October 14, 2012

Live: the jump from space.

Live feed! (Scary!)

ADDED: Some background here.

AND: I'm not sure I want to watch. I don't want to see a man die. I found it painful to look at photographs, after the fact, of Derek Jeter suffering a broken ankle.

UPDATE: Whew!

AND: He didn't break the record for the longest time in free-fall (although he broke the record for the highest manned balloon flight). 

72 comments:

pm317 said...

Incredible. What a courageous man!

edutcher said...

All the way!

Peter Hoh said...

I am on pins and needles.

Anonymous said...

Hope he lands softly and his blood doesn't boil.

Ann Althouse said...

He's higher than they said he'd go.

The balloon looks way expanded.

Ann Althouse said...

"I need you to respond, Felix"

Ground control to Major Felix...

pm317 said...

They are going through the egress checklist.

pm317 said...

Well, with all the Obama cuts to NASA mission, these are what we have to look forward to. Go Felix!

Anonymous said...

This is nerve wracking.

Ann Althouse said...

I can't believe I'm sitting around watching a man inflate his suit.

Shouting Thomas said...

Flipping back and forth between the Space Jump and Jets v. Colts!

Wince said...

floating round my tin can...

Of Red Bull?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I found it painful to look at photographs, after the fact, of Derek Jeter suffering a broken ankle.

The pitcher on my daughter's softball team (11 year olds) took a line drive to the face off the bat of a huge, powerful hitter last weekend. It was horrible to watch (and hear) happen, but thank God, nothing was broken and it was just a big gnarly bruise and not the any of the horrible outcomes from such an impact to the face. Hit her right under the eye and we were worried about an orbital fracture, bone shards, disfigurement, etc.

Dante said...

729mph, estimated max speed.

Wince said...

After all that, did he just miss the free-fall record by a few seconds?

Menahem Globus said...

He looks okay. 6,000 feet and he's talking.

Anonymous said...

Amazing! That spinning was frightening.

Ah those crazy Germans!

Menahem Globus said...

The Jerry has landed!!!

bagoh20 said...

Awesome!

Unknown said...

Amazing

pm317 said...

How perfect was that!

Carnifex said...

Man! That was insanity. Guy's got more balls than I do!

Original Mike said...

So. Newton was right, eh?

bagoh20 said...

His wife is a very attractive woman, and there is something especially wonderful in the face of a woman who is proud and happy for her man. One lucky man.

Wince said...

How do you say "look out for the falling capsule" in Austrian?

bagoh20 said...

To be right there inside the capsule when he jumped was very cool. What a view!

Anonymous said...

Lucky wife to have a Felix!

Anonymous said...

Especially since his blood didn't boil.

pm317 said...

This reality show, I can appreciate. Yeah, the shot of him standing on the step just before jumping was beyond awesome.

David A. Carlson said...

great Red Bull ad. Off course, if Red Bull gives you wings, why did he need a chute?

KCFleming said...

Ho.
Lee.
Shit.

Wince said...

Felix the Cat lands on his feet.

john said...

I think that's his mom, Inga. Maybe he's not married.

You could catch a Milwaukee - Albuquerque flight and be there in a couple hours.

edutcher said...

Somewhere, Kurt Student and the 7th Flieger Division are smiling.

bagoh20 said...

I don't know about other people, but seeing something like that just makes me wish I could start all over and take a lot more risks, to aim higher, to go for it so many times when I didn't. There is still time.

john said...

Frosted up face mask to boot.

I hate when that happens.

Emil Blatz said...

Hav-A-Red-Bull!

Anonymous said...

John, he's too young for me, but if he's single, he won't be for long.

john said...

Just looking out for you, gal.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

I bet that guy is no Obama voter ;)

bagoh20 said...

I was at the International Balloon Fiesta last weekend in Albuquerque. I know someone who works for one of the sponsors, so I got to go up in a balloon during the mass ascension when hundreds of then go up all at once. We got up about 2,000 ft AGL. It was my first time, and it was a very cool ride. I loved it.

john said...

Hey bagawater -


I was driving north on I25 through town at the time. I was in a silver Dodge rental; perhaps you saw me.

bagoh20 said...

What would be nice right now if you were that guy? That first cold beer, the first long drink, ahhhh! Success!

Anonymous said...

He's AUSTRIAN! Woo Hoo!

bagoh20 said...

"I was driving north on I25 through town at the time. I was in a silver Dodge rental; perhaps you saw me."

