April 9, 2012 First step's a doozer.

[SPUCK]

One giant leap

On Thursday, the adventurer leapt from a balloon-borne capsule 71,500ft (22km) above New Mexico, landing safely eight minutes later.

The dive was intended to test all his equipment before he tries to free-fall from 120,000ft later this year.

In doing so, he would better the mark of 102,800ft set by US Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger in 1960.

Even just Thursday's jump puts Baumgartner in a select group as only Kittinger and Russian Eugene Andreev have descended from higher.

Baumgartner, who is famous for stunts such as jumping off the Petronas Towers, is seen in the special pressure suit he must wear to stay alive in the thin air and extreme cold of the stratosphere.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17399985

[Trilby]

Hey! I can see my house!

[Sundae]

That genuinely took my breath away.
Terrifying.

[sexobon]

It looks like he just finished testing a prototype orbiting outhouse for NASA.

[classicman]

nuckin' futs!

[infinite monkey]

See, I could totally do that. It looks like fun. Safer than the interstate.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

See, I could totally do that. It looks like fun. Safer than the interstate.

Yeah, no one's been killed (yet) from jumping from that high up!

[glatt]

And a follow up question. Is terminal velocity variable depending on altitude? Seems like the air is thinner up there, and wouldn't slow you down as much. I would expect the jumper to accelerate quickly up to some terminal velocity, and gradually slow down slightly as the air got thicker, and then finally slow down a lot when the chute is deployed.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by glatt

And a follow up question. Is terminal velocity variable depending on altitude? Seems like the air is thinner up there, and wouldn't slow you down as much. I would expect the jumper to accelerate quickly up to some terminal velocity, and gradually slow down slightly as the air got thicker, and then finally slow down a lot when the chute is deployed.

... and a whole lot more when he snags on the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks.

[SPUCK]

Originally Posted by glatt

And a follow up question. Is terminal velocity variable depending on altitude? Seems like the air is thinner up there, and wouldn't slow you down as much. I would expect the jumper to accelerate quickly up to some terminal velocity, and gradually slow down slightly as the air got thicker, and then finally slow down a lot when the chute is deployed.

Yes! Absolutely. In fact so much so that once he gets up higher his terminal speed will exceed the speed of sound. And as you suggest the speed will continue to decrease down to the more pedestrian 120MPH near his landing/splatter* location.

* In this case the splatter will be confined to the inside of the special splatter bag. This will allow easy no-fuss cleanup.

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

... and a whole lot more when he snags on the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks.

Or. A unique speed-up if he is intercepted by a Pratt and Whitney somewhere.

[classicman]

yeh sure, till that guy pulls outta the drop off cloud and ...

[infinite monkey]

*snortle*

That'd be my luck. "Oh look, i'm in space. I'm Rocket Woman...HEY ASSHOLE YOU ALMOST KILLED ME...grumble grumble, came outta no where!"

[Gravdigr]

One word.

Bird strike.

What?

[onetrack]

Now, I've heard that Red Bull gives you a high in exhilaration - but this is taking it to ridiculous heights!

[Cyber Wolf]

Okay, now I'm curious exactly where the whole atmospheric re-entry burn begins. I guess it's still higher than 46.5 miles up...? Or maybe you need to come in at a certain angle? I keep thinking this guy would land with a serious case of hot pants.