Red Bull Stratos: An Examination of Heat Exchange Meagan Moran, Jonathan Laurence, Kathryn Menicosy, Saki Shimada

Felix Baumgartner- Test Pilot Thermodynamics in Action First person to break the sound barrier on his descent without vehicular power Jumped at just over 39 km (25 miles) above sea level from a helium air balloon capsule Reached 1342 kph (830 mph), mach 1.24

Jump Challenges During the fall, his suit is the only protection he has and it acts as his personal life support system Suit must compensate for: o Pressure Changes during descent o Temperature Changes throughout the stratosphere

Thermodynamics Focus: We need a way to maintain internal suit temperature: Temperature in the Earth's stratosphere ranges from approximately -50 to 0 O C Felix's suit must be designed to maintain a comfortable temperature during the ascent as well as throughout his fall

Problems at Hand: Question 1: From a select number of materials, which one is the most effective at retaining heat? Question 2: How effective is the heat retention of the material in an environment similar to that of the Earth's stratosphere?

Experiment 1 Use different materials to insulate a warm body (representative of the human body) Measure the rate at which heat is transferred from the hot body to the colder surroundings by taking the temperature of the warm body over time intervals The material that has the lowest measured heat transfer rate will be used in Experiment 2

Experiment 2 Perform the same insulation experiment as before in a low pressure and low temperature environment (similar to that of the Earth's stratosphere) Determine the rate of heat transfer in the low pressure, low temperature environment

Possible Insulating Materials Insulation materials used commonly in jackets: - Thinsulate, Primaloft, Temptrol