Red Bull Stratos

[Trip]

Here is a great example to try out that I learned in high school physics.

Imagine a monkey hanging from a branch. You are hunting that monkey. You know as soon as you shoot, that monkey is going to let go of that branch. So where do you shoot?

You shoot at the monkey. Both the monkey and the bullet will be pulled towards earth at the same rate of acceleration due to gravity.

Our teacher had a little contraption that fired a nerf bullet at a stuffed monkey to prove it.

[Homeslice]

Ok, so then what am I feeling when I'm on one of those "drop" rides at an amusement park? They take you straight up and just drop you. You can't feel that inside your body?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys seem to be saying that the wind is the only reason I feel that sickening sensation, and I'm saying that's BS.

[Archren]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys seem to be saying that the wind is the only reason I feel that sickening sensation, and I'm saying that's BS.

Trip, I think he does have a point to an extent here. I think initially Felix probably felt that sensation, that shift of the internal organs wanting to stay where they were before he stepped off the platform and began to accelerate. BUT... once that rate of acceleration began, he would cease to feel anything after that initial moment, because then everything is accelerating at the same pace.

if that is actually what happened, I haven't read statements from Kittinger or Baumgautner on that initial moment where they stepped off the platform. I do know Baumgautner said at the press conferance after this last jump that once he was under way it was hard for him to tell he was falling.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Ok, so then what am I feeling when I'm on one of those "drop" rides at an amusement park? They take you straight up and just drop you. You can't feel that inside your body?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys seem to be saying that the wind is the only reason I feel that sickening sensation, and I'm saying that's BS.

An amusement park ride isn't a true free fall. You have tons of different forces forcing the body in all sorts of directions. Most go faster than gravity and pull you down. This isn't the same.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Archren

Trip, I think he does have a point to an extent here. I think initially Felix probably felt that sensation, that shift of the internal organs wanting to stay where they were before he stepped off the platform and began to accelerate. BUT... once that rate of acceleration began, he would cease to feel anything after that initial moment, because then everything is accelerating at the same pace.

if that is actually what happened, I haven't read statements from Kittinger or Baumgautner on that initial moment where they stepped off the platform. I do know Baumgautner said at the press conferance after this last jump that once he was under way it was hard for him to tell he was falling.

Please reread all my posts. I have actually already made a statement about initially leaving the balloon.

He would of put more forces on his body by moving laterally and away from the balloon to get off. Those forces are forces that would be greater than just the force of gravity and he would of felt that until he reached just pure free fall.

The water bottle example would just be as close to just a gravity pull as you can get.

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by Trip

Please reread all my posts. I have actually already made a statement about initially leaving the balloon.

He would of put more forces on his body by moving laterally and away from the balloon to get off. Those forces are forces that would be greater than just the force of gravity and he would of felt that until he reached just pure free fall.

The water bottle example would just be as close to just a gravity pull as you can get.

Stupid physics

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by Trip

An amusement park ride isn't a true free fall. You have tons of different forces forcing the body in all sorts of directions. Most go faster than gravity and pull you down. This isn't the same.

I'm not talking about roller coasters, I'm talking about those "drop" rides. All they do is haul you up and then release you. And you sure as hell feel that.

[Archren]

Originally Posted by Trip

Please reread all my posts. I have actually already made a statement about initially leaving the balloon.

He would of put more forces on his body by moving laterally and away from the balloon to get off. Those forces are forces that would be greater than just the force of gravity and he would of felt that until he reached just pure free fall.

The water bottle example would just be as close to just a gravity pull as you can get.

Fair enough. I'll admit I skimmed.

[Archren]

Oh and, I made the statement about the initial drop off the ledge first back on the first page... but hey, I don't read all the way through some posts either, so who am I to talk?

[defector]

Originally Posted by Archren

if that is actually what happened, I haven't read statements from Kittinger or Baumgautner on that initial moment where they stepped off the platform. I do know Baumgautner said at the press conferance after this last jump that once he was under way it was hard for him to tell he was falling.

Kittinger said he didn't know if he was dropping or floating away when he initially left the structure.