The Science Behind Red Bull Stratos Quiz

Answer: No

The five main layers of Earth's atmosphere, from the innermost to the outermost, are troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Baumgartner's capsule was lifted up by an enormous helium balloon to the stratosphere layer, at an incredible height of 39.05 kilometers (24.26 miles).

Answer: Knot

The SI unit of speed is meters per second. However, non SI units, such as kilometers per hour, miles per hour, and knots, are more commonly used in the field of meteorology, aviation, and navigation. One knot is equivalent to one nautical mile per hour, where one nautical mile is approximately 1852 meters.

Baumgartner was supposed to perform his skydive on 9 Oct 2012. However, the launch was canceled because of the strong wind reported. The launch was then postponed to 11 Oct 2012 but the mission was also aborted due to undesirable weather condition.

Answer: It is the lightest gas.

While hydrogen is the lightest gas, it is highly flammable and as such, balloons are usually filled with the inert helium gas for safety.

The helium balloon that carried Baumgartner's capsule was filled partially with helium gas on the ground, giving it a tall and slender appearance. But as the balloon rose, the difference in the pressure inside and outside the balloon caused it to expand. The balloon eventually inflated to a sphere.

Answer: Armstrong's line

The Armstrong's line, also known as the Armstrong's limit, was named after Harry George Armstrong. He founded the U.S. Air Force's Department of Space Medicine, hence earning him the nickname of the "Father of Space Medicine".

At normal human body temperature (36.9 degree Celsius), the vapor pressure of water is as low as 47 mm Hg, In other words, water boils at 36.9 Celsius when the surrounding pressure is 47 mm Hg. Without the pressurized cabin and suit as protection, it could lead to life-threatening complication such as hypoxia.

Answer: The system's density was the same as the surrounding atmosphere's density.

As long as the density of the balloon and Baumgartner is less than the density of the surrounding atmosphere, the balloon will continue to ascend. There are fewer gas molecules at higher altitude so the density of the surrounding atmosphere decreases as the balloon goes further up.

The density of the helium gas is as low as 0.1785 kg/m3 or 0.1785 g/L. The envelope of the balloon, which is made from polyethylene, is only 0.0008 inches thick.

Answer: Baumgartner's speed was faster than the speed of sound by a factor of 1.24 .

Mach number is the ratio of the speed of a moving object to the speed of sound. The speed of sound at sea level is approximately 340 meters per second, but the value decreases when there are fewer air molecules around. So, sound travels faster in liquids but does not travel at all in vacuum.

At 24 miles high above the Earth, before performing his record-breaking skydive, Baumgartner said, "I know the whole world is watching right now and I wish the world could see what I can see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are."

Answer: Air resistance from the atmosphere

The gravity of Earth is approximately 9.8 meters per second square. However, because of the air resistance or drag created by the atmosphere, a falling object will reach its terminal velocity. Baumgartner performed his skydive at 24 miles above the sea level where there were very few gas molecules there.

The absence of gas molecules helped him accelerate and break the sound barrier before he reached the terminal velocity.

Answer: To create drag and slow down his speed

In addition to the main parachute that Baumgartner used, there was another backup parachute packed in case of emergency (if the first parachute did not manage to open properly).

Answer: Rocket plane

Chuck Yeager was noted for being the first pilot to break the sound barrier. The historical moment took place on 14 Oct 1947. He set a record speed of Mach 2.44.

Answer: Longest free fall in terms of time

Baumgartner's balloon went as high as 24.61 miles (39.05 kilometers). However, he did not break the longest free fall record, which was set by Joseph Kittinger. Kittinger free fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds in 1960 but Baumgartner's time was 17 seconds shy of Kittinger's record. Kittinger was Baumgarter's mentor and capsule communicator for the Red Bull Stratos project.