Dayyumm! A Google exec just broke Felix Baumgarner's skydive record in secret!

[motion]

I am stunned.

A Google Exec Just Skydived 136K Feet, Smashing the World Record | WIRED

[rattlsnak]

ummmm, dayum...

[Rick V]

Yikes

[masraum]

That's Awesome!!

I'd do that.

[intakexhaust]

That guy is high on something!

Where's the footage of the descent? His roll on the landing looked a bit rough.

[Gogar]

Uncut video or it didn't happen.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Wow, nice to see some adventuresome spirit alive and well out there!

[sand_man]

WOW is right! I was captivated by all the Red Bull hype for the Baumgartner/Strata jump! Pretty cool that this latest endeavor was handled in secrecy with a small team. I'd love to see some video.

The translation of this quote from the article, means he is hiding his project receipts folder from wifey:

Neither Anderson nor MacCallum would say how much the project cost, and at this point we don’t know if Eustace paid for it himself, or secured outside funding.

[slodave]

His landing sucked.

Not sure if I could withstand either trip that slow to the upper atmosphere. Claustrophobia in a capsule, sheer boredom hanging from a balloon.

[mikesride]

The video posted is pretty lame....
But that guy has serious balls!!!!

[island911]

Another important contribution to . . .????

One giant leap for mankind?

Why din't he do a monkeyroll?

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by island911

Another important contribution to . . .????

One giant leap for mankind?

Apparently, his team managed to find a solution to the high speed instability that Baumgarner's team experienced from those heights.

It's my opinion that that could be a pretty significant development.

[island911]

didn't NASA demonstrate that they had that problem solved in the 60's, with John Glenn?

[island911]

Well ya made me click the link :-/

Yep, as suspected, falling from the sky in a space cocoon needs special design considerations, in this case "that looks like a huge shuttlecock."


I do wonder if they pre-tested the drop with a telemetry-stuffed test-dummy in the suit. ...or if he just said "Here, hold my beer."

[jorian]

800 MPH descent. Must've been hella loud.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by jorian

800 MPH descent. Must've been hella loud.

There's no air when they are going that fast. No air = no sound.

I wonder what the science-y stuff is from 800mph to 600 though. That is pretty interesting.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jorian

800 MPH descent. Must've been hella loud.

What Gogar said. That's why these guys hit 800mph. If there was enough air to make the noise that you're thinking of, they'd top out around 120mph or so. There are guys that go for speed when skydiving and by streamlining your body as much as possible and jumping from a normal height (around 13500-14000ft, you max out in the 250-350mph range depending upon how streamlined you are.

The jump that these guys are doing is extremely impressive, but honestly, they aren't quite as impressive as Joseph Kittinger who set the previous record in 1960.

Joe Kittinger’s Death-Defying Leap From the Edge of Space
Not the whole article, just some excerpts

The effect of low atmospheric pressure on the human body would become painfully evident to Kittinger later in the flight, when his pressurized right glove would spring a leak and his hand would swell to gross proportions. But right then, unaware of what was to come, Kittinger calmly focused on preparing for his historic flight.

His flight was part of the Air Force’s Project Excelsior, a series of three missions to test a multi-stage parachute that would provide a controlled descent for fighter pilots forced to eject at high altitudes. The parachute’s design included a trio of chutes of varying sizes that would deploy automatically based on altimeter readings on the pack. In theory, this combination of parachutes would prevent a pilot ejecting in the stratosphere from spinning out of control at a deadly rate, sometimes as fast as 200 revolutions per minute.

Kittinger had already performed two test jumps with the new parachute from high altitude, one with near-catastrophic results. During the Excelsior I mission of November 16, 1959, his stabilizer parachute opened too soon, and the cords wrapped around his neck. Rendered unconscious, Kittinger was saved when his main chute opened automatically and the small chute broke away as designed. Undeterred by this debacle, Kittinger climbed into the Excelsior gondola a second time to better results. Now, sitting in the tin can for a third time, Kittinger awaited the chance to float higher into the atmosphere than ever before.

About 90 minutes after liftoff, Kittinger exceeded his target altitude, reaching 102,800 feet—far higher than the 75,000 feet he’d achieved on previous flights. Floating in a gondola at that altitude “was a weird sensation,” he would recall nearly 40 years later

Hurtling through the stratosphere face first, Kittinger had no sensation of falling, he would later remember. As he turned to look back at the balloon, he was astonished to see it rocketing upward into space before realizing that he was the one in motion, falling away at record speed. In fact, his freefall toward earth approached the speed of sound.

For about five breathtaking minutes, Kittinger free-fell with only his small stabilizer parachute to protect him from spinning to death.

Today, Kittinger continues to fly, and he chronicled his avionics adventures—including Project Excelsior—in a recently published autobiography, “Come Up and Get Me.” And next week, he’ll be assisting the man who aims to snatch away his record, Austrian Felix Baumgartner. During the Red Bull Stratos record freefall attempt Kittinger will act as “capcom” (capsule communications chief)—mission control’s primary point of radio contact with Baumgartner throughout his ascent.

[motion]

Back when I was a noob jumper, I spent a lot of jumps experimenting with arms back, head down top speed runs. I'm guessing I hit maybe 175mph or so. The sensation of sweeping your arms back and feeling the acceleration from 120mph on up is pretty cool. Anyway, on one of my early high speed runs, it was time to pull at 4500', so I went full stop and pulled wayyyyyy too early. I guess I was still going pretty fast at the time. It hurt like hell when the chute opened, and a couple days later about 1/3 of my body was black and purple - around my middle section and everywhere around where the rig strapped to my body. That sucked.

[Gogar]

I liked that Kittinger was the Mission Commander or whatever for that Red Bull jump. It was cool just to hear the excitement in his voice.