# Free fall from the edge of space; breaking the sound barrier..WHY?



## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

I'm sure by now that most people have heard of the Austrian daredevil/skydiver that reached the edge of space
in a helium balloon capsule, opened the hatch at 39Km above the desert surface and jumped out in a free fall
in a pressurized space suit reaching free fall speeds of 1136km/h (705.877mph). Although he seemed to be in
a spiral for a while, he managed to pull out of it and deploy his special parachute to slow him down and
land on his feet in the desert at the jump site.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...cord-breaking-skydive-attempt/article4611689/

So he did break the sound barrier at 40,000 feet, which is reported to be 660mph as the air is thinner up there.
He managed to do it in a suited free fall at 705.8mph. (At sea level, the sound barrier is at 760mph)

Chuck Yeager (US Air Force test pilot) did a similar thing from 45.000 feet in a Bell X1 Rocket power experimental aircraft in 1947. To save on fuel, he was dropped from the wing of a B-29 WWII bomber, though.

*The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis," was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.*

65 years have passed since the first sound barrier record breaking flight in 1947 done from a specialized aircraft designed for that purpose...
now some daredevil can do it in a specialized space suit and high flying balloon.

Did you know that Felix Baumgartner's space suit was designed by a Canadian Space Engineer? 

*To keep Baumgartner safe, a special suit ($200,000) was designed, similar to an astronaut's and meant to withstand extreme conditions. Cold at -68C and rarified air) Canadian space suit engineer Shane Jacobs spent the last three years building the pressurized suit.*


Did you know that without a pressurized space suit and oxygen to breathe, no one would survive a free fall from those altitudes as their blood would literally BOIL and cook the skin as it tried to escape in the low pressure rarefied atmosphere at those extreme heights? If you didn't freeze to death, you would black out very quickly, plummet to earth and break the sound barrier, but when you hit the ground, there wouldn't be too much left of you to pick up! 

Yes, there have been many advances in technology in the last 65 years, and I'm sure there will be a lot more in the next 65 years..
yet with all this progress, some things still remain the same.
.people here on earth, are still killing each other, but using high tech weapons of course,
like banned cluster bombs and long range rockets to bring terror and destruction to the population.

Not sure what the saying Felix used as he sat at the edge of the capsule and looked down on the earth, 138,000 ft below,
but he maybe it would be similar to Neil Armstrong's (deceased now) famous saying when he stepped off the ladder
on the surface of the moon and exclaimed to the world..*.That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.*

similarily, Felix might have rearranged that famous quote.."That's one giant freefall for man, one small step for mankind". 


*Some one once said.." the more things change, the more they remain the same!"*


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

carverman said:


> *That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.*


Interesting tidbits.

I'm going to add my own little "did you know?" to this thread.

I never really thought that Armstrong's famous saying completely made sense. Something always seemed off. I mean, the way he uses "man" in this sentence can be interchanged with "mankind." So... what's the difference between the small step, and the giant leap?

Of course, the saying was scripted. But he made a mistake when reciting it. He should have said: "That's one small step for *a* man, one giant leap for mankind."

Back on topic a little more: as for your question in the title, "WHY?"... why not? At least we are still making some advancements... not exactly utopia here but I don't think human nature would allow us to have world peace anyway. We'll do our best.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Mr. Baumgartner said: '‘The only thing you want is to come back alive".

In that case, if he wanted to live longer, why did he take such huge risks in the first place? His prior jumps/record setting were not exciting/high enough it seems; I guess he had full confidence in his space suit. 

If it were me, I would have stopped after the 'Petronas Towers' jump, or after the 'Christ the Redeemer' statue in Rio de Janeiro. :hopelessness:

I gave up long ago trying to understand daredevils, mountain climbers [not just any mountain, but Everest/K2/Siula Grande, etc.], and all other extreme thrill-seeker folks, but congrats to him for having cojones.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Barwelle said:


> 1. Of course, the saying was scripted.
> 2. But he made a mistake when reciting it. He should have said: "That's one small step for *a* man, one giant leap for mankind."


1. Was it? I didn't know that, are you sure?.
2. Regardless whether Mr. Armstrong had made a blooper or not, I think that given the historical moment, that we could forgive him. 

As one article said: 'Forget history, we had to deal with editors.' :rolleyes2:

I personally believe he was referring to 'man' in a universal sense.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

Oh, T.gal, you got me... according to Wikipedia, the phrase was something he cooked up between leaving Earth and arriving on the Moon.

I disagree on your last comment though... I do think though that he was referring to himself when he said "man", and that it should have been "a man". Armstrong's Wikipedia page backs me up here. edit: If you consider it a credible source, of course.

