www.universetoday.com/61467/skydiver-hopes-to-break-the-speed-of-sound-in-freefall/


The speed of sound - historically called the 'sound barrier' - has been broken by rockets, various jet-powered aircraft and rocket-boosted land vehicles. Felix Baumgartner wants to break the sound barrier with his body, in freefall from the edge of space. He will travel inside a capsule with a stratospheric balloon to 36,500 meters (120,000 feet) step out and attempt a freefall jump targeted to reach - for the first time in history - supersonic speeds.

"After years of training with my team of dedicated Red Bull Stratos experts, I'll be going on a journey that no one has ever done," Baumgartner told Universe Today in an email message. "If I succeed, I will be the first person to break the sound barrier, alone. That will be a record for all eternity. As such, a piece of me will become immortal. That excites me."

I stand to be corrected but I thought Kittinger jumped from about 100k feet, not sure how breaking the sound barrier plays out at that altitude.

edit: speed of sound changes with altitude ?

That says sound barrier has been cracked. Still awesome though. Would be an amazing fall.

FBRoy said...

doggie said...

Wouldnt the "boom" shatter bones, ear drums ect?

I think the 'boom' is actually not heard by the person/thing going that fast. They are going faster than the speed of sound, so how do they hear it if its from them or behind them?

Good point, would the sound wave push you faster?

j murray said...


would a good fart add acceleration or not ??

Not in your case, the release of such a large quantity of matter would result in a lost of weight causing a loss of terminal velocity. It would also blow a whole in the atmosphere, so u'd be sucked out in to space.

not sure on your logic there Mr. No-one. I'm no scientist but thought it was to do with air/ atmosphere being split apart then clapping back together. Nothing to do with the noise made by the engines. Happy to be corrected.

Assuming my logic is correct we can go on to assume j murrys fart (poo particles) would be squished tightly back together by the clap and land directly on Felix's helmet 3min 27 sec after he has landed (accounting for wind but assuming his parachute is no longer directly above him)

Also, Dawn Patrol, The video you posted briefly mentions travelling at the speed of sound which may not mean he went faster (breaking the speed of sound barrier) Did it say he broke the speed of sound in stuff written about the vid? If not, Felix might be the first.