Please excuse the link via another forum, but its posts are quite informative …
http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=127436
or alternatively http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/
Live Now! - Red Bull Stratos - freefall from the edge of space
So they will only start at 17:30? The record set in 1960 was around 100 000 feet. That guy used a drogue chute to keep him stable. At that altitude it would be almost impossible to stop a spin once it starts. This guy can not use that as he is trying to break the sound barrier, so how is he going to keep stable? I used to skydive but it’s been years since I had contact with the sport. Would be interesting to find out.
Ja, seems there are hiccups with the weather. 
That guy used a drogue chute to keep him stable.My mom has a laundry chute in her house ... but it does vitually nothing for her stability. I assume a [i]drogue chute[/i] is more advanced an invention? ;)
Rigil
Why doesn’t he just spin if he spins? I assume it’s because if the spin gets bad enough he might lose consciousness? Plus, it would really mess up the footage - we want to see the curve of the earth etc. and not just a blue blur?
I would guess that if he uses a very small drogue on a longish line, it may prevent spinning without slowing him down too much? I suppose we’ll know how he did it soon enough, assuming he survives!
Yes, the spin will be so fast that he will lose it. In a normal freefall you use your body, arms and legs to control your fall but up there the air is way too thin for that.
Well, assuming your terminal velocity is a function of (among other things) air pressure, wouldn’t terminal velocity increase and thus, even though the air is extremely thin, allow enough of it to pass over your body to allow some degree of control?
wouldn't terminal velocity increase and thus, even though the air is extremely thin, allow enough of it to pass over your body to allow some degree of control?
I suspect that control of spinning greatly depends on how good you are at contorting your body such that all horizontal forces acting on your body balance out. To accomplish this, there must be an effective horizontal air density comparable to an effective vertical air density. Since falling very fast increases only the effective vertical air density, but not the horizontal, control of spinning is compromised.
Rigil
Something like that. Having never jumped at that altitude I would not know. My highest was 20 000.
Bloody Nora that’s high. How long does a fall like that take … sure I’d get hungry on my way down!
Rigil
So would I, because I’d lose my lunch within the first 20 feet or so. 
That was about 110 seconds freefall. You don’t feel yourself falling. On leaving the plane you are in the slipstream, so it looks to you like the plane is floating away from you. I jumped from a microlight, a hot air balloon and one BASE jump and then you feel yourself falling. All of this was when I was going to live forever.
To me it would seem that by utilizing vertical airflow and re-directing it using flat pieces of your body, you could achieve horizontal control. Anyway, I’m no expert and don’t expect you guys to answer my every question, I’ll look into it the moment I have a bit of spare time.
