The Man Who Fell to Earth
May 21, 2006 3:15 PM Subscribe
In 1960, Joe Kittinger broke the sound barrier without a vehicle. Rising in a balloon to 31,333 metres (three times the height of commercial airliners), he jumped to answer the question 'if a man falls in space, does he feel the fall?'
He fell for four and half minutes, and hit a top speed of 990 K/ph.
Fortunately for us, he took a camera along.
This post was deleted for the following reason: previously
Yawn. Double post. Only a few weeks ago too. Learn to search, buddy.
posted by lalochezia at 3:17 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by lalochezia at 3:17 PM on May 21, 2006
Okay, not exactly.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:18 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:18 PM on May 21, 2006
Dern, apologies
posted by Happy Dave at 3:23 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by Happy Dave at 3:23 PM on May 21, 2006
I believe I read about this recently, on Metafilter. Are you trying to fake us out, Happy Dave?
posted by Meatbomb at 3:27 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by Meatbomb at 3:27 PM on May 21, 2006
This post went over like a guy falling out of a balloon.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:33 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:33 PM on May 21, 2006
Fucking amazing footage, though, isn't it?
posted by mediareport at 3:36 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by mediareport at 3:36 PM on May 21, 2006
Umm, the speed of sound at sea level is 1.2Mm/h. If the density of air is lower, the speed of sound should be higher. So how can you say he broke the sound barrier?
posted by delmoi at 3:38 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by delmoi at 3:38 PM on May 21, 2006
This has surely been posted more than twice. I feel like I know this guy personally.
posted by fire&wings at 3:54 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by fire&wings at 3:54 PM on May 21, 2006
Too bad this is a double. The posting quality has been in the toilet as of late and this is truly amazing and interesting stuff. Double or not, nice post.
posted by caddis at 3:59 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by caddis at 3:59 PM on May 21, 2006
Indeed.
(And lalochezia, think you could be a little ruder? Sheesh.)
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:01 PM on May 21, 2006
(And lalochezia, think you could be a little ruder? Sheesh.)
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:01 PM on May 21, 2006
footage appears in the [boards of canada - dayvan cowboy] video too. :D
posted by zenzizi at 4:17 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by zenzizi at 4:17 PM on May 21, 2006
If the density of air is lower, the speed of sound should be higher.
no. generally speaking, the lower the density of the medium*, the lower the speed of sound. at the surface vs is 340 m/s, at 30000 meters it's 305 m/s. play around with this.
* of course, density isn't the only thing, but all other things being equal, this is true.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 4:17 PM on May 21, 2006
no. generally speaking, the lower the density of the medium*, the lower the speed of sound. at the surface vs is 340 m/s, at 30000 meters it's 305 m/s. play around with this.
* of course, density isn't the only thing, but all other things being equal, this is true.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 4:17 PM on May 21, 2006
"Umm, the speed of sound at sea level is 1.2Mm/h. If the density of air is lower, the speed of sound should be higher. So how can you say he broke the sound barrier?"
He broke the sound barrier.
In his pants.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:37 PM on May 21, 2006
He broke the sound barrier.
In his pants.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:37 PM on May 21, 2006
THIS POST WENT OVER ABOUT AS WELL AS A LEAD ZEPPELIN, EH WOT?
posted by stenseng at 5:03 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by stenseng at 5:03 PM on May 21, 2006
Fortunately for us, he took a camera along.
Fortunately for him, he took a parachute too :)
posted by kaemaril at 5:17 PM on May 21, 2006
Fortunately for him, he took a parachute too :)
posted by kaemaril at 5:17 PM on May 21, 2006
990 kph=615 mph.
Speed of sound is 670 mph. Does sound travel slower at this altitude?
posted by sourwookie at 5:27 PM on May 21, 2006
Speed of sound is 670 mph. Does sound travel slower at this altitude?
posted by sourwookie at 5:27 PM on May 21, 2006
play around with this.Actually, the dominant effect on the speed of sound in the atmosphere is the temperature, not the pressure. Although it's not actually displayed, I'm pretty damn sure that applet is using average temperature@altitude data, not merely air pressure.
posted by kickingtheground at 5:44 PM on May 21, 2006
So how dense would a medium have to be to have a speed of sound through that medium that approached c?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 PM on May 21, 2006
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:45 PM on May 21, 2006
Speed of Sound in Various Bulk Media: generally, the denser the medium, the faster sound travels.
It's about five times faster in sea water than air, and about three times faster in helium (hence the reason for duckspeak.)
posted by cenoxo at 6:01 PM on May 21, 2006
It's about five times faster in sea water than air, and about three times faster in helium (hence the reason for duckspeak.)
posted by cenoxo at 6:01 PM on May 21, 2006
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posted by George_Spiggott at 3:17 PM on May 21, 2006