30km skydive - circa 1960

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+JuggerNaut+
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30km skydive - circa 1960

Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

In 1960, Joe Kittinger was the first man in space. He lifted from earth in a hot air balloon (experimenting effects of high altitude on the human body) and rose about 30 KM above earth in the emptiness of space. Once he reached the edge of space .. he did something amazing .. he JUMPED
quote is from the video, although space starts around 100km, not 30km. either way, this video is nuts.

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andyman
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Post by andyman »

that was indeed insane

i am too scared of heights to do that, and i have been skydiving once.
sliver
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Re: 30km skydive - circa 1960

Post by sliver »

+JuggerNaut+ wrote:quote is from the video, although space starts around 100km, not 30km.
Yeah, but you could never get to space in a hot air balloon, and even if you could, you wouldn't survive.

also, image no worky
+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

my img isn't working? should be this:

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[xeno]Julios
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Post by [xeno]Julios »

yea it's this story that inspired my alt nick: spacediver (which i use elsewhere on net).

One thing i don't get though - we DO feel acceleration (at least up to a certain point). That's why we get butterflies.

so i'm not sure what all this is about...
+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

butterflies are attributed to much more than acceleration. as a matter of fact, i think i'd feel more of an adrenaline rush from acceleration and butterflies from the sheer altitude and nervousness.
[xeno]Julios
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Post by [xeno]Julios »

but aren't butterflies in part caused because the internal organs move to the top?

sorta like you being in an elevator (you're the internal organ of the elevator). If elevator drops, you move to ceiling.

So somoene observing the elevator in motion would be able to discern whether it was accelerating based on the relative movement of its constituent parts (assuming the whole mass wasn't completely rigid).
andyman
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Post by andyman »

i was trying to post earlier that butterflies is more towards anticipation and nervousness, but the forum was being a beyotch
+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

[xeno]Julios wrote:but aren't butterflies in part caused because the internal organs move to the top?

sorta like you being in an elevator (you're the internal organ of the elevator). If elevator drops, you move to ceiling.

So somoene observing the elevator in motion would be able to discern whether it was accelerating based on the relative movement of its constituent parts (assuming the whole mass wasn't completely rigid).
hm, that's not the "butterflies" i'm referring to. when i bungie jumped back in Oregon, the nervousness i felt was all in my stomach and when falling either swan diving or backwards, that remained the same.
andyman
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Post by andyman »

[xeno]Julios wrote:but aren't butterflies in part caused because the internal organs move to the top?

sorta like you being in an elevator (you're the internal organ of the elevator). If elevator drops, you move to ceiling.

So somoene observing the elevator in motion would be able to discern whether it was accelerating based on the relative movement of its constituent parts (assuming the whole mass wasn't completely rigid).
god damn dude...just accept it as little butterflies and move on
[xeno]Julios
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Post by [xeno]Julios »

Ok i think i just got it.

With normal acceleration forces, like a car accelerating, you'll feel it.

but with gravity, you won't, since the force is applied directly to each "piece" of matter.
andyman
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Post by andyman »

I say it's a mechanism for your subconscience to tell you that you are about to do something that could injure yourself.
Ryoki
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Re: 30km skydive - circa 1960

Post by Ryoki »

+JuggerNaut+ wrote:this video is nuts.
Wow, yeah.
Canis
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Post by Canis »

Wow. Its funny that once he got up there he figured "aww what the hell" and took a dive. Still, up to 900+kph....damn!
losCHUNK
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Post by losCHUNK »

im surprised his face didnt fall off or someshit

gone down the road at 70mph and stuck your hand out the window ?

edit: just remembered thinner atmosphere... but still !
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Canis
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Post by Canis »

losCHUNK wrote:im surprised his face didnt fall off or someshit

gone down the road at 70mph and stuck your hand out the window ?

edit: just remembered thinner atmosphere... but still !
...not to mention the thick ass helmet he had on...
losCHUNK
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Post by losCHUNK »

aye, but his arms n legs n bollox n willy couldve fallen off aswell
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+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

one of the coolest things is the DATE of this jump. 1960 ffs... Xtreme sports indeed.
tnf
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Post by tnf »

wonder what altititude he pulled the chute at? And what it felt like running into the denser atmosphere?
+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

this guy's hardcore indeed. check out what he did the year prior, and STILL went up and did that jump the following year:
On November 16, 1959, Kittinger piloted Excelsior I to 76,000 feet (23,165 meters) and returned to Earth by jumping, free falling, and parachuting to the desert floor in New Mexico. The jump almost cost him his life. His small parachute, which served to stabilize him and prevent him from going into a fatal "flat spin," opened after only two seconds of free fall instead of 16, catching Kittinger around the neck and causing him to spiral uncontrollably. Soon he lost consciousness, as he tumbled toward Earth at 120 revolutions per minute. Only his emergency parachute, which opened automatically at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), slowed his descent and saved his life.
+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

tnf wrote:wonder what altititude he pulled the chute at? And what it felt like running into the denser atmosphere?
he apparently he had two:
The next year, Kittinger set two more records, which he still holds. On August 16, 1960, Kittinger surpassed the altitude record set by Major David Simons, who had climbed to 101,516 feet (30,942 meters) in 1957 in his Man-High II balloon. Kittinger floated to 102,800 feet (31,333 meters) in Excelsior III, an open gondola adorned with a paper license plate that his five-year-old son had cut out of a cereal box. Protected against the subzero temperatures by layers of clothes and a pressure suit--he experienced air temperatures as low as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 degrees Celsius)--and loaded down with gear that almost doubled his weight, he climbed to his maximum altitude in one hour and 31 minutes even though at 43,000 feet (13,106 meters) he began experiencing severe pain in his right hand caused by a failure in his pressure glove and could have scrubbed the mission. He remained at peak altitude for about 12 minutes; then he stepped out of his gondola into the darkness of space. After falling for 13 seconds, his six-foot (1.8-meter) canopy parachute opened and stabilized his fall, preventing the flat spin that could have killed him. Only four minutes and 36 seconds more were needed to bring him down to about 17,500 feet (5,334 meters) where his regular 28-foot (8.5-meter) parachute opened, allowing him to float the rest of the way to Earth. His descent set another record for the longest parachute freefall.

During his descent, he reached speeds up to 614 miles per hour, approaching the speed of sound without the protection of an aircraft or space vehicle. But, he said, he "had absolutely no sense of the speed." His flight and parachute jump demonstrated that, properly protected, it was possible to put a person into near-space and that airmen could exit their aircraft at extremely high altitudes and free fall back into the Earth's atmosphere without dangerous consequences.
source
+JuggerNaut+
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Post by +JuggerNaut+ »

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GONNAFISTYA
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Post by GONNAFISTYA »

I'd love to try that.

I missed my chance last summer for a skydive...next summer is a go.
[xeno]Julios
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Post by [xeno]Julios »

andyman wrote:I say it's a mechanism for your subconscience to tell you that you are about to do something that could injure yourself.
no man u're missing my point :p

in the video it talks about how einstein says that you won't feel acceleration due to gravity.

my understanding is that acceleration is fundamentally different from unchanging velocity.

This is why you apparently get stretched as you enter a blackhole - the gravitational acceleration does distort the body in a manner which a high velocity wouldn't.

This is also related to the metaphysical debate of absolute vs. relative space.
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