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Skydiving from 25 Miles Up
chisox writes "The Observer has a story about a retired French army colonel who is soon to make a free fall parachute jump from 25 miles up. In the process he will break the sound barrier, reaching a top speed of mach 1.68 before he opens his parachute 1,000 metres above the Earth. Of course, if the chute doesn't open, the hole he'll make will be about 1,000 metres deep." Well, actually his max speed will be high up and near the earth the atmosphere will have slowed him down to terminal velocity.
Sponsored by the Darwin Awards...
What's in a Sig?
Someone should tip off the drilling companies: rather than pay skilled people to operate fancy drilling rigs, just drop the rigs and/or people out of an airplane.
my IIS is also in the serverroom, on a CD which makes sure the table stays stable and horizontal..
:-)
Sorry, couldn't resist..
Nobody expects the spanish inquisition!
... this kindof reminds me of the time that guy strapped a solid fuel booster to his Nova trying to break a landspeed record somewhere out in the desert. he hit a solid rock wall probably mere seconds after realizing no less than three critical errors in his planning:
1) solid fuel boosters can't be stopped; once they're ignited they burn till they're used up.
2) at 400 miles per hour those cliffs way off on the horizon approach much faster than you'd have thought.
3) it doesn't really matter how hard you push in on the brake pedal if the car is being propelled by something they use for jet-assisted takeoff of military cargo planes.
Its a plot, the French have decided to take back Canada by dropping old people on them... Oh well at least he won't hit nothin' too important when he crashes into Saskatoon.
only infrmatn esentil to understandn mst b tranmitd
(* Of course, if the chute doesn't open, the hole he'll make will be about 1,000 metres deep." *)
I hope he does it near my hometown. I always wanted to visit that crater in Arizona, but it is too far and too hot.
We need a local one.
Table-ized A.I.
(* Will he really experience a sonic boom? If so wouldn't that destroy his ear drums. *)
Do French sonic booms sound more romantic to chicks than American sonic booms?
Table-ized A.I.
65 million years ago, the dinosaurs disappeared mysteriously from the earth, supposedly caused by an impact from a meteor or piece of comet.
A.D.2002: A retired French army colonel makes his skydive from 25 miles up. As he approaches mach 1.68, a bright flash is seen, and he vanishes. For years, the mystery of what happened to him remains unsolved.
A.D.2042: It is discovered that at the moment the retired colonel reached mach 1.68, he caused a rift in the space-time continuum and travelled 65 million years back in time and slammed into the earth at 1200MPH, creator a crator and wiping out dinosaur life.
Since he will break the sound barrier and eventually start to slow down, he could sing a close harmony duet with himself.
Cool.
I am a Karma Library.
First time I read the story, I thought it said "a retarded French army colonel who is soon to make a free fall parachute jump from 25 miles up."
AJS
Just a song before I go, to whom it may concern. Traveling twice the speed of sound, it's easy to get burned.
He's Toast!
That's Bigboo TAY! TAY!