Supersonic & high altitude

[+user13371]

Collected from multiple news sources:

 

...Felix Baumgartner became the first skydiver to break the speed of sound, reaching a top speed of 833.9 MPH(mach 1.24). He also set a record for the highest skydive, bailing out at 128,100 feet (24.2 miles) above New Mexico. Both of those records will need to be validated by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). GPS data recorded on a microcard in Baumgartner's chest pack will be used to confirm the Austrian's altitude and speed claims.

Both the altitude and speed are out of bounds for civilian GPS - and this experiment/stunt as private enterprise rather than military. So what was he using?

 

BTW, I watched this live on Sunday. It reminded me a lot of watching coverage of Mercury and Gemini missions when I was a kid -- except the picture was a lot clearer

Edited October 16, 2012 by user13371

[seldom_sn]

Wouldn't the velocity also mess up any altimeter? Some sort of high speed anemometer? Maybe something like a venturi?

[+user13371]

Don't know, I'm just copying what multiple news stories said about GPS gear. I'd have they'd have had better accuracy with radar or optical range-finding on the ground - just film his fall from a few locations and run a clock against that. I was really impressed with how sharp the pictures were.

[+ngrrfan]

I was really impressed with how sharp the pictures were.

They were using infrared cameras to track him on the way down.

[+StarDoc]

As someone who has flown small unmanned balloons to 100,000+ feet, I can tell you that many early Garmin models, namely the original eTrex models, were restricted only if BOTH the altitude (60k feet) and the speed (999 knots) were over the limits. I found out the hard way that the eTrex H models are not the same. Luckily, I was only using it for my secondary tracker.

 

I currently use a BigRedBee GPS and transmitter, and the Trimble Lassen IQ chip that it uses has the same restrictions, that is both conditions must be met. It works fine above 100k. Baumgartner never exceeded both limits at the same time either.

[Team Dragon Racing]

As someone who has flown small unmanned balloons to 100,000+ feet, I can tell you that many early Garmin models, namely the original eTrex models, were restricted only if BOTH the altitude (60k feet) and the speed (999 knots) were over the limits. I found out the hard way that the eTrex H models are not the same. Luckily, I was only using it for my secondary tracker.

 

I currently use a BigRedBee GPS and transmitter, and the Trimble Lassen IQ chip that it uses has the same restrictions, that is both conditions must be met. It works fine above 100k. Baumgartner never exceeded both limits at the same time either.

 

hi there

i also fly hpr model rockery this is a link to one of the gps we use in hpr rockets to get real time data http://entacore.com/electronics/aimxtra

[John E Cache]

Does a GPS measure vertical speed? The GPS odometer only measures horizontal distance.

[+StarDoc]

Does a GPS measure vertical speed? The GPS odometer only measures horizontal distance.

Yes, my Garmin has the option to show vertical speed in feet/second.

 

Really, your GPS measures three dimensional distance and speed by finding the distance between two points and the time it took to cover that distance. Those two points don't have to be horizontal to each other. In my ballooning, the I've seen the eTrex odometer record a distance of 20+ miles, even though the horizontal ground track was smaller.