fall rate

[leroydb 0]

what is the current fastest free fall speed... what is the theoretical max?

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[rmcvey 0]

The theoritical max speed (presuming it took place on this planet) would be around 1000mph.

All you need is some sort of aerial craft (balloons seem the favourite at the moment) to take you up to about 150,000 feet then just get out.

Obviouslly your lungs would explode and your blood would be at serious risk of boiling, so a a big cosy space suit would probably be a good idea.

Then you need a rig which you can still use after such extreme conditions and balls the size of a family car.

Also other factors would include things like your mass vs surface area ratio which i think relates to your terminal velocity, air density/pressure , temperature, gravity etc etc.

If you really want to go wild go to Jupiter and you'd probably smoke up to about 20,000 mph.



But i think the current record from "normal altitude" is 354mph.

[KATO33 0]

I don't remember the exact speed but its over the speed of sound. Balloon jump from 102,000 ft

Blue Skies Black Death

[cubster 0]

On August 16, 1960, Captain Joe Kittinger jumped from a huge helium balloon at a height of 102,800 feet, almost 20 miles above the earth! Captain Kittinger fell for a full 4 minutes, 36 seconds. He experienced temperatures as low as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and a maximum speed of 714 miles per hour, exceeding the speed of sound as he fell! The 28-foot main parachute did not open until Kittinger reached the much thicker atmosphere at 17,500 feet. Kittinger safely landed in the New Mexico desert after a 13 minute 45 second descent. This famous balloon parachute jump was called Project Excelsior, and it successfully proved that a new parachute system would solve the problem of high altitude escape by aircraft crewmen. The photos show the following events: 1) Captain Joe lifts off in his giant helium balloon (he is inside the little basket called a gondola) which hangs under the balloon! 2) Captain Joe bravely waves to an automatic camera while he sits in his balloon gondola high in the sky just before his big jump. 3) An automatic camera takes a picture of Captain Joe as he leaps from his balloon basket! He is so high up that the clouds are all below him and they look like a big white cotton blanket! 4) Captain Joe falls away from his balloon and begins the longest, highest skydive ever done! 5) Captain Joe finally falls low enough to open his parachute! 6) Capatin Joe lands safely on the ground and men help him out of his special "space suit." 7) Captain Joe relaxes as the men take off his gear. 8) Captain Joe looks very happy to have done his big jump and land safely back on the ground!

[jumpy 0]

Quote

...a maximum speed of 714 miles per hour, exceeding the speed of sound as he fell!

How does he deploy at that speed??? You'd think that at those speeds any normal kind of chute would blow up instantaneosly...

[cubster 0]

in the thin air he fell at 715mph. as he lost alt the thicker air slowed him down, and his parachute system had like three chutes

[jtval 0]

i did my Leadership school report in him. lucky bastard!hha
he still lives in orlando and STIll flyes balloons alot

My photos

My Videos

[TheBile 0]

Quote

If you really want to go wild go to Jupiter and you'd probably smoke up to about 20,000 mph

You wouldn't have to bother with a parachute rig either. Jupiter doesn't have any solid surface so you would never land.

That said, it's gravity would screw you up more than any Terminal-V impact.

Gerb

I stir feelings in others they themselves don't understand. KA'CHOW !

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"That said, it's gravity would screw you up more than .."

I think the thing that would nail me would be the price of the jump ticket..

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[dresherr 0]

Did all this stuff really happen? I heard the record was only around 350!!!! W/B Before I get light headed from thinking about it.

[ernokaikkonen 0]

The man did much more than that:

http://www.balloonlife.com/publications/balloon_life/9510/balloonm.htm

[eyeinthesky 0]

How does he deploy at that speed??? You'd think that at those speeds any normal kind of chute would blow up instantaneosly...

[darkwing 4]

The physics guy says....

In the absence of air resistance "terminal" velocity for any object dropped from really, really high (=infinity) to the earth will be 11,200 m/s = 25,000 mph. Here I have defined terminal as the speed you are going immediately before impact. Say you are dropped from only 100 miles though, you will be going 1750 m/s = 3910 mph. At real skydiving altitudes of say, 14,000 ft you would be going 289 m/s = 648 mph. In the absence of air resistance it wouldn't matter if you had a parachute or not.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[SkySlut 0]

I met him in Deland a couple of times...nice guy!