Skydive from space apparently back on

[Killick]

His "technical" crew was shirt, too. ("The wind is out of the north! The north!" while you can hear everyone saying east. About a minute or two before the ground guy gives him correct info. Did the same thing with telling him wind is "from the ridge," before having to be corrected it was toward the ridge. Don't know how much of a diff it all made, but...)

Whoever was doing voiceover for the video wasn't all that sharp, either. Did I really hear him wonder what altitude at the ground was?

 

[Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell]

The guy talking to him from mission control was actually the previous record holder, Colonel Joseph Kittinger.

102,800 ft. in 1960.

 

[MileHigh]

That was freakin' insane -- and that photo is mind-boggling.

 

[Liut]

That was freakin' insane -- and that photo is mind-boggling.

+1. This fellow will deserve his props on the TV talk circuit.

 

[Armchair_QB]

His "technical" crew was shirt, too. ("The wind is out of the north! The north!" while you can hear everyone saying east. About a minute or two before the ground guy gives him correct info. Did the same thing with telling him wind is "from the ridge," before having to be corrected it was toward the ridge. Don't know how much of a diff it all made, but...)

Whoever was doing voiceover for the video wasn't all that sharp, either. Did I really hear him wonder what altitude at the ground was?

I thought what he was trying to convey was the altitude of where the guy was going to land relative to sea level.

He was diving from however far up from sea level but Roswell isn't at sea level.

That said, the announcer did a shirtty job.

 

[Batman]

Chute's open, looks like he's going to make it.
According to the on-screen graphic, he topped out around 729 mph. Not quite to the sound barrier, but ... damn.

CNN story says he easily broke the sound barrier. Mach 1.24.

That makes sense. The speed of sound at sea level is 768 mph, which is what I was basing it on. At the altitude he was at when he hit 729 mph, it'd be a bit less.

I'm sure they took it into account, and he doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects, but I wonder what the sonic boom does to the human body? Were they worried it would rattle some equipment loose? Was there even a sonic boom? Do I sound stupid for asking these questions?

 

[Liut]

Chute's open, looks like he's going to make it.
According to the on-screen graphic, he topped out around 729 mph. Not quite to the sound barrier, but ... damn.

CNN story says he easily broke the sound barrier. Mach 1.24.

That makes sense. The speed of sound at sea level is 768 mph, which is what I was basing it on. At the altitude he was at when he hit 729 mph, it'd be a bit less.

I'm sure they took it into account, and he doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects, but I wonder what the sonic boom does to the human body? Were they worried it would rattle some equipment loose? Was there even a sonic boom? Do I sound stupid for asking these questions?

No. I find them fascinating questions and await hearing the answers. This is a really cool story.

 

[JackReacher]

No stupid questions here. The whole thing is awesome. And most people know NOTHING about any of this.

Listening to him talk to mission control while in a 700+ MPH freefall was unreal.

 

[trifectarich]

The company that makes the parachute that opens at 700+mph and doesn't get shredded like a paper towel; now THOSE are some bright folks.

 

[poindexter]

Cable news shows are produced by absolute dopes

 

[Bubbler]

Cable news shows are produced by absolute dopes

Muhahaha!

 

[Bob Cook]

Cable news shows are produced by absolute dopes

Have all the chyron editors gotten fired like copy editors? Seriously. How does this stuff get through? The same way, I guess, that TBS can identify a baseball great as "Willie Mayes."