NORWAY - Skydiver's Close-Call With Meteor

A multiple frame picture of the meteorite falling.  Credit and copyright: Anders Helstrup, used by permission.

"Norwegian Skydiver Almost Gets Hit by Falling Meteor — and Captures it on Film" by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today 4/3/2014

Excerpt

It sounds like a remarkable story, almost unbelievable: Anders Helstrup went skydiving nearly two years ago in Hedmark, Norway and while he didn’t realize it at the time, when he reviewed the footage taken by two cameras fixed to his helmet during the dive, he saw a rock plummet past him.  He took it to experts and they realized he had captured a meteorite falling during its “dark flight” — when it has been slowed by atmospheric braking, and has cooled and is no longer luminous.

Norwegian astrophysicist Pål Brekke confirmed to Universe Today that the story is true.  “I was part of the investigation – and kept secret for two years – in hope of finding the meteorite,” Brekke said via Twitter.

Since the search for the meteorite has come up empty so far, Helstrup’s story and video has been released in an effort to recruit more people to look for the rock.

“It has been a little hard to keep it as a secret,” Helstrup told Universe Today via email, “but everyone has been loyal to the project and helped us out!”

Helstrup has been searching with friends, family and volunteers after getting advice from experts from the Geological Museum in Oslo, Norwegian Space Centre and Norwegian meteor network, making painstaking efforts to pinpoint the location of where the meteorite fell.

“The meteorite has for sure some possible hiding spots,” Helstrup said.  “There is a forest with lots of different places it can easily disappear.  Even if there is several areas where it would be found easily, there is a river, some marshy spots and areas and lots of high grass.  Therefore the best chance of a finding would be in springtime.  But we have high hopes!”

Finding the rock would provide the definitive confirmation it really was a space rock that Helstrup captured on film.  And in fact, it is Helstrup who might be most skeptical this was a meteor.  There are experts who say there is no doubt.

“It can’t be anything else,” said geologist Hans Amundsen, quoted in the Norwegian publication NRK.  “The shape is typical of meteorites – a fresh fracture surface on one side, while the other side is rounded.”

He added that the meteorite may have been part of a larger rock that had exploded perhaps 20 kilometers above Helstrup.

What if the rock would have hit Helstrup or his diving partner?  Amundson said the rock would have cut him in half.

“Imagine a 5 kilo rock hitting you in the chest at 300 kilometers per hour,” Amundson says in the video.  “That would have led to quite an accident investigation.”

This is unique because this is the first time a meteor in dark flight has been captured on film.

“Fireballs entering the atmosphere have been filmed many times,” says Morten Bilet in the video.  Bilet is a meteorite expert.  “This is unique because it was filmed during its so called “dark flight” – after it has been burned out.  That’s never been done before so this is something new and exciting.”

SCIENCE - Really, Really Fast Skydiving (updated)

"Austrian Skydiver Lands Safely After Freefalling Faster Than Speed of Sound" by Jenny Marder, PBS Newshour 10/14/2012

Note, full article includes diagrams.

Excerpt

Austrian athlete and daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke the speed of sound on Sunday, after riding a balloon to the edge of the stratosphere and leaping headfirst into thin air over Roswell, New Mexico.

He jumped from 128,100 feet -- that's a height of 24.2 miles -- and hit a maximum speed of 833.9 mph during a freefall that lasted four minutes and 20 seconds. The jump broke records for the highest balloon ride and highest and fastest skydive. His speed -- which reached Mach 1.24 -- was faster than pre-jump estimates.

Then the 43-year-old pulled his parachute, and minutes later, landed softly in the New Mexican desert, pumped his arms in victory and dropped to his knees.

Baumgartner left one record to retired Air Force colonel Joe Kittinger: longest freefall. Kittinger's 1960 skydive from 102,800 feet lasted 16 seconds longer's than Baumgartner's. Kittinger was on Baumgartner's support team, worked closely with him during training and advised him during the ascent leading up to the jump.

At one point, during the freefall, Baumgartner appeared to spin rapidly, according to a news advisory by Red Bull Stratos. But he regained control and pulled the parachute, prompting cheers from the team's mission control on the ground.

Baumgartner's first attempted the extreme skydive on October 9, but the launch was aborted by mission control due to gusty winds, following a five-hour delay.

High winds had proved too dangerous for the fragile balloon, and just before 2 p.m. ET, the balloon was deflated and the Austrian athlete, visibly disappointed, unfastened his helmet and stepped out of the capsule and into his personal trailer that sat waiting for him on the launch pad.

The dangers were enormous. If his body was not positioned correctly, he could have fallen into a rapid spin, which could render him unconscious and cause brain and cardiovascular damage. Plus, he faced the risk of ebullism, a condition that could cause the liquid in his body to turn to gas and his blood to literally boil.

A custom spacesuit was designed to protect him from -70 degree temperatures and low pressure at the extreme altitude and maintain the oxygen and pressure levels he'll need to survive at supersonic speeds.