DailyDirt: I'm Free... Free-Falling

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, May 14th 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

There's been a bit of a resurgence in interest for manned spaceflight because the costs of launching vehicles to the edge of space aren't ludicrous anymore, just outrageously expensive. Despite the advances in rocket launching systems, there's always a chance that something could go wrong -- so ejecting escape pods at high altitudes seems like a good idea, right? Only a handful of people have even attempted to skydive from more than a few miles up. By the end of this year, though, a couple brave souls could set some skydiving records and pave the way for a new extreme sport.

Felix Baumgartner is planning a free fall jump from an altitude of about 120,000 feet (~23 miles up). If it all works out, he'll break the sound barrier, traveling over 700 miles per hour. [url]
Michel Fournier has attempted to skydive from about 25 miles up, but he seems to have run into a series of problems. Fournier is in his 60s, so he doesn't have too many more years left to cross this goal off his bucket list. [url]
Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger holds the current record for high altitude skydiving -- at 102,800 feet -- from a jump he made in 1960. The Cold War really encouraged some crazy stunts.... [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: altitude, parachute, skydiving, sound barrier, space, world record
Companies: red bull

11 Comments

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fb39ca4 (profile), 14 May 2012 @ 5:26pm

Seems safe.
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Michael Ho (profile), 14 May 2012 @ 6:01pm

Re:
It's really only the landing part that's tricky.. the rest is easy.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 May 2012 @ 6:19pm

Re: Re:
People always say that half in jest, but I suspect it's the cracking the sound barrier that may prove a problem. Not to mention going up to an altitude of 23-25 miles in just a suit. Oxygen is such a handy thing to have around.
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abc gum, 14 May 2012 @ 6:42pm

Flash Gordon would jump from his spaceship in orbit around the planet Mongo without the benefit of oxygen tanks or parachute - he simply used his super awesome cape! He undertook great risks in order to thwart the evil schemes of the Emperor Ming the Merciless. Boy - those were the days ... when the rocket engine exhaust fumes would rise like cigarette smoke from a Lucky Strike and the guide wire oscillations made the rocket ship look as if it were piloted by a drunkard.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 14 May 2012 @ 6:58pm

Re: Re: Re:
Oh I suspect there's all sorts of nasty stuff you have to deal with on the way down. If you fall through a cloud you get buffeted by hail and wind and crazy stuff - and if it's a big cloud it can last for a /long/ time. IIRC only one person has ever fallen through the length of a cumulo-nimbus cloud and lived to tell the tale.
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Pixelation, 14 May 2012 @ 10:54pm

Re: Re:
"It's really only the landing part that's tricky"

The secret to flying...fall at the ground ... and miss.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 15 May 2012 @ 12:28am

Re: Re: Re:
The secret to flying...fall at the ground ... and miss.

Oh great. Now the Douglas Adams estate is going to send us a C&D...
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Anonymous Coward, 15 May 2012 @ 7:12am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I read quite some time ago the story about the Marine pilot who bailed out of his F-8 Crusader when his engine self-destructed. I cannot even begin to imagine a 40 minute descent, ascent, descent, ascent, etc. in the middle of a severe thunderstorm.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 May 2012 @ 7:44am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Oh great. Now the Douglas Adams estate is going to send us a C&D..."

If they do, tell them to go practice flying.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 May 2012 @ 8:48am

Noone in the USA needs to worry about testing this sort of thing since Obama has effectively ensured we have no space industry anymore.
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abc gum, 16 May 2012 @ 4:35am

Re:
Ignorance is bliss - amirite?
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