First Supersonic Freefall

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has announced he will will try to smash the nearly 50-year-old record for the highest jump this year, becoming the first person to go supersonic in freefall.

On 16 August 1960, US Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger made history by jumping out of a balloon at an altitude of some 31,333 metres. Felix aims to jump from 36,575 metres. Check out the chart below for some perspective.

The jump height is above a threshold at 19,000 metres called the Armstrong line, where the atmospheric pressure is so low that fluids start to boil. If he opens up his face mask or the suit, all the gases in his body will go out of suspension, so literally turning him into a giant fizzy soda, oozing fluid from his eyes and mouth.



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