Did he or didn't he?

[AlecWest]

Felix Baumgartner finally did his stratospheric freefall.  But in all the videos I've seen, his maximum speed was 729 mph (no, not knots) - at which point, he begins to decelerate.  Here's a 14-minute example:

http://alecwest.com/20121014_BaumgartnerFreefall.mp4 (720P, 108megs apx. - from launch to landing)

In all the conversion programs I've tried, 729mph is approximately .96 mach.  Mach 1 = 761mph.  In short, when it comes to breaking the sound barrier, close but no cigar.  And yet, there are a lot of articles out there that say he DID break the sound barrier.  If there is a video out there that SHOWS him breaking the sound barrier, can someone point me toward it?  Thanks.

Regards,
J. Alec West

[trekcon]

The answer is simple - he did break the speed of sound!

The speed of sound is dependant on temperature and air pressure.

At sea level, the speed of sound is 761 mp/h (1225km/h) assuming a temperature of 59 °F (15 °C).

At a typical cruising altitude of commercial jets (11,000m−20,000m) and assuming a temperature of −70 °F (−57 °C), the speed of sound is only 660mp/h (1062km/h) so at 729mp/h in that height range, he has broken the speed of sound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound

And I thought it was going to be Bill Shatner doing the jump instead....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAZrPMsTL1c

[Gary Evans]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/us/felix-baumgartner-skydiving.html?hp


NY Times article avers YES! A max speed of "...  he stepped off into the void and plunged downward, reaching a maximum speed measured at 833.9 miles per hour, or Mach 1.24."

See a video at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9607604/Skydiver-Felix-Baumgartner-attempts-to-break-sound-barrier-live.html

Gary

[AlecWest]

On how the speed of sound "varies" depending on environmental factors, OK.  Learn something new every day (grin).  The media outlets reporting speeds of 833 or 834mph equate that with mach 1.24.   Using that formula, mach 1 = 672.58mph.  If that's the case then yes, he did break the sound barrier.

But, mph is always mph.  And so far, the only videos I've seen don't "show" him reaching 833 or 834mph during his freefall.  As you can see in the video I gave a link to, 729mph was the max speed ... at which point Felix began to decelerate.  The NYT link you provided has no video I can see.  And the Telegraph link is the same.  They "say" he reached 833/834 but don't "show" it as it's happening.  On the other hand, a video from the Guardian shows exactly what my video shows ... 729mph (mach 1.08) and decelerating:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2012/oct/14/felix-baumgartner-skydive-space-video (the 3:08 mark)

So, I've still yet to see a video that shows an mph reference of anything above 729mph while Felix is free-falling - more than 100mph less than what was "reported."  That's a pretty big difference (grin).  Is there a video out there that has either a visual reference to Felix reaching 833 or 834mph ... or at least an audio reference where someone says, "Wow, he just passed 833mph" during his freefall?  If there is one, I'd like to see it.

Regards,
J. Alec West