What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Anybody hear about this crazy guy?

  • Thread starter moonflower
  • Start date
Michael Fournier- Le Grand Saut ("The Great Leap")
http://www.legrandsaut.org/index.php?Message=main&lang=eng
(english translation but cursory french might help you ;) probably on google as well)

He was supposed to jump today but I guess they moved it to tomorrow... anybody else think this guy is, well, nuts? I don't think a human being will fare too well breaking the sound barrier in free-fall... and he's not exactly a young'un. I mean, if he lives, it'll be fascinating, but... he kind of has to survive first.

I'm mostly curious about that suit... the site says it's made to withstand very low temperatures, but won't the friction generated by falling through the atmosphere generate rather high temps? ???

Crazy people... *shakes head*
 
idk if his body will be able to handle the G forces....i reckon he'd die...
 
This is just my thinking and I have nothing to back it up, so I may be completely wrong.

He will need the protection from the cold. I doubt there will be much friction at that altitude because the air is so thin. I also don't think there will be much of a sonic boom because the air is still really thin by the time he reaches supersonic speed. If the suit insulates from the cold it should also insulate from the heat. I think there will be some heat generated when he slows down. I have no idea how he'll go from supersonic speed to a safe speed to hit the ground without killing him.

I also think that it'll be safer for him to slow down while he's still in the upper atmosphere so there will be less heat.
I guess we'll find out the answers to all these questions in about 36110 seconds.
 
in the 60's the military did high altitude jump testing in arizona, a single guy rode a balloon to 130,000 feet and jumped. He broke the sound barrier as well. Also the shute was opened at low altitude at 10,000 feet. the man whoe did all this is still alive today. The reason for these experiments were to see if it was a viable option to have astronauts bailing out during highaltitude reentry.
 
the information i've read says that nobody has broken the sound barrier in free-fall before, although other extremely high altitude jumps have been made (just not this high)... the data gathered will definitely be interesting, i just think the guy is certifiable for even trying!! one article i read says he'll literally be able to see the blackness of space from that height, and experience weightlessness!
 
  • #10
He didn't jump.
 
  • #12
I watched a show about Joseph Kittinger on the disco sci chan and the show claimed he broke the sounds barrier, I suppose they thought his jumping wasn't interesting enough so they had to bend the truth alittle.... :scratch: :rolleyes:
 
Back
Top