Red Bull doesn't give you brains!

[VectraMan]

He won't be re-entering that fast though. If he's dropping from a balloon he'll start at something close to 0 mph, not several thousand mph like space debris.

He'd still get a bit warm though I'd imagine.

If I'm remembering my trivia correctly, 10% of the engine power on Concorde was to run the air conditioning, as the skin gets so hot at that speed it would cook the passengers. Plus the metal expands meaning Concorde was 2 metres longer at Mach 2 than on the ground. Famously the Blackbird leaks fuel when on the ground for the same reason.

[bless 'em all]

If I'm remembering my trivia correctly, 10% of the engine power on Concorde was to run the air conditioning, as the skin gets so hot at that speed it would cook the passengers. Plus the metal expands meaning Concorde was 2 metres longer at Mach 2 than on the ground. Famously the Blackbird leaks fuel when on the ground for the same reason.

Concorde's skin expanded, opening up gaps between the internal bulkheads and consoles on the flight-deck, leaving a nice gap for the flight mechanic to pop his hat into after take-off. If he forgot to remove it as they slowed down the hat would be squashed flat and become trapped until the next flight.

I understand that each and every BA Concorde now sports a flight engineers hat stuck firmly in place forever.

[alreadypacked]

The count down starts soon

[gingerjedi]

I'm trying to watch it via the Redbull Stratos site but for reasons only known to them they have made the process as convoluted as possible, why not just stream it on the homepage??

[Cliphead]

I'm trying to watch it via the Redbull Stratos site but for reasons only known to them they have made the process as convoluted as possible, why not just stream it on the homepage??

Just go here

[SupremeSpod]

Interesting stuff. I'm going to watch that.

The real risk with a HALO jump isn't in failing to slow down enough (he'll have a drogue chute for that), or in missing his mark for opening the chute (he'll have a hitefinder that opens his main chute automatically for that, and most likely he'll be opening at a safe altitude anyway). Ironically, his biggest risk is probably going to be a safety device: his reserve chute. If you accidentally deploy your reserve chute too early on that type of jump, you're screwed one way or another. Because you need oxygen to make it through the highest altitude part of the descent (which lasts just over two minutes or so at 35,000 ft, and probably about five minutes freefall for this guy at the altitude he's jumping from, depending on when he opens his chute).

You need to breathe pure oxygen to avoid getting the equivalent of the bends as you ascend to that sort of altitude. And you need to stay on that pure oxygen until you're at a safe altitude again during the descent. To do that you've got a "bailout bottle" (a little bigger than soda stream bottle), which contains about fifteen minutes' worth of oxygen. If your reserve chute accidentally deploys too early, you're faced with either running out of oxygen before you reach a safe altitude, or trying to use a hook knife to cut the reserve cords manually so you can continue freefalling. (Reserve chutes, unlike the main, are physically attached to the harness). It'd be unlikely you'd be able to cut away a canopy like that without falling into a spin and getting entangled in it.

He certainly deserves some respect for the attempt. I just hope he stays away from that reserve toggle!

Done any HALO?

Thought not.

[d000hg]

I thought I'd read that icing up was a big issue early on, then heating up later.

Delayed for an hour at least.

[alreadypacked]

Just go here

Looks like it has been delayed until 14:00

[gingerjedi]

Just go here

It worked up until a point then just crashes, I blame the Germans.

Stupid proxy.

[SupremeSpod]

I just hope he gets back to terra firma in a survivable state.

Btw, what are those moving dots? Insects?