Non-motoring > Faster than sound unpowered 'flight'	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Lygonos	Replies: 43

New Tue 9 Oct 12 13:44   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Lygonos

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19860249 This appears to be at least a slightly risky endeavour. Presumably the >Mach 1 pressure wave will be fairly weak at such altitude. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 14:06   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

Live coverage: www.youtube.com/user/redbull/featured Delayed by weather, 2.30 'earliest launch' EDIT: that's 2.30 GMT Last edited by: Focus on Tue 9 Oct 12 at 14:10 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 18:51   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

>> Live coverage: www.youtube.com/user/redbull/featured Things are actually happening now, although I believe it's still an hour or 2(3?) until he jumps. Balloon inflating. Last edited by: Focus on Tue 9 Oct 12 at 18:51 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 19:02   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

>> >> Live coverage: www.youtube.com/user/redbull/featured >> >> Things are actually happening now Well they were - now aborted due to 'gusty winds'. Wuss :) Last edited by: Focus on Tue 9 Oct 12 at 19:02 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 19:44   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Zero

The things you agree to do after 10 pints of Stella! They always whimp out in the cold light of day Reply to this message | Report message       4

New Tue 9 Oct 12 14:26   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - bathtub tom

I've a problem believing he'll go supersonic. I believe the human body in free fall never reaches more than about 20% supersonic at sea level. Supersonic at sea level equates to somewhere around 700MPH. He'll no doubt exceed that speed, but at what height and will he be able to break the sound barrier using only gravity? Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 14:50   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Bromptonaut

According to accounts on radio this morning lack of air resistance at launch altitude makes difference. No idea what Mach 1 would equal at that attitude. Also not sure what the structural Mne is for human body. There's a delay in the live broadcast in xcase it goes badly wrong. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 14:57   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

Now saying next update 16:30, earliest launch 18:30 (BST). Last edited by: Focus on Tue 9 Oct 12 at 14:57 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 14:57   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Lygonos

Remember only air resistance slows down your acceleration towards the Earth. From 'launch' at 120,000ft you're virtually in a vacuum so every second he's going to be travelling nearly 20mph than the previous second (9.8m/s/s) until air resistance slow him down. After 10 seconds ~200mph, after 30s ~600mph. The acceleration drops as the air becomes denser until he reaches an equilibrium and then starts to slow until he reaches Vmax at normal atmospheric pressure around 120mph. I think the SoS reduces as you rise also. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 14:59   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - madf

>> I've a problem believing he'll go supersonic. >> >> I believe the human body in free fall never reaches more than about 20% supersonic >> at sea level. >> >> Supersonic at sea level equates to somewhere around 700MPH. He'll no doubt exceed that speed, >> but at what height and will he be able to break the sound barrier using >> only gravity? >> >> >> The normal limit speed for a human body at sea level is c 120mph.. But 25 miles up where the air is very thin (his blood will boil without a pressure suit).. he could easily hit 1,000mph... 700mph = approx 1020 ft/sec. With gravity G = 32fps so time to accelerate to 700mph = 1020/32 =32 secs. Distance travlled = 0.5 *32 x32 squared 16,384 feet /5280 = 3.1 miles. Per my rusty A level physics.. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 16:47   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Duncan

What for? Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 16:53   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Ian (Cape Town)

>> What for? >> Because it's there? I'm sure a lot of scientific data will be collected as well. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 16:59   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - No FM2R

I admire people who do stuff just to see, or for the challenge, or for the enjoyment. it’s a philosophy I’ve always tried to follow myself. With varying degrees of success, enjoyment, fear and pain. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 9 Oct 12 17:09   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Zero

>> I admire people who do stuff just to see, Its a man thing A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this: Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife, Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety....?? WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave. Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat, Gracie, looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5' long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best...? I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, 'don't do it, dipshit,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and . . .HOLY MOTHER OF GOD . . . WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . . WHAT THE HELL!!! I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles no where to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs? The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an atempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room. Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three second burst would be considered conservative? SON-OF-A-BITCH, THAT HURT LIKE HELL!!! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I crapped myself, but was too numb to know for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head which I believe came from my hair. I'm still looking for my nuts and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!! P. S. My wife loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it! Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 19 Oct 12 at 00:51 Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Sun 14 Oct 12 17:02   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - R.P.

Trying again today apparently. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 17:03   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - R.P.

Livish footage. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 17:50   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

www.youtube.com/user/redbull/stratos Just coming up to 78000ft ie. ~40000ft to go Last edited by: Focus on Sun 14 Oct 12 at 17:52 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 19:15   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - zookeeper

mach speed is reletive to local conditions (altitude and temperature)...ie pressure altitude' at sea level under ISA rules its about 661 knots per hour , times that by 1.15 gives you mph Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 19:15   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Fullchat

Safely down :) Thanks for the link. Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 14 Oct 12 at 19:16 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 19:56   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

I got a bit nervous just watching it - see him standing at the capsule doorway looking down... Then when it looked like he was tumbling out of control I thought he was a gonner. Very relieved when he stabilised and the parachute came out. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 20:00   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

Some good pictures in the Mail: tinyurl.com/8rq7b9t Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 20:05   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - R.P.

