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Sub-Orbital Skydiving

Posted by timothy on from the it's-a-long-long-way dept.

igz writes: "Someone is trying to set the world record for highest freefall, from over 31 miles above the Earth! There is no atmosphere up there, so speeds of up to 1.5 Mach are expected. Check it here." Whether this is insanity or courage is up to you, but it sure sounds like a fun ride. Cheryl Stearns is the insane / courageous diver, and she will jump wearing a pressure suit to counter the lack of air at (gulp!)165,000 feet up.

5 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. Skydiving Records... by Schwarzchild · · Score: 5
    Capt. Joseph Kittinger jumped from 102,800 feet in 1960. Another skydiver Piantanida jumped from 123,500 feet in 1966 but his altitude record was not recognized I think because they were not sure he actually made that altitude (his altimeter may have stopped working).

    A simulation of the Kittinger dive is on the NOVA website. Plus they also show the famous picture of him jumping out of the gondola.

    Also there is a really great book written by Craig Ryan called The Pre-Astronauts. The Pre-Astronauts is all about the history of high altitude skydiving. A cool quote by Alan Shepard from the book when asked if he would have done the Kittinger jump: "Hell no. Absolutely not."

    Another cool fact is that Capt. Kittinger's boss during those high skyjumps was no other than John Paul Stapp the guy who is always in those famous pictures and movies of the rocket sled. Remember those pictures of a man's face being progressively made more distorted by g-forces? That's John Paul Stapp!

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    "sweet dreams are made of this..."

  2. Do it right! by TheDullBlade · · Score: 5

    Pressurized suit: $20,000
    Extremely high altitude flight: $15,000
    Used parachute: $40
    Patches for parachute: $5.37

    Being the first person to achievesubterranean supersonic travel: priceless.

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  3. Extinction... by ijx · · Score: 5

    Several Million, B.C: great lizards known as "Dino-saurs" were rendered extinct by the impact of a meteorite off the Yucatan.

    2000: Parachutist Cheryl Stearns achieves the first sub-orbital skydive, with mixed results. When she reached Mach 1.5, Cheryl vanished, never to be seen again.

    2020: It has been determined that Cheryl Stearns, upon breaking mach 1.5, travelled through time, and smashed into the Yucatan. The resulting clouds and debris led to the extinction of all dinosaurs.

  4. Even stranger... by hugg · · Score: 5

    You think that's wacky? In the early 60's, there were a number of designs for a single-person bailout device, for "bailing out" from *orbit*. MOOSE was one such design, where the astronaut was enclosed in a foam shield.

    Mach 1.5, bah! Try Mach *25*! :)

  5. Go Cheryl! by mjh · · Score: 5
    I have almost 1000 skydives. Speaking for the skydivers, I can't imagine a single one of us who wouldn't absolutely love to have the oppurtunity to train for, and make this jump.

    We're all under the illusion that there is a such thing as perpetual freefall. 31 miles up! That's going to add some freefall time to your log book! Let's see. My charts stop at 15k feet. Assuming you open at 2500 ft, that's somewhere around 75 seconds of freefall, through approximately 2.5 miles of very thick air. I wonder how long this jump will last?

    I'm sure that the danger that they refer to is related to the thinness of the air. Without air blowing by you, you can't control which way your body is turning. If you can't control that, then you can't prevent a spin. That would be bad.

    BTW, Cheryl Stearns is among the elite skygods. She's got a gazillion jumps, and a bunch of style and accuracy championships. She's been a fabulous ambassador to the sport, and should rightfully be credited as one of the sport's most important participants.

    --
    Key to financial independence: Spend less than you earn. Save and invest the difference. Do it for a long time.