11AM EST is the current estimated launch time.. Anyone know how long the ascent is going to last before he actually jumps?
EDT or just ET. EST returns in November.
Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
141–149 of 149 posts
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
While you care it's not the edge of space, and I care, do your mother care? Does she know the difference between the two, or is 128,000 feet just really high, and might as well be outer space. If anyone does figure it out, well yeah it's a marketing spin, but it doesn't discount what he did and what it took to get there.
But with such a huge spin on it, people will not only miss an opportunity to be educated on what he actually did, they are actively being misled about it. I just can't stand such rubbish tactics. The jump height is just one particular point that I noticed, and it was a point where they seemed to deliberately put a lot of spin on it in a couple of places: 1) They consistently called it "edge of space". It's a lot clos…
39 is more than halfway from 13 to 100, on a reasonable logarithmic scale.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is nothing new, e.g. Student's T-distribution came out of statistical research financed by a beer company ( http://www.mlive.com/kalamabrew/index.ssf/2009/03/because_of... ).
Not just financed by Guiness, but they thought that it gave them a competitive advantage. I doubt falling at Mach 1 will give Red Bull a competitive advantage. In fact it directly contradicts their marketing :) (Red Bull gives you wings...)
What comes down must have gone up!
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right, it's an ad at the end of the day. But there are much worse (debatable) products that spend money on really shitty ad campaigns. So this isn't really bad. I personally respect Red Bull for having found a niche (crazy adventure sports of all sorts) and making possible whole careers in these amazing sports. At the end of the day, not a lot of people believe you NEED Red Bull to make this jump, but thousand…
I agree, but then I get worried that the same kids don't understand what sponsorship means, and that they'll assume that drinking Red Bull is what people like this do, and then they'll start up a very unhealthy and addictive habit (drinking lots of Red Bull). Which is pretty bad.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, Kittinger is the man walking Felix through the procedures. This is the Dynamic Duo of high altitude jumping. I felt a shiver listening to them, this is a day I think I will tell my children about. p.s. Kittinger is 84!
Looks like the freefall duration record wasn't beaten :(
My guess is that because he went so much faster initially, he covered a further distance faster. I haven't done the math, and he definitely deployed early, but it still seems plausible to me
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
But with such a huge spin on it, people will not only miss an opportunity to be educated on what he actually did, they are actively being misled about it. I just can't stand such rubbish tactics. The jump height is just one particular point that I noticed, and it was a point where they seemed to deliberately put a lot of spin on it in a couple of places: 1) They consistently called it "edge of space". It's a lot clos…
39 is more than halfway from 13 to 100, on a reasonable logarithmic scale.
On a logarithmic scale I can easily get halfway to the top of Mount Everest by walking onto some hill. Doesn't mean I should claim I went there.
It seems the highest a balloon ever went was 53km. SpaceShipOne went to the 100km and it took them a lot more effort. The altitude record for jet aircraft is 37,650m, this is about the same as the height he jumped from and seems be a better comparison to me.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
The lateral braking provided by the atmosphere causes objects to burn up.
Just cover the suits in ceramic tile.
I don't know if you are joking or not (I'm guessing you are), but I'll take a bite at this.
Those ceramic tiles have to be placed in the right alignments to dissipate heat. So we are now talking about a rigid 'suit'. So for the rigid structure we'll need reinforcements and ways to move and handle stress and structural load at high velocities - we don't want that transmitted into the human body. (We've tested supersonic velocities, but not re-entry)
The parachute will also have to expand in size to handle the extra weight. Going down this line I we soon get to a point where we may as well call the whole thing a pod and be done with it.
All of it pretty much hinges on ceramic tiles needing to be oriented and then added structural weight.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#148Once again, title creators succumb to the power of relativity. My eyes keep on skimming on this topic, and it makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. "Today" is awesome.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#149He has a lot of external stuff on his suit I'm worried at Mach 1 it will be torn off.
That's Mach 1 in nearly no atmosphere. Nothing there to tear stuff off.
I thought even at that altitude there would still be a significant amount of atmosphere but apparently not. Even 39km there's still a lot of atmosphere to go but I guess it's pretty thin.
When interviewed Kittinger said something "To all those who said Baumgartner suit would tear apart I salute you with a middle finger!" I laughed but thought it was unnecessary harsh since at some point he may enter thicker atmospheric region going 1,340km/h.
The design of aircraft are angled to near points and aircraft skin of supersonic craft are made of exotic materials to withstand thousands of degrees Celsius. I figured Mach 1 in a bulky suit thin atmosphere or not at some point something may tear, give way or heat up suddenly.