"This is the highest step in the world"

[JKthestud]

i honestly belive why Joe Kittinger has succeded where everyone else has failed for 50 is on money......

He understood that pulling the chute was the smallest thing he had to do. The cold, the benz ( nitrogen in the system) as well as many other factors had to be accounted for ....before you could even think about jumping!!!

I'm sure most others try and account for these things....but the one thing they missed is.....joe was doing his duty.....adds alot for guts...

now its fame and fortune

[Rleadhol]

just under 15 minutes to return to ground after deploying his parachute at 10,000 feet including the 4 min 36 sec free fall.

[smp156]

how long did it take him to get back to earth?

[Jondave289]

@smp156 It took him about 14 minutes to return to Earth..

[Sep236]

@smp156 a hour and a half he was going at 700 miles an hour i learnt this in science today

[neomuttley]

@orkneymist ,

?!?!

[proximan1939]

This guy was absolutely the guttiest man I've ever seen and we should start a move to have August 16, 2010 named "Joe Kittinger' day in honor of the 50th anniversary of his jump.

[b24line]

I wonder what was the duration of his jump. Did it take 5 minutes or only 2 before he open his chute? Either way that is one long time.

[Jondave289]

@b24line He free-fell for 4.30 minutes before opening his parachute.

[neomuttley]

@b24line,

4.5 mins. freefall/13 mins. total.

[ZSaberToothTigerZ]

He's more awesome than you comment on how stupid this is, u probaly sit and troll all day in front of computer, this guy DID somthing, except u

[SnowNinjaProductions]

ok i see ya i should have know ibecause i have studied mt everest and its hard to breathe up there because of the air density thatnks for correcking my mistake

[xraijx]

welcome to the stratosphere... that takes big ballz, sure man have a smoke!!

[SnowNinjaProductions]

How is it possible to reach .09 mach if terminal velocity is about 120mph

[Jondave289]

The figure should be 0.8 Mach.

Yes terminal velocity is 120mph in the 'lower' atmosphere but Kittenger jumped at 102,800 feet. At this height the atmosphere is thinner and his terminal velocity is greater as there is less resistance.

At sea level 1 Mach = 761.2mph.

Kittenger reached in freefall a max speed of 614mph about 0.8 Mach.

[brutsi]

how come sound is faster in wood, metal and water then? shouldnt the resistance be greater then?

[santran]

Because the air isn't as dense at the stratosphere as it is below the clouds in the troposphere. Less air resistence = faster terminal velocity

[neomuttley]

@SnowNinjaProductions,

Terminal velocity for a skydiver in modern prone position, is 120mph. This is a balance between weight, cross section (frontal area), & wind resistance. He was wearing about 10#s worth of gear. He was falling feet-first (= faster). Primary reason: He was in much thinner air @that altitude. It's the same reason the X1 & X15 rocket planes went so high for their record runs.

[zorbazig]

First thing he did after landing : he lit up a cigarette ! LOL !

[johnsmdm]

our team wants to know what happened to the balloon after he jumped?..did it keep rising and to what height hunh?..does it enter space and keep going like towards the moon or does it deflate hunh?

[Jondave289]

The balloon was open at the bottom, as the helium leaked out it floated back down. The capsule ended up on earth with a lot of thin plastic shredded around it.

[lCantRemember]

how could it of gone to the moon, its full of helium..not rockets

ie. helium only floats up in air

[pinkbeat3]

whats this song?

[Jondave289]

The Who, I Can See For Miles

[victor3640]

how were they supose to get the footage on the camera that was on the balloon? did it just go back down by itself?

[kush2121]

Lol I like 3:55. All homeboy wanted was a cig after that

[jlmemo]

hah shit i would light one too and chill from a crazy ass trip like that

[neomuttley]

@kush2121,

He actually thought he wasn't going to survive the jump. He was saying goodbye to the ground crew before he jumped.

[bus140808]

how did he survive that?!?!

[Pimpmastahanhduece]

airbags and lots of them. :D

nah, he fell and eventually he reached an air density terminal velocity least strenuous on his parachute, then a series of progressively smaller to large parachutes. And a space suite that sustained a near complete vacuum. Besides the spacesuit, this is essentially how you achieve the halo jump. But the halo jump is low enough that lack of oxygen is more of a concern than explosive decompression which was essential here. Also filtering full intensity sunlight.

[jamesthq]

aghhh I can do that how hard can jumping be lol!

[neomuttley]

@jamesthq,

Why don't you ask all the guys who died trying to do this before & after Joe's jump?

[neomuttley]

@bus140808,

That was the whole point. Google the Excelsior3 jump. He was doing the final test on a two stage parachute system. He had a large drogue chute, then the primary opened @18Kft.

[maxhaley]

Joe Kitteringer is my inspiration!! Watching this video makes it clear that you can doing anything if you have the balls to try. Damn you can say what you want about Americans, but we sure have some crazy bastards with huge gonads living here .

[MaYHeM1987666]

this guy was the person who got nearest to the edge of earth's atmosphere before the SpaceAge! WHAT A FEAT, i couldnt do that... too high up.

[casserlye]

what a legend!!!!!!!!

[jonboy19890010]

wow this is good vid thanks for posting