Did he get close to orbiting satellites? Could he have been struck by a flaming meteor? PopSci investigates!
By Emily Elert Posted 10.16.2012 at 3:00 pm 5 Comments

Baumgartner Snapshot Emily Elert

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner set a new world record Sunday when he leapt from a capsule suspended 128,100 feet--about 24 miles--above Earth's surface. Watching the livefeed as he opened the capsule door and prepared to jump, we thought he looked very much like a man perched on the edge of space.

But just how close to the edge was he?

To get a sense of Fearless Felix's actual proximity to space, we charted the altitude of his incredible jump in relation to some other objects strewn in the space between us and the International Space Station:

(Click here to see a larger version.)

Baumgartner In Space
Baumgartner In Space:  Emily Elert

Credits: Clouds, Ian Image Library; Boeing 747, Eluveitie, via Wikimedia Commons; beaker, Silliusvia Open Clip Art; International Space Station, Ciniconoclasta via ClipArtsFree.net; meteors, via Open Clip Art

5 Comments

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zechio
10/16/12 at 3:52 pm

Decent, but it really should show the various definitions of space. The absolute lowest of which, 80km ( The troposphere, where temperature actually begins to climb again due to cosmic rays )...is approx. 262,467. Yes, that's right, a good deal more than double the height at which Felix jumped. So, he was quite a bit closer to the ground than space.

The more widely used definitions for space are even higher still. 100km ( 328,000ft ) and 114km ( 374,000 ft ), putting Felix's height to shame.

Naturally, with him being so very far away from space, it irks me when people keep saying he jumped from the edge of space.

Unfortunately, there isn't a single definition of space. There is never a sudden boundary that marks a clear barrier. The atmosphere just continues to thin more and more. Even the ISS is still within our atmosphere to an extent, and must occasionally fire thrusters to maintain its orbit.

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Nikarus
10/16/12 at 5:31 pm

One of signs of space to most people is when the blue sky goes away and the blackness with stars comes in. So I guess this is why people accept that this was actually edge of space.

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Robot
10/16/12 at 7:58 pm

Yes, you are correct, the term space is relative as in reference to the Heavens. It been said, there are three Heavens. The first Heaven is here on Earth, the second is in the clouds and the third is beyond, to where we go and rest our wearing souls in the next life.

I think this jump and all those who help to make it happen open the doors for more escape avenues for those who work in space. I really like to see this technology be to it complete full extent; all the way up to the same height as the ISS.

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sillys
10/16/12 at 8:12 pm

I just got paid $6784 working off my laptop this month. And if you think that's cool, my divorced friend has twin toddlers and made over $9k her first month. It feels so good making so much money when other people have to work for so much less. This is what I do, Blue31.c om

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NotACat
10/17/12 at 11:13 am

There's a typo in the rubric for "150,000 ft": it reads "...temperature begins to fall ra rapidly...".

HTH HAND



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