Skydiver Felix Baumgartner planning 36km record bid

An Austrian adventurer planning the highest skydive in history has announced that he will make the record attempt later this year.

Felix Baumgartner will jump from a balloon 36.5km (120,000ft) up, where a leak in his pressurised suit could lead to a rapid loss of consciousness.

He will fall so fast that he becomes the first person to go faster than the speed of sound unaided by a machine.

Many have sought to achieve the feat down the decades but all have failed.

That is amazing, "the first person to go faster than the speed of sound" ...
I hope he survives this crazy stunt.

BBC NEWS

I saw this on telly last night and I am green with envy.

Hopefully he will break the sound barrier while the atmosphere is thin enough. Once he gets to a certain altitude the atmosphere is going to act like one mother of a brake.

I wonder if the thin atmosphere will slow the speed of sound (less than 340.m.s). It could be that in the thin atmosphere the speed of sound could be much slower due to the lower atmospheric pressure.

Checking******
Wikipedia Speed_of_sound

Yup, the speed of sound at 29Km is 301.m.s. A little, but probably not enough to make a difference.

S&F

What could possibly go wrong?

Google Joseph Kittinger

reply to post by samsamm9


Wait!

So he is going to Sonic Boom is way back down to earth ?

i hope somebody gets that on video. Would be awesome to see and hear a sonic boom form, from a man falling to earth.

I would install a device that opens the shoot auto at like 5,000 feet though just in case he isn't awake on the way down.

So, has anyone found a livestream yet? I want to see this! it´s today 15:00 CET!