

Chasing the Sound Barrier in a Leap from 23 Miles Up - d4ft
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/science/16tier.html

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AngryParsley
Obligatory picture of awesomeness:
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kittinger-jump.jpg>

The article neglects to mention that he'll be going supersonic in very thin
air, so the stresses won't be as great as they would be for supersonic
aircraft. Also, as the guy falls the air will get denser and he'll slow down
to a more reasonable speed.

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amalcon
The terminal velocity of the human body at sea level, even in a streamlined
position, is significantly shy of the sound barrier. The thin air is what
enables supersonic speed in the first place.

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thefool
This is absolutely crazy.

Has there been any modeling done to attempt to predict what will happen? This
is a great time to make a prediction and see how well it holds later.

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eugenejen
Modeling can't solved all problems. I guess they may drop some dummies from
high latitude helium balloons in advance and use sensors to record some data
against predictions from modelings.

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jksmith
“I am impossibly, wonderfully alive.” And a lot more alive than he was the day
before. To quote Jimmy Stewart in "The Spirit of St. Louis," "We have to know
and we have to try."

What a great story and project.

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cromulent
Also this guy:

[http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_truglia_a_leap_from_the_edge_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_truglia_a_leap_from_the_edge_of_space.html)

