Supersonic Crazy People

It's Crazy People Day on the science and technology pages.

The BBC reports that technical glitches on the Bloodhound supersonic car have been fixed so that progress can be made on an attempt to break the world land speed record.  The car -- if one can call a hybrid aircraft/rocket engine with a steering wheel a car -- is being designed to drive 1,000 miles per hour (yes, 1,000 mph!), or about 30 percent faster than sound at sea level.

So long as the car doesn't fly off the ground (and the designers have apparently fixed that problem), they should be good to go late next year, with Wing Commander Andy Green strapped into the beast and hitting the gas.

And lately Toyota has been getting all the press about going fast...  I'll say it again.  1,000 miles per hour on land.


Not to be outdone, the New York Times reports our next crazy person plans on going faster than sound without the benefit of any vehicle at all.  Felix Baumgartner likes to jump from great heights, and is planning to jump from a balloon 120,000 feet above the earth, and free fall his way through the sound barrier, flying in nothing but a specially designed astronaut's suit.

I understand it's quite a thrill to fly at supersonic speeds in an airplane.  It must be quite something to do it without one.  And while he'll be traveling a paltry 690 miles per hour, compared to our 1,000 mile per hour automotive speed demon Green, he'll be going plenty fast enough to enjoy the shock waves that will pummel him on the way down.

And if these crazy guys can pull these feats off, they should be lauded as the pioneers they really are.

The world needs more crazy people like Baumgartner and Green to push the limits of science and technology, and see what humans can really achieve if they get out there and try something that's never been done before.