Austrian daredevil breaks sound barrier during freefall from stratosphere

awesome!

I would have thought he'd burn up. Guess not.

That was pretty cool.

100-strong backup team

On the live show last night, the announcer called it a 300-strong backup team. I guess it depends on if you're counting everyone or just the engineers.

Great thing to watch live and brought back memories of the Mercury and Gemini launches.

I wonder what will happen to the capsule he jumped from.

Reminded me of the Van Halen song: JUMP

I wonder what will happen to the capsule he jumped from.

It has its own parachutes, and will be collected for data analysis.

I crashed out before he got up to the jump position. I wanted to watch, but it was pushing past 2am on a Sunday night :(

Saw the capsule under chute when he landed. It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon here in America.

Indeed a fantastic achievement. i always wonder how they raise the money to do this type of thing.

Redbull uses a significant amount of its profits towards promotional stunt like these.

Wasn't there a scene like that in the last Star Trek movie? Parachuting from space. I guess it can really happen.

Felix Baumgartner, you've just become the first man to break the sound barrier!

What do you do for an encore?

http://www.fighter-planes.com/jetmach1.htm

According to the article and this chart, the guy broke the speed of sound and reached max velocity at about 32000 feet.

However, he's not the first or fastest supersonic man: http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/srloss~1.htm

http://youtu.be/FHtvDA0W34I

I remember watching a documentary on Col Kittinger and thinking how incredible it was with the tech they had back then. This too is a pretty incredible modern achievement also smashing a youtube live streaming record with 8 million tuning into the feed.

http://youtu.be/FHtvDA0W34I - highlights.

interesting factoid. Although he had no trouble jumping off buildings and bridges, and soaring across the English Channel in a carbon-fiber wing, he found himself suffering panic attacks when forced to spend hours inside the pressurized suit and helmet. At one point in 2010, rather than take an endurance test in it, he went to an airport and fled the United States. With the help of a sports psychologist and other specialists, he learned techniques for dealing with the claustrophobia.

that is curious!

that was one giant leap for redbull!

How fast in Kilometers per hour. They give all the rest of the info in metrics except his speed, curiously only offered as 833 miles per hour.

Carlos, x 1.6

pamelotOct. 15, 2012 - 11:54AM JST

Felix Baumgartner, you've just become the first man to break the sound barrier!

What do you do for an encore?

He'll go shake the hand of the dozen people who did it before him, without decades in the making suits.

Seven years of preparation and "he failed to make the longest freefall jump"? What's the story behind that record holder?

@Torafusu

Seven years of preparation and "he failed to make the longest freefall jump"? What's the story behind that record holder?

According to Wikipedia that honor belongs to Eugene Andreev (USSR) who holds the official FAI record for the longest free-fall parachute jump after falling for 80,380 ft (24,500 m) from an altitude of 83,523 ft (25,460 m) near the city of Saratov, Russia on November 1, 1962. Though later jumpers would ascend higher, Andreev's record was set without the use of a drogue chute (Small stabilizing chute) during the jump.

He'll go shake the hand of the dozen people who did it before him, without decades in the making suits.

basroil... which people are they? Who else has leapt from that height? No-one could have done what he did WITHOUT a spacesuit.

When he stepped onto the ledge I was shaking... I suffer from vertigo and that was unpleasant... and then we got the overhead shot of him stepping off and falling away... that was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Well done you mad Austrian... brilliant!

@pamleot

if he would have landed in japan, he probably would have been detained at immigration for a week while they determine if his space suit is bullet proof or flame retardant. not gonna get burned twice.

Austrian? Just as well he wasn't Irish. He might have missed Earth. (old joke)

Seriously..amazing. .I wonder if next time he'll have some kind of advertising on him.

You mean other than the fact that the shuttle he ascended in was basically one giant red-bull can?

No amount of sponsorship can make you grow a pair out of solid titanium! I'm sure the extra weight probably aided him in freefall.

Originalusername.

It's times like this when I wish we could delete our comments...lol

Heh, you should have kept quiet I read your original comment as good sarcasm ;)

Thunderbird2Oct. 15, 2012 - 04:28PM JST

basroil... which people are they? Who else has leapt from that height? No-one could have done what he did WITHOUT a spacesuit.

The guy said "first man to break the sound barrier" which I assume he meant to add while not in a vehicle. There are plenty of accounts of test pilots and actual pilots bailing anywhere between 6000 feet and 60000 feet between Mach 1 and Mach 3 (read the goddamn link). Some of them even survived the experience.

Insane and awesome. I got next!

Did you see the pictures of where he jumped out of the capsule? Talk about isolating...heh

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/10/15/1226495/975602-space-jump.jpg

"Did you see the pictures of where he jumped out of the capsule? Talk about isolating...heh"

Did anyone tell the Flat Earth Society?

However, he's not the first or fastest supersonic man

I have serious issues with that article. First of all, a test flight regarding flight parameters does not need a "Reconaissance Systems Officer" in the second seat. Second of all, while he may have been doing mach 3 in level flight, putting the plane into a 30-degree bank and turning with an engine out (which they call an "un-start" for some reason) is going to bleed speed off QUICKLY. Now increase the bank to 60 degrees and raise the nose high enough to break apart the fusilage and you've lost a heck of a lot of speed from back when you would have paid attention to such things (i.e. when you entered the turn).

death-defying freefall jump from the edge of space

@JT

The media (including JT) continually misuses the term "edge of space". Technically, the real edge of space is 100km not 24 miles. 24 miles is the stratosphere which is still WELL within the earth's atmosphere.

Talking about this in the office yesterday and some berk said he didnt understand what all the fuss was about and how anybody could care about such news.....and this came from a person who was trying to flog Gangnam Style as the next best thing since sliced bread. He was marched outside and punched in the bauls to illustrate that some people have bauls of steel (Felix Baumgartner et al) and some dont.

I don't see the point of either this or Gangnam Style. Or, to be truthful, sliced bread. Each to his/her own, I suppose.