nia, told LiveScience's sister site Life's Little Mysteries.
The prevention: According to the Red Bull Stratos team, the thin air is an advantage in this case. Shock waves are less powerful when the air is less dense.
5. Hitting the ground
The problem: Hitting the ground without slowing down enough from a 120,000-foot fall is a very bad idea.
The prevention: Should Baumgartner fall unconscious during his skydive, his emergency parachute will deploy automatically. Unfortunately, he may not be out of the woods in that scenario, as he will be unable to steer his landing or adjust his speed in the final moments of the fall. That could make for a difficult return to Earth.
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