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| icewendigo |
 Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 9:14 am Post subject: Sky diving from an altitude of 40 km |
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Forum Senior
Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 378
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The plan was foiled by a technical problem, but it looks like eventually, someone might try to jump from 40km and apparently come close to reaching(or surpassing) the speed of sound. I assume theres less friction higher up because lower down friction limits free fall speed to around 300km/h
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2241175.stm
By the Way, can anyone explain why he breaths nitrogen (in or out or something) before making hisn ascention? |
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| SuperNatendo |
| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:58 am Post subject: |
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Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Posts: 518
Location: Nashville, TN USA
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Still, what happens when he hits denser air? I think if this had gone through, he would have at the very least broken a few bones. I'm not very confident in the aerodynamic properties of the human body. Pretty sure breaking the sound barrier would be very painful, if not fatal.
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“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” - Mark Twain |
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| Scifor Refugee |
| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:13 am Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 1089
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| SuperNatendo wrote: |
| Still, what happens when he hits denser air? I think if this had gone through, he would have at the very least broken a few bones. I'm not very confident in the aerodynamic properties of the human body. Pretty sure breaking the sound barrier would be very painful, if not fatal. |
The air thickens slowly as you move toward the earth's surface, so you just gradually slow down. There isn't any sudden shock. It has already been done from 30 km. |
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| SuperNatendo |
| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:23 am Post subject: |
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Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Posts: 518
Location: Nashville, TN USA
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but at 30 km up they were not breaking the sound barrier as he would have from a 40 km altitude. The sound barrier has ripped apart planes that were much more aerodynamically sound than the human body when the first attempts to break it were made.
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“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” - Mark Twain |
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| Scifor Refugee |
| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:38 am Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 1089
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Shjrug
It's a pretty safe bet that they looked into it and know what they're doing. |
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| SuperNatendo |
| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Posts: 518
Location: Nashville, TN USA
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How did the balloon become detached from the capsule if these people supposedly knew what they were doing?
I am afraid we will never know the outcome of the Human body breaking the sound barrier, at least for now!
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