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23 Miles Of Free Fall - Live Webcast Of Felix Baumgartner's Third World Record Attempt From The Edge Of Space
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner's previous two attempts to set a world record in freefalling from an altitude of 23 miles, or from "the edge of space" were aborted in the last minute due to heavy winds. In a few minutes, the daredevil will find out if third time will be the charm for gravity to finally not be denied. Watch the live webcast below and find out in an hour when the process is officially scheduled to begin.
A step by step process of what the key events are if the jump is allowed to proceed:
Weather conditions permitting, well-known daredevil Felix Baumgartner will enter a six-foot-diameter pressurized capsule and ascend to 120,000 feet via a high altitude balloon. When he hits the right altitude, he'll begin his jump.
Within about 40 seconds he will have accelerated enough to break the sound barrier — also a new record, in addition to the altitude. As he falls he enters thicker air that could have a deadly effect; it could cause him to suddenly spin out of control and lose consciousness. If that happens he risks being unable to deploy his parachute.
If all goes well, his free fall should last an incredible five and a half minutes, and he will deploy his chute at 5,000 feet.
Should his attempt be success it will set the new world record for a high altitude jump. The current record was set in 1960 by United States Air Force Col. Joseph Kittinger, who is now serving as a consultant on Baumgartner's attempt.
Courtesy of Reuters, here is a sampling of some of the risks and hazards associated with attempting a record 23 miles of free fall.
- Colliding shock waves, triggered by a human body moving faster than the speed of sound, could hit with the force of an explosion, though the risk of this is much less likely in the stratosphere where the air is extremely thin.
- The low-pressure environment could cause Baumgartner to go into a flat spin. If a spin lasts for too long, he could lose consciousness and injure his eyes, brain and cardiovascular system.
- Exposure to vacuum, even for a short period of time, could cause Baumgartner's blood literally to boil. The condition, known as ebullism, causes fluids in the body to turn to gas.
- Gas seeping into the body due to a relatively rapid exposure to low pressure can cause decompression sickness, or "the bends."
- As pressure decreases, trapped gas in the body can cause ear blockages, dizziness and acute tooth, sinus and gastrointestinal pain. When decompression is sudden, lungs can over-inflate and collapse. A gas bubble in an artery could stop blood flow.
- Extremely cold temperatures pose a threat to Baumgartner and his equipment. Excessive heat from the sun is also a risk.
- Ultraviolet radiation is more than 100,000 times as strong at 120,000 feet, where Baumgartner plans to begin his jump, as it is at ground level, but Baumgartner should have a very short exposure time.
- Wind shear could make Baumgartner nauseous and could destroy his balloon.
- A breach in Baumgartner's protective spacesuit or the accidental deployment of a parachute are considered the biggest safety concerns
And finally, for the visual learners, an infographic of all you need to know, via Space.com:
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Momentum factor?
It would be nice if the "Live Broadcast" actually had some live video. I'm getting tired of an hour of "PLease stand by. Starting soon...."
There will be a 20 second delay built into the video feed, so you won't see him go splat.
Apparently YouTube won't play through https.
Can they also pick me up and throw me down while giving me press coverage and shit loads bucks for that?
Dont worry, I can handle that. I've been through worse in life.
He could reach the speed of sound in the initial stage of his free fall. How nuts is that.
Nuts?
I wish I could do that when having an argument with my girlfriend.
That's too high to jump, too far and too fast to fall.
Just say-n
All those checks they are running through; its really supprising that they never did any checks on whether the video streaming actualy worked.
This is performance art. An interpretive dance signifying the history of the US Dollar.
ZeroRelevance
Felix - don't be a her-0
Now there is a little story that is niggling me, about a guy called Icarus, just can't remember what it was all about...... oh I remember, oh dear!
Oh my. This is awkward.
He did it, well done!!
congrats to felix,well done!
Nice. Now back to regular programming, or NFL football.
Congrats man!
Gratz Felix!!!
White House Statement: "Even though no one has accomplished this in the past, he did not do that, someone else did." - President Obozo
Uh! Yeah! Duh!
Thanks for hookin' up the link ZH - that was awesome!
Thanks for the link, that was great.
Latest news get the VIRGIN Christmas special ..
VIRGIN FREE FALL JUMP for only $200,000 per person, great for the whole family, Children must be over 12 yr old.
Just fucking amazing. Thanks for the link.
He'll be wanting more than a red bull after that!!!
this just proves its not the speed of the fall that kills you BUT the sudden impact of STOP
Bravest thing I have every saw
I only saw it one time before..
the day Nixon said good buy....on air force O
the day America gave up....
Colliding shock waves...is that similar to stag-flation, inflation, de-flation and hyper inflation occurring simultaneously?
Only Zimbabwe Ben could be capable/culpable of such a feat.
http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/
its now live
Nice promo by Red Bull, worth watching and suitably high tech - the gnomes from Brussels should take a leaf out of their fellow country mans playbook and go jump off something high also - preferably without parachutes ..
I don't see a problem ... the US Government did it for every space flight ... USA + NASA ... and we're still paying it off
I'd be a lot more impressed with this guy if he could talk ALL of our elected representatives and Potus into doing this very same thing...WITHOUT the chute.
I knew D. B. Cooper .... and you're no D. B. Cooper, Sir !
Who the fuck cares.Ill take Pet Rocks for 100 Alex.
I just love how even here at the epicenter of Internet cynicism known as ZH (yes, it's more than that but still)...there is a 15 minute pause in the comments while everyone just stared at him DOING IT.
Awesome just to get up there. And to jump....beyond words.
Felix is the man. The shot from the camera above him as he is looking down 23 miles was crazy. Then he jumps. Amazing. Before he jumped - I was thinking no ***ing way. Sorry Joe - I getting back into the capsule. Crazy.
The Red Bull guy with the glide wing and small jet engine flying over the Alps was another good one. I don;t drink Red Bull but kudos to them and Felix.