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Skydive from "Edge of Space" (120,000 ft)

LukeTim

By LukeTim
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Kryten

Kryten

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Jet streams are restricted to pretty narrow bands, there aren't (or shouldn't be) any that far south at this time of year.

Apparently we are probably looking at a retry on Thursday.

Edited by Kryten
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Aescwulf

Aescwulf

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Damnit! Felix is not the first person to reach supersonic in freefall... Does nobody remember that astronauts are falling towards Earth constantly at a speed of over 5 miles per second?

Yeah but they are in a protective capsule. This is the first time a human going super sonic without being encased

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Omega500

Omega500

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Jet streams are restricted to pretty narrow bands, there aren't (or shouldn't be) any that far south at this time of year.

Apparently we are probably looking at a retry on Thursday.

Ahhh i was going on what i remember at school, when you are at that age when you take everything literally. The jet stream goes all around the globe.

Anywho it seems it been rescheduled for Sunday. Hope this time there is not a truck load of lag this time

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Tauge

Tauge

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It's the lower level winds they were worried about. This balloon is one of the largest available, and when it is launched the balloon will be going up foe a bit while the tether plays out. When the tether snaps taught, the capsule will be released. The timing must be perfect, too soon, and the capsule hits the ground, too late not sure...maybe the balloon gets damaged, they didn't say. Either way, their calculations for release depend on very, very low winds at the altitude where the balloon would be during release (about 700 ft(~213m)), less than 2 mph (3.2 km/h), for a safe launch.

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olex

olex

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Damnit! Felix is not the first person to reach supersonic in freefall... Does nobody remember that astronauts are falling towards Earth constantly at a speed of over 5 miles per second?

They are not in the atmosphere though. Technically you can't be supersonic in space, since sound doesn't spread in vacuum.

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LukeTim

LukeTim

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Yeah but they are in a protective capsule. This is the first time a human going super sonic without being encased

To be fair, if any of those Astronauts go EVA, they are essentially doing exactly that... Making Felix not the first.

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LukeTim

LukeTim

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Someone already stated that you cannot be supersonic in space because sound does not spread in vacuum. QED.

Ahh, I was thinking supersonic ≡ speed of sound at sea level... which I guess isn't true.

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