Reply...
Reyrey,
Here's the odd thing...he said that one of his stated goals was to break the sound barrier in free fall. On his last dive, he was reported to have hit a speed of 368.5 MPH before having to deploy his chute. I'm admittedly not a science dude, but I do remember from physics the principle of "terminal velocity."
So, my question is...at what point will the thickening atmosphere provide resistance to keep him from reaching the speed of sound, and will he run into terminal velocity well before he reaches the stratosphere?
Also, Captain Joseph Kittinger in August of 1960 jumped from 102,800 feet, hitting 614 MPH at maximum velocity, falling for more than four minutes and thirty seconds before deploying his chute at 14,000 feet. That's sort of my benchmark for this jump attempt.