Free Fall

Glenn Elert

Resources

aristotle
- Physics by Aristotle, The Internet Classics Archive, MIT
Drop towers
- Microgravity Science Divisionat NASA Glenn Research Center
  - Zero Gravity Research Facility
  - 2.2 Second Drop Tower
Falling animals
- High-rise cat syndrome (in chnronological order)
  - The high rise trauma syndrome in cats. G.W. Robinson, et al. Feline Practice. Vol. 6 (1976): 40–43.
  - High-Rise Syndrome in Cats. Cheryl Mehlhaff and Wayne Whitney. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Vol. 191 No. 11 (1987): 1399–1403.
  - Why Cats Have Nine Lives. Jared Diamond. Nature. Vol. 332 (1988): 586–587.
  - How Cats Survive Falls from New York Skyscrapers. Jared Diamond. Natural History. (1989): 20–26.
  - Die polytraumatisierte Katze. R. Barth. Kleintierpraxis. Vol. 35 (1990): 321–330.
  - Feline high-rise syndrome. A.S. Kapatkin and D.T. Matthiesen. Compendium on Continuing Education for the Practicing Veterinarian. Vol. 13 (1991): 1389–1394.
  - 46 Floors Down, Still Purring. New York Times. (1994): CY6.
  - High-rise syndrome: retrospective study on 413 cats. G. Allenou Dupre and B. Bouvy. Veterinary Surgery. Vol. 24 (1995): 294.
  - Feline high-rise syndrome in the greater metropolitan area of Copenhagen. A four-year retrospective study. A. Flagstad, J. Arnbjerg, S.E. Jensen. European Journal of Companion Animal Practice. Vol. 9 (1998): 165–171.
  - High-rise Syndrome in Cats: 207 cases (1988–1998). L.G. Papazoglou, et al. Australian Veterinary Practitioner. Vol. 31 No. 3 (2001): 98–102.
  - Feline high-rise syndrome: 119 cases (1998–2001). D. Vnuk, et al. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. Vol. 6 No. 5 (2004): 305–12.
  - Cat Survives High Rise Plunge. Luke Funk. WNYW TV Channel 5. New York (2011). The original webpage disappeared, but identical copies are available at KSAZ Phoenixand WAGA Atlanta.
  - Fat cat Eddie gets snatched up by hawk, but dropped in neighbor's garden due to weight. Joanna Molloy. New York Daily News. (2011).
  - Miracle Cat Survives 20-Story Fall From Upper West Side Apartment Building. WCBS New York. (2011).
  - Cat Survives 19-Story Fall From Boston Apartment Building. Christina Hager. WBZ-TV Boston (2012).
  - Kitty falls 11 stories from Mendenhall Tower window. Jennifer Canfield. Juneau Empire. (2013).
- High-rise dog syndrome
  - High-rise syndrome in dogs: 81 cases (1985–1991). L.E. Gordon, C. Thacher, A. Kapatkin. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Vol. 202 No. 1 (1993): 118–22.
  - Lucky dog survives four-story fall. Jennifer Bain and Annie Karni. New York Post. (2011).
- High flyer syndrome/jumper's syndrome/high-rise people syndrome
  - Falls from heights: a surgical experience of 200 consecutive cases. B.M. Reynolds, N.A. Balsano, F.X. Reynolds. Annals of Surgery. Vol. 174 (1971): 304–310.
  - Injuries in children sustained in free falls: an analysis of 66 cases. M.D. Smith, J.D. Burrington, A.D. Woolf. Journal of Trauma. Vol. 15 (1975): 987–991.
galileo
- Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche intorno a due nuove scienze. Galileo Galilei (1638).
- Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences. Galileo Galilei. Translated from the Italian and Latin into English by Henry Crew and Alfonso de Salvio. New York: Macmillan (1914).
- Torre pendente di Pisa (The Leaning Tower of Pisa)
- Galileo on the Moon, Teachers' Domain
- Galileo's Discovery of the Law of Free Fall. Stillman Drake. Scientific American., Vol. 228. No. 5 (May 1973): 83.
gravimetry
- Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), University of Texas Center for Space Research
Humor
- Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory, The Onion, 17 August 2005
- Falling Politicians at planetdan.net: Barack Obama, George Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and more…
