h2oincfs: If there's no air, then there's no sound, and hence, it is not Mach 1.

1) There was air. He was in the middle of the stratosphere.

2) The speed of sound at STP is around 760 mph IIRC. He hit 834.

Captain_Ballbeard: You do realize that you could push your mom off that billion dollar capsule, while wearing a billion dollar suit and she would live, right?

I like how the article says he had to use all his vast experience to stop tumbling, lmfao.

Lick it up kiddies, slurp up whatever offal the corporations have served up for you today.

She'd be alive right until the time she loses consciousness and dies from the centripetal force of tumbling. She may be lucky enough that the CYPRES may save her depending on her position when the reserve deploys.

Have you ever seen an AFF Level 1 skydiving jump? There's a reason why it takes 2 instructors to hold on to the student. They're generally not experienced enough to prevent tumbling. And that's at under 20k feet.

madgonad: Hyppy: Recovering from a rapid tumble at 100k feet with a fogged helmet and nearly no atmosphere to use for drag is a pretty spectacular feat.

He caused that himself - going headfirst, which is the least stable position. He should have just stepped and dropped like Kittenger instead of jumping head-first like a Red Bull marketing loon. It really didn't matter. Once more air got involved Felix slowed down and stabilized. I would even say that his efforts for a faster descent caused the early tumble which robbed him of the stable experience of falling at that speed and altitude.

You're clearly unfamiliar with a lot of details on this jump. First, Felix did in fact assist with the design of a lot of the equipment he used, particularly the jump rigs.

Second, the headfirst (delta position) jump was planned. It's a very stable position, and the only one in which he could've released the drogue chute safely. It'd be very risky to deploy the drogue on his back.

unlikely: I think I watched a different feed than everyone else. In the one I watched he kept freezing up and looking like he was on the edge of curling up and asking for a teddy and the kindly old man on the radio kept having to coax him to move. Did anyone else watch that one?

Maybe he panicked. From the New York Times article:

""It was harder than I expected," said Mr. Baumgartner, a 43-year-old former Austrian paratrooper. "Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. It's not about breaking records any more. It's not about getting scientific data. It's all about coming home.""

"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."

"One of the techniques Mr. Baumgartner developed was to stay busy throughout the ascent. He conversed steadily with Mr. Kittinger, a former fighter pilot whose deep voice exuded the right stuff as he confidently went through a 40-item checklist rehearsing every move that Mr. Baumgartner would make when it came time to leave the capsule."

madgonad: While it is neat to watch, I really never understood the awe everyone is showing this guy.

He didn't design any of the equipment. Hell, if NASA pulled up to my house right now with a space suit and told me that in a nearby parking lot they had a balloon getting filled up with helium and they needed someone to jump out of their capsule at 130k feet, I would totally do it. All Baumgartner did was sit there watching a readout and talking to people on the ground. When he was told to, he open the door and jumped out. No different than any other skydive except the outfit and length of freefall. A failure is really no different a result between falling 125k feet or 2k feet.

Recovering from a rapid tumble at 100k feet with a fogged helmet and nearly no atmosphere to use for drag is a pretty spectacular feat.

fark this guy and everyone with their party balloons, were running out of helium and we need it for MRIs and other important things.

j0e_average: unlikely: I think I watched a different feed than everyone else. In the one I watched he kept freezing up and looking like he was on the edge of curling up and asking for a teddy and the kindly old man on the radio kept having to coax him to move. Did anyone else watch that one?

0/10

Retired US Air Force Col Joe Kittinger has more sack than the combined fark user base.

Baumgartner just earned his pair - no question.

Baumgartner: Maybe I should abort, my helmet is fogged up.

Kittinger: I gotta jump out of this thing, my suit is leaking and my hand has swollen up to roughly twice it's normal size.

/true story.

unlikely: I think I watched a different feed than everyone else. In the one I watched he kept freezing up and looking like he was on the edge of curling up and asking for a teddy and the kindly old man on the radio kept having to coax him to move. Did anyone else watch that one?

Communications issues, and the fact that his helmet visor heater malfunctioned before he even jumped. Not sure if there was a HUD inside that helmet, but being able to see where you are in relation to the ground is a good thing--as was evidence by the fact that at one point he was tumbling and had to get back under control.

No, dude has certified balls of reinforced titanium. In a similar position I'd be asking why the fark I should jump out of a perfectly good space capsule, then require a fifth of Jack Daniels, R. Lee Ermey in my ear, and promise that Salma Hayek was waiting in bed for me when I landed to get me to jump.

I hope he can dodge that baseball on the way down. You know, the one from when the subby HIT THAT HEADLINE OUT OF THE MOTHERfarkING PARK.