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Red Bull: man to jump from 120,000 feet above earth on October 8th - Page 3 — Parallax Forums

Red Bull: man to jump from 120,000 feet above earth on October 8th

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Comments

  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-10-15 11:37
    I suppose in terms of ground speed he was going vertical, or somewhere around zero. Seems like this sound barrier is going to be debated forever. Too make matters worse, the air was getting denser as he was going down and he went through different temperature regions.

    This critical speed is known as Mach 1 and is approximately 1,225 km/h (761 mph) at sea level and 20 °C (68 °F). In smooth flight, the shock wave starts at the nose of the aircraft and ends at the tail.

    Unless the fogging inside his visor was a sudden result of the shock wave created by crossing the sound barrier, we only have his word that he felt something or hear something. I presume no one hear a sonic boom.

    Meanwhile, I have been researching as I just didn't understand what Red Bull Energy Drink is. I don't think we have it available in Taiwan. But we have a Taiwanese one, called Lao Hu Ya Tse (meaning Tiger's Teeth). It is tasty and has several Chinese herbs to boost your energy.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-10-15 22:05
    Mark_T wrote: »
    Ground speeds don't count for Mach numbers. In the jet stream 100mph tail wind isn't that unusual... And at typical airliner altitudes the speed of sound is more like 660mph due to the lower temperatures: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Comparison_US_standard_atmosphere_1962.svg&page=1
    The readings I see during jet air travel appear on the monitor screen. They also give temperature - next time I will record it. These are likely based on flight cockpit instruments. The reading around 729 is something I've seen a couple times. I didn't know if we were going supersonic during those occasions. Maybe we broke the sound barrier on those flights and didn't know it.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-10-15 22:15
    Intentional or unintentional would have to add further categories -- pushed, shot down, or self-motivated. Semantics is such a #@!%^!
    Add two more categories under unintentional: accidents and failed equipment - i.e. tripped and fell, the floor broke through..

    We could also make the case for success - visor steamed up with no vision but jumped anyway.. went into life terminating spin but used techniques to come out of it.. almost chickened out but decided to jump anyway.. never gave up waiting for perfect weather.. skipped eating because suit could not open for reasons..
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-10-15 22:27
    The reading around 729 is something I've seen a couple times.
    Ground speed. You weren't going supersonic. Excepting the Concorde, passenger planes aren't built for that.

    -Phil
  • Mark_TMark_T Posts: 1,981
    edited 2012-10-16 04:09
    Meanwhile, I have been researching as I just didn't understand what Red Bull Energy Drink is. I don't think we have it available in Taiwan. But we have a Taiwanese one, called Lao Hu Ya Tse (meaning Tiger's Teeth). It is tasty and has several Chinese herbs to boost your energy.

    Well I can help with the key ingredients of Red Bull and similar energy drinks - caffeine, taurine, glucoronolactone and vitamins. Both sugared and diet (sweeteners) versions are available from many brands, but I think the original Red Bull is sugared only.
  • phishguyphishguy Posts: 36
    edited 2012-10-16 15:59
    Here is a much more impressive jump.
    http://youtu.be/yFU774q6eVM
  • skylightskylight Posts: 1,915
    edited 2012-10-16 16:17
    phishguy wrote: »
    Here is a much more impressive jump.
    http://youtu.be/yFU774q6eVM
    Yes that was an impressive jump, though I have to say he looked a little nervous and at one point I didn't think he'd LEGO
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-10-16 16:28
    Ground speed. You weren't going supersonic. Excepting the Concorde, passenger planes aren't built for that.

    It's all relative. We are all traveling at over 60,000mph around the Sun.

    A jet can be at Mach 1 into a strong headwind while another can be going the opposite direction at subsonic speeds yet the "slower" jet will be covering ground faster.
  • Mark_TMark_T Posts: 1,981
    edited 2012-10-16 17:02
    skylight wrote: »
    Yes that was an impressive jump, though I have to say he looked a little nervous and at one point I didn't think he'd LEGO

    Now that's the sort of thing the web was invented for! Did they do the Marianas Trench dive too? - can't find anything.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-10-16 23:12
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