The Great Leap, Michel Fournier attempts jump from 130,000ft on Sunday

[peggs82 0]

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Water, and blood, boil at body temp, 98.6 F, at any altitude above 62,000 feet. He'll need a full pressure suit.

That weightless thing was funny. News reporters don't often know much science.

Thats what I was thinking

[ElJosh 0]

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No sorry I was confused, it is happening tonight. I hope he is using F111 fabric on his chutes, Going from almost zero psi to 14.7 is going to try to push air into the pack, I wonder if zero P is going to not let it in fast enough, and compress it down a bunch. At least on the way up he has 2 hours to vent the air out. If he has done his homework, he will have pressure cycled the rig though.

What the hell are you talking about? The guys jumping a 98 square ft Xaso-21 and swoop the media because he is a skygod.
Look at the last photo in this gallery:
http://www.legrandsaut.org/index.php?Message=photos_entr&lang=eng
He looks like a cosmonaut at a rave.
Party on Frenchy!
~El Josh aka Ruby

DS #149
Yes I only have 3 jumps...it's the magic number dude.

[Beerlight 0]

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Good luck to him! And I'll back up the post regarding weightlessness. Not until he exits. Looks like he will also be wearing a partial pressure suit (from the look of it in the video) v. a full. There are several areas of the body that are not protected when wearing a partial. bummer....

Water, and blood, boil at body temp, 98.6 F, at any altitude above 62,000 feet. He'll need a full pressure suit.

That weightless thing was funny. News reporters don't often know much science.

Argggh.... Kittinger used a partial suit at least on one of his jumps http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5174324517452735832 (sorry no audio)

And from the looks of Fournier's video his is a partial. I've worn a partial pressure suit to 80,000 feet (in an altitude chamber). I have friends that wore the same partial suit to 100,000 feet and stayed there for 30 minutes. Trust me, it can be done. I've also worn a full pressure suit to 130,000 feet.

p.s. Love you guys......

[JohnMitchell 14]

Well, I love the voice of experience. I've never worn a pressure suit or even been in an altitude chamber. I know the old USPA high altitude doctrine called for a full pressure suit above about 50K. When you say partial pressure suit, what does that mean? The one I saw in the film seem to cover the torso and limbs entirely. It had the old school inflation tubes running down the arms and legs. I'm assuming the gloves and boots were pressurized also. What happens to the exposed, unpressurized parts of the body. Don't you tend to bulge out or get super hickeys?

I know in Kitterenger's book, he talked about his right glove failing to pressurize, and how it was very uncomfortable for him. But it didn't blow up or fall off, so I guess it wasn't too critical.

[syntax 0]

I expected someone who wouldn't require a walker to get to the gondola.

Had the best laugh in ages! Nice 1

------------------------------------skydiving...the grounds the limit!

[peggs82 0]

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What happens to the exposed, unpressurized parts of the body. Don't you tend to bulge out or get super hickeys?

You look like this?

All though I don't want to spoil the joke....its the guy from Total Recall...so ....Not Safe For Squeemish??

[LongWayToFall 0]

HA! I always thought that your eyes would pop out with enough velocity to dangle on the optic nerves. Nasty.

Back on topic though, I noticed his website has a webcam feature, although it is not up yet. Per the site, he has about 9 hours left until go time.

[slotperfect 7]

I just saw a piece on the jump on ABC News. They don't have the balloon pulled out yet, which is said to take 3-4 hours to prepare and inflate, and he has about a 2 hour pre-breathe before launch.

ABC interviewed COL (Ret.) Joe Kittinger about his jump and about Colonel (Ret.) Fournier's jump as well. It is always great to see him on camera - I saw him in person once and it was a treat.

Bonne chance to Colonel (Ret.) Fournier.

Arrive Safely

John

[packerboy 3]

Is he going to stick his head out and check the spot before he jumps whilst looking for traffic?

--------------------------------------------------
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[Scoop 0]

I wonder who does his pin check

[Merkur 1]

Webcam is online now but you need to purchase an activation code (about €5).
Currently it shows a runway under blue skies with once in a while some cars that are driving through.
Also, on the website is "kind of" o live stream providing updates about every 20-30 min.

good luck for this try!

M.