Nice to see the human spirit rising above all the crap in the world. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 21:13   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - No FM2R

Forgive a potentially dumbass question here, but does this mean that given the right equpiment, freefalling from the space station is viable? Its still within the gravitational pull. I guess there's a significant potential for landing in a less than ideal place (understatement), but still? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:02   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Kevin

It takes days or sometimes weeks for satellites to fall from orbit. I think you'd need a pretty big lunch box and poo bag to freefall from ISS ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:04   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

>> Forgive a potentially dumbass question here, but does this mean that given the right equpiment, >> freefalling from the space station is viable? Jump out of the space station, and - you stay where you are. You and the space station are experiencing the same gravitational force. I got asked this (or something similar) when I went for a music scholarship at Oxford. The music bit (Malcolm Arnold Clarinet Sonatina) went well. I ended up at Leeds... :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:10   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Zero

The house next door has just been destroyed by a silver balloon capsule Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:15   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

The bit where he jumps: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19943132 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 23:03   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - No FM2R

>>The house next door has just been destroyed by a silver balloon capsule Oh dear. Your council tax will go up now you're in a semi. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:27   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Kevin

>You and the space station are experiencing the same gravitational force. Until the space station uses it's boosters to counteract it's decaying orbit. Another reason why you'd need a big poo bag. Venting into space might be counterproductive ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:42   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - rtj70

>> Until the space station uses it's boosters to counteract it's decaying orbit. I didn't think it had it's own boosters. I thought it relied on docking craft for that. I'm probably wrong. But wasn't this something to Space Shuttle did - maybe it can do it itself. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 23:01   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - No FM2R

>>You and the space station are experiencing the same gravitational force. As you jumped you would have exerted [some] force against the space station. You will not stay together - not at all, not never, not possible. If you did not exert force against the space station, then you would have stayed *in* it. The space station counteracts its decaying orbit. Rather than preserving yours, presumably a little jet pack or similar would push you towards the earth? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 00:07   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - NortonES2

The BBC has this to say "Austrian Felix Baumgartner has become the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a top speed of 833.9mph (1,342km/h)." tinyurl.com/9yzo8px Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 05:37   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

>> >>You and the space station are experiencing the same gravitational force. >> >> As you jumped you would have exerted [some] force against the space station. You will >> not stay together No, that was a bad choice of words on my part. What I meant was, when you step out of the doorway, you will not 'fall' towards the earth. Yes, the station is experiencing the pull of gravity, but that is what is keeping it in orbit rather than heading off into space. Now I guess you could try to push off the station in the direction of earth - should be a big enough target... Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 05:55   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

>> Now I guess you could try to push off the station in the direction of >> earth - should be a big enough target... ...although if you aimed directly at the earth, would you miss it and just end up in a different (more elliptical) orbit? Would you have to aim 'behind' it? Last edited by: Focus on Mon 15 Oct 12 at 05:56 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 14 Oct 12 22:26   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - smokie

Watched it live, thoroughly enjoyed, thx for the link I was a bit worried when his breathing seemed to stop a couple of times in the initial part of the descent. Not the ideal time to see how long you can hold your breath for really, was it? I gather the video was on a 20 sec delay just in case something went wrong. Last edited by: smokie on Sun 14 Oct 12 at 22:26 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 09:56   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - rtj70

I think I am right in saying that he never the speed of sound at the altitude he was travelling at when he went faster than the speed of sound at sea level. Still an achievement but if there was enough air he'd have been slowed down like he was later on in his freefall. So he won't have had to endure a sonic boom or a lot of other things that would have been dangerous at such high speeds lower in the atmosphere. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 10:05   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Zero

Surely at that altitude, there is no sound, so no sound barrier. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 10:08   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - rtj70

That's what I thought Zero. So technically he didn't go faster than the speed of sound yesterday. But he did go faster than the speed of sound at sea level. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 10:14   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

This table gives the speed of sound up to just over 100,000 feet, which I guess he was below after the 30 seconds it was estimated it would take to hit the magic figure: www.engineeringtoolbox.com/elevation-speed-sound-air-d_1534.html Last edited by: Focus on Mon 15 Oct 12 at 10:14 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 12:19   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Lygonos

He was travelling at > mach 1 for a period, but presumably the very low air pressure would minimise the effect of breaking the sound barrier too. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 12:16   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Armel Coussine

>> at that altitude, there is no sound, so no sound barrier. If there's any atmosphere, there is sound. But where the atmosphere is thin, sound is 'fainter' and travels more slowly. It travels better and faster in liquids or solids. Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Mon 15 Oct 12 at 12:17 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 15 Oct 12 13:00   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Roger.

Underwhelmed. Reply to this message | Report message       1

New Tue 16 Oct 12 10:19   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Cliff Pope

Very good Mat cartoon in today's DT. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 16 Oct 12 10:24   Faster than sound unpowered 'flight' - Focusless

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/ Reply to this message | Report message