckas?


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 19, 2012)

McKayla's not impressed.


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## YMZ PE (Oct 19, 2012)

Dexman PE said:


> McKayla's not impressed.


I thought of this picture every time I read one of MS's posts in this thread. Also called him "Meh-Kayla" in my head.


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## pbrme (Oct 19, 2012)




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