Chasing the Sound Barrier in a Leap from 23 Miles Up

Obligatory picture of awesomeness: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kittinger-jump.jpg

The article neglects to mention that he'll be going supersonic in very thin air, so the stresses won't be as great as they would be for supersonic aircraft. Also, as the guy falls the air will get denser and he'll slow down to a more reasonable speed.

The terminal velocity of the human body at sea level, even in a streamlined position, is significantly shy of the sound barrier. The thin air is what enables supersonic speed in the first place.

This is absolutely crazy.

Has there been any modeling done to attempt to predict what will happen? This is a great time to make a prediction and see how well it holds later.

Modeling can't solved all problems. I guess they may drop some dummies from high latitude helium balloons in advance and use sensors to record some data against predictions from modelings.

“I am impossibly, wonderfully alive.” And a lot more alive than he was the day before. To quote Jimmy Stewart in "The Spirit of St. Louis," "We have to know and we have to try."

What a great story and project.

Also this guy:

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_truglia_a_leap_from_the_edge_...