Today, October 14, 2024, marks 12 years since the gigantic feat of Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner , who on October 14, 2012, broke world records by jumping from a capsule at a height of 38,969.4 meters (127,852 feet). Baumgartner was the first man to surpass the speed of sound in free fall. The jump started from the stratosphere ¹ , reaching a speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph).
At the time Felix Baumgartner exceeded the speed of sound, he was at an altitude of about 34 to 36 km (after about 50 seconds of falling). At that altitude, the speed of sound is estimated to be around 1,100 km/h (683.50 mph) . due to extremely low temperatures, around -50°C to -60°C.
Baumgartner reached a top speed of 1,357.64 km/h , which is equivalent to Mach 1.25 , meaning he exceeded the speed of sound by about 25%. This grand event was watched by 8 million people who watched the broadcast on YouTube.
Baumgartner was involved in the audacious $20 million Red Bull Stratos project , which took him five years to prepare.
On the day of the great feat, before carrying it out, he had the support and encouragement of Joe Kittinger, a former pilot in the United States Air Force, then world record holder for the highest parachute jump, which occurred on August 16, 1960, as part of the Excelsior project, when he jumped from a helium balloon at a height of 31,300 meters, reaching a maximum speed of 988 km/h (613.915 mph).
In turn, 52 years after Kittinger's record, which remained unbeaten, Baumgartner climbed into a pressurized capsule, which was pulled by a helium balloon, more than 180 meters high to take him to the stratosphere. The capsule took more than two hours to reach the desired height. For the complete descent, Baumgartner used a pressurized suit, specially designed to ensure survival in an environment of extreme cold and low oxygen. He reached the American soil of New Mexico in nine minutes (considering the time of free fall and with the parachute open).
FELIX BAUMGARTNER: PARACHUTE JUMP FROM SUPERSONIC FREE FALL.
The Redbull Stratus project and Felix Baumgartner's courage and discipline resulted in breaking world records, let's see:
World records broken
Largest balloon with a human on board: A giant balloon, as tall as the Statue of Liberty, with about 5,097 m³ (180,000 cu ft) of helium inserted by the crew before its launch until reaching, with its increasing altitude, the total capacity of approximately 850,000 m³ (30 million cu ft) at the jump altitude.
Highest altitude untethered outside a vehicle: After depressurizing the capsule - the point of no return, Baumgartner stepped onto the edge of the capsule and jumped into free fall from an altitude of 38,969.4 meters (127,852 ft) and took just 9min.09sec. to return to Earth, setting, on 10/14/2012, a new world record for the highest parachute jump.
First human to break the sound barrier in freefall: During his stratospheric skydive, Baumgartner reached a top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), thus achieving the highest speed in freefall, breaking the sound barrier without mechanical assistance.
Longest freefall distance: Baumgartner free-falled a distance of 36,402 meters (119,431 ft) before opening his parachute
Furthermore, the event had a record audience:
Most simultaneous views for a live event on YouTube: 15 cameras were on Baumgartner’s capsule, with five attached to his pressure suit, providing an incredible viewing experience for those watching the broadcast. Eight million people watched Felix’s journey into space and his jump back to Earth. The viewership would have been even higher, but the demand was straining YouTube’s server capacity.
The Red Bull Stratos capsule is now part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and is on display at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, United States.
The mission achieved many scientific innovation milestones, including the development and validation of innovations in pressure suits and personal parachutes; the development of new medical treatment protocols, including a protocol for the condition ebullism² , aiming to become the new standard of care; and the introduction of a reefed parachute system³ for the high-altitude payload recovery task, offering potential benefits for both passengers and cargo.
Felix Baumgartner's Red Bull-sponsored mission not only captivated the world with the audacity and precision of the jump, but also demonstrated the limits of human endurance and aerospace technology. Two years later, on October 24, 2014, Google executive Alan Eustace broke Baumgartner's record by skydiving from an even higher altitude of 41,422 meters (135,898 ft). However, far from diminishing the significance of Baumgartner's achievement, Eustace's jump was made possible in part by lessons learned from the Red Bull Stratos project.
By Luiz Cincurá.
Notes:
¹ The stratosphere is the second largest layer of the Earth's atmosphere, located between the troposphere and the mesosphere. It extends approximately 10 km (at the poles) to 15 km (in the tropics) at its lower limit, with an upper limit of approximately 50 km in altitude, from the surface, and is home to the ozone layer. The meaning of the word stratosphere comes from the Latin stratum , which means layer. The stratosphere concentrates 19% of the gases in the atmosphere, is the second layer closest to Earth, has little water vapor in its composition and almost no clouds. The stratosphere is rich in ozone gas and poor in oxygen gas. Supersonic airplanes and weather balloons fly in the stratosphere.
² An absolute altitude limit for the unprotected man may be set at 18,900 meters, at which the barometric pressure is 47 mmHg. The water vapor tension at body temperature is also 47 mmHg. The effects of exceeding the altitude limit tolerable for man may be attributed either to anoxia or to reduced pressure resulting in vaporization of tissue fluids and expansion of body gases, a condition sometimes called ebullism or ebullism syndrome. Obviously, the survival of the unprotected man would be very brief, as the respiratory passages become filled with water vapor, in which condition breathing is completely ineffective. Pressurized cabins in aircraft and full pressure suits eliminate this risk.
³ A reefed parachute system is a type of parachute that is partially "restricted" during its initial deployment to control the rate of inflation. It uses a cord or ring to hold the parachute lines partially closed as it opens, allowing the parachute to inflate gradually rather than all at once. This process helps reduce the shock forces that the skydiver experiences when deploying the parachute at high speed, which is especially useful for high-altitude jumps, as in the case of Alan Eustace and Felix Baumgartner. The use of a reefed parachute system is common in freefall operations where the deceleration needs to be more gradual to avoid damage to the equipment or the skydiver's body.
Sources:
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MAGALHÃES, Lana. Stratosphere . All Matter, [sd]. Available at: https://www.todamateria.com.br/estratosfera/ . Accessed on: October 12, 2024.
NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. A Decade Since the Long Fall from Red Bull Stratos. Available at: < https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/decade-since-red-bull-stratos > Accessed on: October 12, 2024.
OpenAI. Response obtained from ChatGPT about reefed . Available at < https://chat.openai.com > Accessed on 10/13/2024.
REDBULL. Red Bull Stratus. Available at < https://www.redbull.com/int-en/one-jump-eight-records-scientific-achievement?utm_source=pocket_list > Accessed on 11/10/2024.
SUPERINTERESSANT SUPERBLOG. BECATTINI, Natália. Austrian breaks records by jumping from the stratosphere . 15.Oct.2012.
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FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL. INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS. STENSMANN, Berenice Helena Wiener. Physiological Problems of Unusual Environments: Space and Underwater Activities. Available at: < https://ppgenfis.if.ufrgs.br/mef004/20021/Berenice/sangue.html > Accessed on: October 12, 2024.