_The broadcast did not have the "a" before "man", rendering the phrase a contradiction (as man in such use is synonymous with mankind). NASA and Armstrong insisted for years that static had obscured the "a", with Armstrong stating he would never make such a mistake, but after repeated listenings to recordings, Armstrong admitted he must have dropped the "a". Armstrong later said he "would hope that history would grant me leeway for dropping the syllable and understand that it was certainly intended, even if it was not said—although it might actually have been"._

And yes, I didn't mean to demean him. If it were me piloting the lunar module, I probably would have missed the moon entirely. I just find it interesting/quirky that such a famous phrase is not linguistically correct. (Not saying that I always use English properly...)


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Let us know how 'linguistically' correct you'll be, when you'll land on another planet for the 1st time in history, and in a space suit. :biggrin:


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

Not very.

Actually, my first words would probably be curses, because I'd trip on my way down the ladder and fall flat on my faceshield!

Or oxygen tank, depending which way I'm coming down. Hopefully wouldn't rupture anything....


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

I believe in a recent article of Astronomy or Sky & Telescope one of the magazine editors said that Armstrong had admitted that he accidentally omitted the word 'a' from his scripted statement. And to his credit, (agreeing with the above sentiments) talking and stepping on to the moon at the same time - I think that even the most highly trained and professionally detached astronaut would have been having a tough time not just crapping himself in the immensity of the moment!


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Toronto.gal said:


> If it were me, I would have stopped after the 'Petronas Towers' jump, or after the 'Christ the Redeemer' statue in Rio de Janeiro. :hopelessness:
> 
> I gave up long ago trying to understand daredevils, mountain climbers [not just any mountain, but Everest/K2/Siula Grande, etc.], and all other extreme thrill-seeker folks, but *congrats to him for having cojones*.


Just say it T.G. .."BALLS"..he had the Balls to jump out of a space capsule at 138,000 feet! 
I guess after his previous jumps. he must have lost all fear to do this one. It takes a special person to face the unknown from these
heights.I'm sure he was aware that the risks were much higher because of the extreme height. 
Even most daredevils would have frozen in fear with this one, but I guess, once that helium balloon was up there..there was no turning back...except to jump and hope that things work out perfectly as expected.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Toronto.gal said:


> Let us know how 'linguistically' correct you'll be, *when you'll land on another planet for the 1st time in history*, and in a space suit. :biggrin:


I just want to land on the "Planet of Women":biggrin:..where I could be treated like a GOD!

from the ZZ TOP song..(Planet of Women)

What can I do, I'm a nervous wreck?
There's girls everywhere, I better go and check
I can't tell a diamond from a hole in the ground
They all got my head spinning round and round

Planet of women, oh yeah
The planet of women, oh yeah
It's driving me insane




Guess, I been watching too many "Planet of the Apes, Return to the planet of the Apes..etc..movies..HUH?


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

uptoolate said:


> talking and stepping on to the moon at the same time - I think that even the most highly trained and professionally detached astronaut would have been having a tough time not just crapping himself in the immensity of the moment!


Yes, considering until Armstrong had both feet planted on the the lunar surface, he wasn't sure how deep that moon dust was and how far he would sink in..(there was a lot of speculation at the time in the area that he landed in the SEA OF TRANQUILITY
("Tranquilty Base-The Eagle has landed")...it could have been similar to lunar quick sand . 

I think at a moment like that, it's hard to think of all the things you want to say with the correct syntax.

If it was me..I would have exclaimed "Holy Cr#p! It's not green cheese after all!:biggrin:


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

I was in awe watching yesterday....chin on ground kinda stuff. Watching him take that first step was insane....


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

and it helps to be a bit insane to do that kind of thing. It's not as though you can step out and just float down quietly on a parachute,
like his previous jumps. He was going at a terrific rate of speed and very lucky to stop the out of control spin. Had he not done that
and blacked out..he would be just a grease spot on the New Mexico desert!


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

My Own Advisor said:


> I was in awe watching yesterday....chin on ground kinda stuff. Watching him take that first step was insane....


I guess it helps to be partly insane too. It's not like jumping off a cliff and floating down on a parachute. He was extremely lucky to recover
from that out of control spin, otherwise, had he blacked out, he would be just a small crater or grease spot in the desert. 
Extremely risky manuever! I'm sure he wasn't able to get any life insurance from LLyods of London before the jump.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

For me, it's strictly for the exploration of the unknown and to forward our knowledge of the world we live in.

The most inspiring quote I've ever heard belongs to George Mallory on why he wanted to climbed Everest: "Because it's there." 

I often use that phrase when I let my inner child out and have to explain to my wife why I want to go around the next bend in the path, another walk in the park, another climb on the jungle gym, or splash in a creek bed for no good reason with the kids. "Because it's there!" I'll explain, and off we go, we come home dirty, hungry, and usually with a couple of scrapes and a couple of stories, but we go.

His curiosity got him killed him of course, but so goes the will to explore.

