I don't know, being trapped in a space suit with what would be coming out of my arse for 20 minutes would be brave, but not lucky.
BBC are recording it on multi cameras and are doing a 2hr documentary on the 5 year mission plan, to be screened in about 4 weeks i believe.
yup they were saying that earlier on. flick it on to HD and put it through your tv, thats what I did.
Well, when I was reading about it, they are relying on the stifness of the suit to ensure he maintains the correct posture/shape whilst traversing the speed barrier...... but they havent tested the suit's stifness, so its all just guesswork!
still; crap though, you would have thought somewhere would be having it on live, Discovery science or something
It looked like his spin rate was getting a bit excessive for a minute but it damped down obviously. Transonic tumbling would cause some unpleasant dislocations to say the least. When Kittenger did his jump in 1962, they let his suit settle him into a 'sitting in a barrel' position which kept him stable. Fine for sub sonic speeds but just below Mach one the buffeting from that shape would have been lethal, that's why this attempt was relying on the nose down, 'delta' attitude, so the forming shock wave could deflect off his head and miss any other part of his body.
kittenger will always hold the record for the sound barrier and his 22G spin, all done back in the 60's....not to mention his glove that failed on the way up. I remember watching all about it years ago on a late night show about amazing feats and stunts.
i seen a pic of him going through the sound barrier very impressive if you missed it you can view here Video: Breathtaking leap from edge of space
