Thread: Sky diving from an altitude of 40 km

The plan was foiled by a technical problem, but it looks like eventually, someone might try to jump from 40km and apparently come close to reaching(or surpassing) the speed of sound. I assume theres less friction higher up because lower down friction limits free fall speed to around 300km/h



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2241175.stm



By the Way, can anyone explain why he breaths nitrogen (in or out or something) before making hisn ascention?

Still, what happens when he hits denser air? I think if this had gone through, he would have at the very least broken a few bones. I'm not very confident in the aerodynamic properties of the human body. Pretty sure breaking the sound barrier would be very painful, if not fatal.

Originally Posted by SuperNatendo

Still, what happens when he hits denser air? I think if this had gone through, he would have at the very least broken a few bones. I'm not very confident in the aerodynamic properties of the human body. Pretty sure breaking the sound barrier would be very painful, if not fatal.

The air thickens slowly as you move toward the earth's surface, so you just gradually slow down. There isn't any sudden shock. It has already been done from 30 km.

but at 30 km up they were not breaking the sound barrier as he would have from a 40 km altitude. The sound barrier has ripped apart planes that were much more aerodynamically sound than the human body when the first attempts to break it were made.

Shjrug

It's a pretty safe bet that they looked into it and know what they're doing.

How did the balloon become detached from the capsule if these people supposedly knew what they were doing?

I am afraid we will never know the outcome of the Human body breaking the sound barrier, at least for now!