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ElectricFetus

IT HAPPENED!

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http://news.yahoo.com/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-completes-18-mile-dive-134525801--abc-news-tech.html

but i have some serious questions about this.

maybe my math skills are very wrong or i'm misremembering my tandem or the reporting is bad or something but there seems something VERY wrong with:

"After he jumped, Baumgartner was in freefall for three minutes and 48 seconds . After five minutes, his parachute opened, at which point it took another seven to 10 minutes to descend to Earth."

when we popped the canopy at about a mile, it took about 7 - 10 mins to land, and it sounds like this guy popped a hell of a lot higher than that, maybe in the 8 mile range.

i'll admit math is NOT my best subject, but given those numbers, i'm not getting '18 miles'.

please sky gods, instruct the padwan in the errors i'm SURE i'm making. the other option is the story is so bady written as to be pointless.

i'm genuinely curious here. please help.:P

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Wednesday morning, July 25, at 8:12 Mountain time, Red Bull Stratos jumper Felix Baumgartner exited a stratospheric balloon from approximately 97,000 feet for a freefall of 3 minutes 55 seconds. He reached an unofficial speed of 536 mph before deploying his parachute at approximately 13,000 feet above sea level, 8,000 feet above the desert southwest of Roswell, New Mexico.

USPA Director of Competition Jim Hayhurst and the National Aeronautic Association’s Brian Utley served as official observers. Pending analysis of GPS data, the Stratos team may potentially claim three new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world records. Two are almost 50 years old, both held by Major Yevgeny N. Andreyev of the Soviet Union, who in 1962 jumped from a balloon gondola 83,529 feet above sea level, freefalling 80,380 feet before deploying his parachute. Baumgartner’s jump has potentially eclipsed both Andreyev’s records, as well as his own vertical speed record of 365 mph, which he achieved on the first Stratos jump in March. Unfortunately, the Stratos capsule sustained damage on landing, potentially delaying the third and final Stratos jump, planned for 120,000 feet to break Joe Kittinger’s historic mark of 102,800 feet, set in 1960.

from USPA website

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It sounds as if you're making assumptions about his deployment altitude based on your tandem experience. At 18 miles altitude there is little atmosphere, so terminal velocity would be a lot higher. In fact, he hit about 600 miles per hour, vs about 120 for a tandem with drogue deployed. He would have gradually decelerated to more normal free-fall speeds as the altitude got lower and drag increased. I believe you're way off in your estimate of deployment height.

Don
_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

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maybe he released a drogue at 3:48?



It was a drogue-less freefall.

In fact, it set a new altitude record (96,640 ft) for drogeless freefall.
the previous record was set by Eugene Andreev at 80,380 ft

Kittingers 102,000 ft jump used a drogue

Till next month when he does the main record breaking jump from 125,000 ft. which will of course push the ceiling even higher.
__

My mighty steed

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[replyTill next month when he does the main record breaking jump from 125,000 ft. which will of course push the ceiling even higher.

Perhaps you missed this part....Unfortunately, the Stratos capsule sustained damage on landing, potentially delaying the third and final Stratos jump, planned for 120,000 feet to break Joe Kittinger’s historic mark of 102,800 feet, set in 1960.
Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

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[replyTill next month when he does the main record breaking jump from 125,000 ft. which will of course push the ceiling even higher.

Perhaps you missed this part....Unfortunately, the Stratos capsule sustained damage on landing, potentially delaying the third and final Stratos jump, planned for 120,000 feet to break Joe Kittinger’s historic mark of 102,800 feet, set in 1960.

I didnt miss it.. It says "potentially" :)
As of this moment its still planned for late August and ther has been no notification that its been postponed...
__

My mighty steed

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Is there any video coming soon ?



FFS. It's Red Bull. Video is the only real reason the jump was possible. No, video; no bucks. No buck; no Buck Rogers.


You'll just have to wait for the commercial... ;)


Or, just use even the weakest amount of google-fu.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=felix+red+bull+jump
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Is there any video coming soon ?



FFS. It's Red Bull. Video is the only real reason the jump was possible. No, video; no bucks. No buck; no Buck Rogers.


You'll just have to wait for the commercial... ;)


They've got "Red Bull" and the logo plastered over everything. Every single news story includes the words "Red Bull" at least once.

The whole operation is a commercial.

A really, really cool commercial, but a commercial nonetheless.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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maybe he released a drogue at 3:48?



It was a drogue-less freefall.

In fact, it set a new altitude record (96,640 ft) for drogeless freefall.
the previous record was set by Eugene Andreev at 80,380 ft

Kittingers 102,000 ft jump used a drogue

Till next month when he does the main record breaking jump from 125,000 ft. which will of course push the ceiling even higher.



Yes, I knew Kittinger used a drogue and this was drogueless, just trying to speculatively make sense of this sentence from the original article After he jumped, Baumgartner was in freefall for three minutes and 48 seconds . After five minutes, his parachute opened,

It appears it was just poorly written after looking at some other accounts.
"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

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I wish I had something profound to add here, but about all I can think of is:

John Stapp
Joe Kittinger
Felix Baumgartner

!!!!!
I'm a jumper. Even though I don't always have money for jumps, and may not ever own a rig again, I'll always be a jumper.

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