If you're planning to jump out of a plane at 120,000 feet and break the sound barrier, you need a really fancy suit.

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has been working with a company that makes space suits for astronauts in an effort to pull off a record-setting jump with the Red Bull Stratos project that he hopes will also lead to safer flight suits for future astronauts.

Baumgartner, the Red Bull star who has done everything from crossing the English Channel during free fall using a carbon fiber wing, to BASE jumping off the tallest buildings in the world, is planning to ascend to the stratosphere in a pressurized capsule carried by a massive helium balloon. Once reaching 120,000 feet, the plan is to depressurize the capsule, open the door and step off.

The current record for a skydive was set way back in 1960 when U.S. Air Force Colonel (Retired) Joseph Kittinger jumped from 102,600 feet. In addition to breaking that record, Baumgartner (like Kittinger did) is working with several scientists to research new, safer suit designs for pilots and future space travelers. The hope is to develop the next generation of full pressure suits that would help increase survival if the need to bail out of a spacecraft should ever arise at extremely high altitudes.

The new suit being used by Baumgartner is made by David Clark, the same company that made Kittinger's suit as well as full pressure suits for astronauts and military pilots flying at the edge of the atmosphere in aircraft such as the SR-71 Blackbird, the U-2 and the X-15. The suits provide an artificial atmosphere that allows pilots to survive in what would otherwise be a a deadly environment.

For Baumgartner's jump, temperatures are expected to be colder than minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit, and the air pressure will be so low that a condition known as ebullism would kill him if the pressure suit were to fail. The condition is explained by everybody's favorite formula from chemistry class, the ideal gas law. Ebullism can strike at 62,000 feet, but at 120,000 feet, the outside air pressure is less than one pound per square inch, making it even easier for gas bubbles to form in the blood, basically allowing the blood to boil.

Another potential problem is maneuvering during free fall. In order to achieve Mach 1, Baumgartner will have to adjust his position during free fall and a normal suit is too restrictive to allow sufficient freedom of movement. One of the worries is what would happen if a person were to begin tumbling.

Skydivers use their arms and legs to maneuver, but with the limited motion in a space suit, mobility is greatly restricted. The David Clark suit gives Baumgartner more flexibility to move during free fall. So far the Red Bull Stratos team has tested the new suit in wind tunnels, low pressure chambers and several jumps from 25,000 feet. Baumgartner has been fine tuning his "delta" position that he will use to achieve the supersonic jump.

No person has ever broken the sound barrier during free fall, though it is thought if a person were forced to bail out of a spacecraft at altitudes much higher than 120,000 feet, they would achieve supersonic speeds involuntarily. Baumgartner wants to help researchers better understand the possible effects of supersonic speeds on a person falling through the atmosphere as well as the effects on the suit.

Images: Red Bull

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