Quake3World

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

+JuggerNaut+ wrote:quote is from the video, although space starts around 100km, not 30km.

[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).

[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).

+JuggerNaut+ wrote:this video is nuts.

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 !

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.

tnf wrote:wonder what altititude he pulled the chute at? And what it felt like running into the denser atmosphere?

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.

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.