Skydiving altitude record (completed, attempted, and proposed)
- Alan Eustace (current record holder — 24 October 2014)
  - StratEx Team make stratospheric exploration history at over 135,000 feet. Paragon Space Development Corporation.
  - Parachutist's Record Fall: Over 25 Miles in 15 Minutes. John Markoff. New York Times (2014).
- Felix Baumgartner (former record holder — 14 October 2012)
  - felixbaumgartner.com
  - Red Bull Stratos Project
  - Skydiver Felix Baumgartner breaks sound barrier. Jonathan Amos. BBC (2012).
  - Space Dive. BBC 2 (2012).
- Joseph Kittinger (former record holder — 16 August 1960)
  - Fantastic Catch in the Sky: Space Race Soars with a Vengeance. Life (1960): 20–25.
  - The Long, Lonely Leap. National Geographic (1960): 854–873.
  - (paid link)
    The Long, Lonely Leap (paid link). Joseph W. Kittinger and Martin Caidin. New York: Dutton (1961). Kittinger's first autobiography.
  - Joseph William Kittinger, Jr. National Aviation Hall of Fame (1997)
  - Leap of Faith. Pat McKenna. Airman. Vol. 43 No. 12 (1999): 6.
  - Skydive from the Stratosphere. NOVA. PBS (1999).
  - Earth: The Power of the Planet: Atmosphere: The edge of space. BBC. (2007).
  - (paid link)
    Come Up and Get Me (paid link). Joe Kittinger and Craig Ryan. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico (2011). Kittinger's second autobiography.
  - No Ordinary Joe. Matthew Bates. Airman. Vol.56 No. 3 (2012).
- Michel Fournier (two aborted attempts — 2008, 2010)
  - Le Grand Saut (The Super Jump) domain expired on 9 July 2013
  - Michel Fournier's balloon flies away. Reported by Rob Marciano and Jeanne Moos. CNN (2008).
- Steve Truglia (proposed)
  - Project Space Jump
  - A leap from the edge of space, Steve Truglia. TED Talks (2009)
- Cheryl Stearns (proposed)
  - cherylstearns.com
  - stratoquest.com. Domain expired on 19 July 2013.
  - The Sky's No Limit for Army Reservist Cheryl Stearns. Steven J. Alvarez. Stars and Stripes (2001).
  - Parachute Jump. All Things Considered. National Public Radio (2000).
  - Terminal Velocity. Craig Offman. Wired. Vol. 9 No. 8 (2001).
- Rodd Millner (proposed)
  - Australian plans skydive from edge of space. Reuters (2001). Last remaining copy at the Royal Society of New Zealand website.
  - Australian Ex-Commando to Conduct Record-Breaking Space Jump. Space Daily (2001).
  - Fallschirmspringer: Der Kampf um die Schallmauer. Der Spiegel (2001).
  - Outer Space Skydive Planned. Associated Press (2001). Last remaining copy at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal website.
  - The Man Who Fell to Earth. Christine Kenneally. Feed (2001).
  - Terminal Velocity. Craig Ofman. Wired. Vol. 9 No. 8 (2001).
Video on demand
- Apollo 15 proves Galileo correct. NASA.gov Video (2 August 1971). At the end of the last Apollo 15 moon walk, Commander David Scott held out a geologic hammer and a feather and dropped them at the same time. Because they were essentially in a vacuum, there was no air resistance and the feather fell at the same rate as the hammer, as Galileo had concluded hundreds of years before.
- Brian Cox visits the world's biggest vacuum chamber. Human Universe: Episode 4 Preview. BBC Two (2014). Brian Cox visits NASA's Space Power Facility in Ohio to see what happens when a bowling ball and a feather are dropped together under the conditions of outer space.
- The Mechanical Universe and Beyond (1985)
  - The Law of Falling Bodies. Galileo's imaginative experiments proved that all bodies fall with the same constant acceleration.
- Superman Marathon. The Big Bang Theory: The Big Bran Hypothesis (2007). Sheldon describes the unfortunate effects of rapid deceleration that Lois Lane would experience when Superman caught her. The boys then proceed to argue the physiology of Superman and Penny walks out.