You amp that urge to see the next bend, to explore a creek bed or whatever, and the next thing you know, you've strapped yourself to a rocketship and you're heading to the moon. 

To be honest, I wish we were doing more exploring, costs (human and capital) be damned. You tell people there's an even chance they won't come back, but they'll get to do something nobody else has ever done, and you'll still get people lining up to do it.

Jump out of a balloon in low orbit? Screw that. That's loser talk. I say to the moon! To mars! To the botton of the ocean! To the centre of the earth! To the highest peak and the lowest valley! To the farthest reaches of the globe and to the next bend in path. Because it is there.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

crazyjackcsa said:


> "Because it's there."


Great post, Trevor. Thanks.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

crazyjackcsa said:


> For me, it's strictly for the exploration of the unknown and to forward our knowledge of the world we live in.
> 
> The most inspiring quote I've ever heard belongs to George Mallory on why he wanted to climbed Everest: *"Because it's there."*


Ok, I understand the need to explore something that has never been done before..but take Mt. Everest, for instance,..Sir Edmund Hillary
already did that in the 50s. He's in the Guiness world records as the first to conquer the tallest mountain in the world, but all the others
that have followed after, and some died of exposure..why do they need to prove something that has already been done before?

Moon's been done, Bottom of the ocean, the Mariana Trench-deepest part of the Pacific Ocean,has already been done in a state of the art
deep submersible, Titanic has been found and already plundered, Mars is been explored by robotic craft..while all that is interesting in the
respect of history or science, economically...the return on investment is questionable.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Already been done?

What if Columbus had decided never to return to North America, because it's "Already been done?" With the most "high tech" equipment he had at his disposal. Or if Orville and Wilbur Wright had decided they had flown far enough, high enough and fast enough, and it had already been done?

We don't live on the moon, people haven't walked on the floor of the Mariana Trench, heck we haven't even found every creature in the ocean yet! Or on land for that matter! We discover new things everyday! And every failure, every success, every misson teaches us something. Furthers our understanding of the world we live in.

And the costs? Minimal. NASA has a budge equal to 0.53% of the total U.S. federal budget.

What economic impact have we gained? Water Filters,GPS Technology, Safety Grooving on roadways (believed to reduce crashes by 85%, Long distance telecommunications, shoe insoles, ear thermometers, scratch resistant lenses.

Not enough? How about: 
1. CAT scanner: this cancer-detecting technology was first used to find imperfections in space components.
2. Computer microchip: modern microchips descend from integrated circuits used in the Apollo Guidance Computer.
3. Freeze-dried food: this reduces food weight and increases shelf life without sacrificing nutritional value.
4. Insulation: home insulation uses reflective material that protects spacecraft from radiation.
5. Invisible braces: teeth-straightening is less embarrassing thanks to transparent ceramic brace brackets made from spacecraft materials.
6. Memory foam: created for aircraft seats to soften landing, this foam, which returns to its original shape, is found in mattresses and shock absorbing helmets.

Heck, here's some reading for you:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off_technologies

It's insane how much those beautiful nerds create for us.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

You have to remember, when we went to the moon, every ounce of payload had to be absolutely necessary...I'm sure that's why they left out the "a" in his speech.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

carverman said:


> Just say it T.G. .."BALLS"..he had the Balls to jump out of a space capsule at 138,000 feet!


For sure he has those, but why not exercise my linguistic abilities, LOL. :biggrin:

I don't object to those who enjoy such extreme thrills [not talking about astronauts, etc.]; it's their life after all, let them enjoy it, but I would just say to do so before marriage and children at least; not fair to put one's family through such agony [speaking in general] for a sake of a mere thrill. 

I saw Mr. Baumgartner's mother watch her son as he jumped, and as a mother myself, can well imagine the agony she must have felt watching her son drop back to the ground at 1,342 km p/h [even when he's already 42, makes no difference]. My son is absolutely forbidden from ever trying such a stunt while I'm alive, and at any age. :rolleyes2: 

As for climbing Everest, don't want to sound ignorant, but how have climbers in general helped humanity? I do have a certain admiration for them though.

Btw, I highly recommend the movie 'Touching the Void.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/nov/21/sportandleisure


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

Good on you for exercising your well-developed linguistic abilities, T.Gal :rolleyes2:



Toronto.gal said:


> As for climbing Everest, don't want to sound ignorant, but how have climbers in general helped humanity?


I'm sure there have been some spinoff benefits from the adventure tourism industry.

Perhaps things like clothing materials and techniques developed for climbers have helped search and rescue people save people from plane crashes. Or made life more bearable for those living and working in harsh environments. Or something. 

I used a gore-tex jacket during my trip through Europe for rainy and windy days. Waaay better than the cheapo rain jackets. I don't know if gore-tex was specifically developed for something like climbing, but I'd recommend it to anyone despite the cost.


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