A 120,000-foot skydive — what could go wrong? Well, plenty

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Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will ascend more than 120,000 feet into the atmosphere inside a capsule attached to a helium balloon on Tuesday. Then, with nothing but a pressurized suit and a parachute, Baumgartner will jump out of the capsule and plummet toward Earth, breaking the sound barrier on the way down…

msnbc.msn.com/id/49305205/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Last I heard he was set to launch at 1:30PM Eastern time.

Godspeed.
 
HansTrappist said:
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will ascend more than 120,000 feet into the atmosphere inside a capsule attached to a helium balloon on Tuesday. Then, with nothing but a pressurized suit and a parachute, Baumgartner will jump out of the capsule and plummet toward Earth, breaking the sound barrier on the way down…

msnbc.msn.com/id/49305205/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Last I heard he was set to launch at 1:30PM Eastern time.

Godspeed.
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That is insanely high.
 
I was all ready to watch that *this morning *with Robin Meade. (Ohhh, Robin Meade :love:). Then they postponed it. Drat!
 
Nom_the_Wise said:
What winds? There’s only 1% of Earth’s atmosphere up there!
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But he’d be crossing 99% of the atmosphere on the way.

Ground-level winds can make balloon launching too dangerous.

There’s also the possibility that mid level winds could take him where he should not be.

ICXC NIKA
 
Joe_5859 said:
That is insanely high.
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Since human beings have died falling ten feet ( or even their own body length), the altitude really doesn’t matter that much, except the pressurization needs.

I for one would never skydive even from 1,000 ft. But I can understand the need of some to push the envelope.

ICXC NIKA
 
Launch Aborted

Today, the launch of the Red Bull Stratos capsule had to be stopped at 11:42 a.m. local time in Roswell, New Mexico just before Felix Baumgartner’s giant 30 million cubic foot balloon had been fully inflated and made ready for take off. From early morning the team postponed the launch due to strong winds at 700 feet - the balloon’s top - waiting for the right weather window to open. The launch was scheduled for 11:40 a.m., the balloon inflation had begun, and then gusty winds picked up and made a launch impossible.

redbullstratos.com/live
 
God watch over that brave man. And a prayer to St. Michael, the Patron Saint of Military Parachutists, would be welcome.

This isn’t just a vainglorious stunt - by testing these capabilities, he may save the life of an astronaut stranded in space in the future who could use an extreme high-altitude jump to return to earth.
 
Like the old saying goes, I can never understand why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly functioning airplane. 😛
 
He’s already completed a jump from 18 miles up, so this is not the first time the crew is attempting the stunt.

They may not be able to launch this week - the weather is iffy at best.

And, the 19 mile record jump was actually made FIFTY YEARS AGO. I think that success was mainly luck. At least the technology is much better now and he has a much better chance of survival. Of course, things can always go wrong.

All prayers go with him! I can tell you that neither of my sons would ever be allowed to do such a thing as long as I am alive!! :eek:
 
Sebrina said:
Like the old saying goes, I can never understand why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly functioning airplane. 😛
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They give me two parachutes; they don’t give you two planes. 😉
 
GEddie said:
But he’d be crossing 99% of the atmosphere on the way.

Ground-level winds can make balloon launching too dangerous.

There’s also the possibility that mid level winds could take him where he should not be.

ICXC NIKA
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Well…sure, when you say it like that. (GEddie? As in Rush?:cool:)
 
Arizona_Mike said:
God watch over that brave man. And a prayer to St. Michael, the Patron Saint of Military Parachutists, would be welcome.

This isn’t just a vainglorious stunt - by testing these capabilities, he may save the life of an astronaut stranded in space in the future who could use an extreme high-altitude jump to return to earth.
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Dude, I truly never *ever *even considered that there would be any practical applications for this jump. Thanks for the perspective. Seriously. I still remember Evel Knieval jumping the snake river. That jump helped no one.
 
Sebrina said:
Like the old saying goes, I can never understand why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly functioning airplane. 😛
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To paraphrase Tevye, when a man (or woman) jumps out of an airplane (or a capsule), there’s something wrong with one of them :bigyikes:
 
90K now. This is way cool to watch.

Edit: Over 4 million are watching this, i’m surprised YouTube hasn’t crashed because of the traffic.
 
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