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[BKR 0]

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Webcam is online now but you need to purchase an activation code (about €5).
Currently it shows a runway under blue skies with once in a while some cars that are driving through.
Also, on the website is "kind of" o live stream providing updates about every 20-30 min.

good luck for this try!

M.

Here is one of the webcam code
A5H0AA8G
But there is nothing to watch

Jérôme Bunker
Basik Air Concept
www.basik.fr
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Le-Luc-France/BASIK-AIR-CONCEPT/172133350468

[Matdess 0]

Oh ! This is my code ! BKR

Video direct live here :

http://edition.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream2

[BKR 0]

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Oh ! This is my code ! BKR

Video direct live here :

http://edition.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream2

Yes viva Wuza

Jérôme Bunker
Basik Air Concept
www.basik.fr
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Le-Luc-France/BASIK-AIR-CONCEPT/172133350468

[Scubadivemaster 3]

The CNN stream is down now Winds appeared to be 10 or greater judging by the flag on the crane.

[NewGuy2005 51]

It looked windy, when I last saw it.

[Scubadivemaster 3]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to try to inflate a mylar balloon in anything close to that sort of wind.

Much less ride it 25 miles up and then jump out without a spot. God only knows where he will end up, but looking at the satellite images it looks like he has picked a place with about 150 miles of "outs".

[yamtx73 0]

Looks like they packed up the toys and went home...

The only naturals in this sport shit thru feathers...

[Scubadivemaster 3]

CNN reporting the jump is postponed.

Probably a wise decision.

[Beerlight 0]

John,

The partial pressure suit (PPS) leaves several areas of the body unpressurized (both feet and the wrist area of each hand) and it utilizes "capstans" (it's the tubes that run up/down the sides of the suit) which inflate and actually pull the fabric tight. Both gloves are connected with a tube and inflate with capstans also. Those suits aren't really designed for extended wear at high altitude, but some do use it.....Crazy I know but it works.

NASA's launch/reentry suits are also PPS's. I helped "man rate" that design post-Challenger.

Reason for utilizing a PPS v. a FPS is that they typically weigh less than a FPS. Probably some other reasons but I don't know them....

btw, a FPS is just that, you are totally encapsulated (all body parts are protected.) Kittinger did have a glove fail on his PPS and experienced significant pain because of it in his hand.

btw, I'm not an expert on pressure suits. I've just worn a few in my lifetime! I am an instructor on altitude and dive chambers......

P.S. There is a reason my friends only stayed at 100K for 30ish minutes. Both experienced decompression sickness......!

I'll see if I can find more vids of Fournier and confirm.

cheers!

[JohnMitchell 14]

Cool, thanks for the reply.

New vocab word- capstans.
Those are cool looking suits. Probably suck to wear, though.

[mnealtx 0]

This is what I envisioned when the partial pressure suit was mentioned - am I very far off? (Video sites are blocked over here)

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[blackout 0]

The cnn video is down still. I wonder if the jump is canceled or just delayed.

[flyingpolarbear 0]

It's still on! The jump is scheduled for early Tuesday morning, around the time the stock market opens. Maybe CNN will show another live video feed (we should email them to make sure they include this live stream). For the latest updates go here:

http://www.legrandsaut.org/

Here is a nice collection of photos and story of the previous attempts:

http://www.greatexcursions.com/blogs/explore_regina/

This is really exciting!

I remember following the 2002 and 2003 attemps. Michel's balloon ripped apart right when he was about to launch in 2003. Then another adventurer, Cheryl Stearns, announced that she was going to jump from the edge of space. That team also ran into financing challenges. I know what it's like to chase after sponsors because I started one of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge teams, and getting sponsorships is not easy.

One of the guys I work with at my aerospace/IT job is an old timer parachutist from the pioneering days of the military surplus round chutes. For the past few years all we talk about is the Fournier jump whenever we run into each other at the office.

What I'm wondering about, is how does he ensure that he is stabilized on initial exit, in the thin atmosphere?

Michel Fournier's persistence in achieving this adventure and dream is really inspiring.

[humanflite 0]

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The cnn video is down still. I wonder if the jump is canceled or just delayed.

This is from his sites updates 10 minutes ago

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It takes less than one hour for Michel to be dressed.
They have to reduce the heat in the hangar because his suit is so complex that he is getting hot very quickly.
We are running behind the schedule (let say half an hour) so we wille be at the launching pad around 2h40.

Looks like is all go