Oh you were that guy. People kept saying: Hey, what's that guy's problem. I said, I don't know but that's the most disgusting thing I ever saw a man do while driving. Keep you hands on the wheel. They are only balloons.

I loved the giant Elvis balloon best. It was funny and a little scary at the same time. Who want's a giant Elvis ass overhead? And it was the 70's fat Elvis too.

john said...

That was probably not me then. AIR, I took care of all that down by Socorro.

Anonymous said...

Job well done. Good job Felix and the team!

caseym54 said...

CNN never showed the actual jump. Wish they had told me beforehand so I could have tuned in a real news station.

bagoh20 said...

That was scary, but think about driving down the road in your little tin-can car with an 80,000 lb semi truck coming the opposite direction in the other lane where it passes by at a relative speed of over 100mph, just 6 feet away, over and over again. We take risks all the time, and life is short. Go scare yourself today, but make it fun.

pm317 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pm317 said...

Obama will call Felix now and talk to him in Austrian.

madAsHell said...

Ah those crazy Germans!

Unfortunately, his first language is Austrian!

rhhardin said...

This way to the egress.

rhhardin said...

Free fall time doesn't increase simply when you go up. If you're high enough, you get a lot of extra speed from no air starting off that more than makes up for starting lower.

At some point the extra distance takes over the time though.

He no doubt has the longest distance free fall, just not the longest time.

Sofa King said...

Amazing! That spinning was frightening.

Ah those crazy Germans!


Captain Von Trapp is not amused!

bagoh20 said...

Hey, that camera is still on in the balloon flying around. I can think of a great SyFy/horror plot starting from there.

Methadras said...

Thought he was gonna death spin for sure, but he pulled out of it and held it stable. Like a BAWS!!!

Lyle said...

I couldn't have done this. Glad he survived.

Lyle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KCFleming said...

What if he took off his helmet and ALIEN FACE!!!

I watched too many Twilight Zones.

Kevin said...

I can't find a full replay anywhere. Can anyone please link one?

john said...

Kevin,

This is their website where I watched it live. Since then they have been putting up some reruns, but it goes on and off.

http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

I see nobody challenged me on "that guy is no Obama voter" quip.

Because if someone had, I was ready to point the finger at Althouse.

"I can't believe I'm sitting around watching a man inflate his suit".

Althouse went completely under the radar.

Col Mustard said...

Felix was way slow reponding to Kittinger when the checklist was started. I worried he might have an oxygen problem.

Col Mustard said...

Felix was way slow reponding to Kittinger when the checklist was started. I worried he might have an oxygen problem.

bagoh20 said...

"I can't find a full replay anywhere. Can anyone please link one?"

Unfortunately someone forgot to push "record". He has to do it all over again. Easy mistake to make - no big deal.

Erik said...

At least they remembered to pack his chute.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Is anyone else annoyed that the reportage (cf., say, the AP article that Ed Driscoll linked on Instapundit) is treating Mach numbers as directly corresponding to MPH? They aren't; the speed of sound varies with temperature. To know what Mach Baumgartner hit, you'd have to know what the temperature outside his suit was when he hit it.

It's quite possible that the highest Mach number wasn't at the highest speed, because the speed of sound increases with temperature, and temperature does tend to increase nearer the ground. (Except when it doesn't -- one thing I didn't realize until I Googled around a bit today is that temperature actually increases with altitude at a couple places in the atmosphere, and one of them -- the ozone layer, basically -- he went right through.)

beast said...

Thought the slow response was more reaction to the extended cold (50f)for 2.5 hours.Also sitting in same position for time.And how great was it having Joe Kittinger doing CAPCOM.The only other man to do a 100,000 foot jump.By the way Felix pulled his chute higher than Joe did-accounting for the lesser time of freefall.

beast said...

Thought the slow response was more reaction to the extended cold (50f)for 2.5 hours.Also sitting in same position for time.And how great was it having Joe Kittinger doing CAPCOM.The only other man to do a 100,000 foot jump.By the way Felix pulled his chute higher than Joe did-accounting for the lesser time of freefall.

rhhardin said...

Tray table in fully upright and locked position.

Larry J said...

By the way Felix pulled his chute higher than Joe did-accounting for the lesser time of freefall.

There are a couple other factors to consider:

1. Felix was falling a lot faster than Kittenger in part because -

2. Kittenger had a drogue chute for stability.

Preliminary estimates are that Felix hit a peak velocity of Mach 1.24. To put that into perspective, that's roughly the top speed of the F-100 Super Sabre fighter and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer.