Balloon Ride to Space

[Debi]

Spaceship Neptune will take eight people 20 miles above Earth

Space Perspective finalized its design for Spaceship Neptune, a capsule that will offer epic views 20 miles above Earth and luxury amenities - for a hefty price tag of $125,000 per ticket.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Paulm]

yeah... i dunno...taking a balloon into space is like crossing the Atlantic on an inflatable raft from my perspective..... sure someone might do it, but should they even try?, lol....it looks fancy on the inside but i imagine the Hindenburg did too...

 

[Debi]

yeah... i dunno...taking a balloon into space is like crossing the Atlantic on an inflatable raft from my perspective..... sure someone might do it, but should they even try?, lol....it looks fancy on the inside but i imagine the Hindenburg did too...

Exactly my thoughts! Anything that is a balloon can be popped. Nopey.

 

[Paulm]

Exactly my thoughts! Anything that is a balloon can be popped. Nopey.

nopey for me too, dont care how many parachutes they have for safety,... ive used parachutes, they aint all that......lol

 

[Debi]

nopey for me too, dont care how many parachutes they have for safety,... ive used parachutes, they aint all that......lol

Sounds like it would be a HALO jump from that far up!

 

[Selectric]

If i was younger, i would 'consider' that balloon trip. I would have that parachute just in case i blacked out and crashed into someones house like Skylab lol. Be a hell of a way to be introduced lol. "Last thing i remembered i was free falling and....crunch! Oh hey! Have anymore of that meatloaf handy before you take me to the hospital" lol.

 

[Duke]

Traditional parachute from 100K ft?
That won't work. Somebody jumping from that altitude is going to need not only supplemental oxygen, but a drogue parachute to control descent rate and provide stability until the jumper is at a safe altitude to deploy a main chute, at least 15K ft. That would require a barostatic lockout to prevent the jumper from manually deploying the chute at too high an altitude, and an automatic opening feature tied to the barostat in case the jumper is incapacitated.

All that gear exists, and would be relatively easy to integrate, but would need a near military level life support shop with FAA certified riggers/technicians and percision calibration equipment for the barostats and supplemental oxygen. Also would need a significant amount of training for the potential jumpers.

 

[Paulm]

Traditional parachute from 100K ft?
That won't work. Somebody jumping from that altitude is going to need not only supplemental oxygen, but a drogue parachute to control descent rate and provide stability until the jumper is at a safe altitude to deploy a main chute, at least 15K ft. That would require a barostatic lockout to prevent the jumper from manually deploying the chute at too high an altitude, and an automatic opening feature tied to the barostat in case the jumper is incapacitated.

All that gear exists, and would be relatively easy to integrate, but would need a near military level life support shop with FAA certified riggers/technicians and percision calibration equipment for the barostats and supplemental oxygen. Also would need a significant amount of training for the potential jumpers.

yep to all of that, on a standard HALO/HAHO jump at 30,000 feet oxygen is required as well as clothing for minus 40 degrees or so temps. HAHO jumps dont require a drogue chute due to opening within a few seconds of exit, so terminal velocity is never reached before opening. terminal velocity for the average jumper in the spread eagle free fall position is around 180 miles per hour and in a dive position can be greater than 220 or so.
wasnt there an airforce officer back in the 60's who jumped from pretty high up? (maybe even 20 miles?), not sure the hight but he used a round type military chute, (possibly T-10 or earlier type?) which has little to no steerability...lol. brave man

 

[Duke]

yep to all of that, on a standard HALO/HAHO jump at 30,000 feet oxygen is required as well as clothing for minus 40 degrees or so temps. HAHO jumps dont require a drogue chute due to opening within a few seconds of exit, so terminal velocity is never reached before opening. terminal velocity for the average jumper in the spread eagle free fall position is around 180 miles per hour and in a dive position can be greater than 220 or so.
wasnt there an airforce officer back in the 60's who jumped from pretty high up? (maybe even 20 miles?), not sure the hight but he used a round type military chute, (possibly T-10 or earlier type?) which has little to no steerability...lol. brave man

Yes, his name was Kittinger. The balloon jump was pre space flight, probably 59-60. He was a test pilot and fighter pilot, he was later shot down over Vietnam and was a PoW. I met him at an aeromedical/life support convention years ago, he was probably in his mid 70s at the time. He looked less like a heroic test/fighter pilot and more like a Norman Rockwell grandfather by then.

 

[GoneWestUtah]

Spaceships and balloons are as passé as horse-carts. Our grandkids will use teleportation portals. The ones that get assimilated, anyway.