Monday, October 15, 2012
Felix Baumgartner Breaks Sound Barrier During Freefall
Yesterday morning, I spent a good hour or so of my day watching the final part of the ascent of Felix Baumgartner as he climbed ever higher in a helium filled balloon in a capsule with a tiny little step. No way you would ever get me on that step. Felix though, jacked up on Red Bull, did just that as he jumped from over 128,000 feet and then did a free fall for almost 4:30 seconds before pulling his chute just short of the elapsed time set way back in 1960. That's right, 1960. You kind of knew Felix could pull this whole thing off if some Navy guys did it over 50 years ago. Can you imagine how cutting edge that was back then? I'm shocked that no one has really tried it since. During his jump, Felix broke the sound barrier with his body which is another thing I would never want to do. I'm kind of glad that a part of the record from 1960 is still intact.
This space jump dude is a nut.
ReplyDeleteThat's insane ! What happens if you shit your pants ? First poo to break the sound barrier
ReplyDeleteYeah. The video was intense! He is the man for getting up there! That looked so scary.
ReplyDeleteSide tangent- this has got me into watching squirrel or flying suit videos. I have always been afraid of heights but I totally want to try it!!
Wing suit videos are amazing to watch!! Also sponsored by red bull much of the time. Forget wings, that stuff makes you cray-zee.
DeleteMy dad was at the ranch when he landed - they could hear his sonic boom when he broke the sound barrier. Pretty cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt was kind of crazy listening to his speech before he jumped, hear him breathing, knowing those could be his last words.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been an incredible experience.
@KaySea
Really? That's pretty awesome.
I hope Felix does the talk show circuit.
ReplyDeleteGoes- that's what I thought too.
ReplyDeleteAtleast they were some awesome words. His mom at the end made me tear up.
Yeah - I grew up in Roswell and my folks still live there ... so they were at the airport to watch the launch and then my dad drove east to try to follow the balloon. Felix landed on one friend's ranch and the balloon/capsule landed on another not too far away.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that he didn't travel further. I thought for sure he'd end up in Texas.
Absolutely Amazing!
ReplyDeleteI dream of going into space as a civilian. I hope these daredevil feast will someday make that possible!
Felix, you're my hero today :D
That scared the crap out of me yesterday. I love brave/crazy dudes like this.
ReplyDeleteThe person that did it in 1960 was in a Blackbird and had to make an emergency exit.
What an amazing view to have before you jump. It's not something I would ever do though. I hate the feel of falling and that would scare the crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteI think I read that the parachute automatically deployed because he was pulling too many G's.
ReplyDelete@kaysea: that's so cool that this all took place in your home town!
ReplyDeleteWhat gets me is how could they have known where he would land? Even with his steering mechanism, how did he not fall aimed in the middle of Syria?
ReplyDeleteI'm a pretty jaded person on most things, but that was fucking awesome
ReplyDeleteI'm a pretty jaded person on most things, but that was fucking awesome
ReplyDeletethat can't be good for your internal organs
ReplyDeleteI'm a big believer in space exploration but I'm not sure why this was done other than to set a new record. However, since he didn't use public money for it, enjoy - although I'd never do it. I would, however, have gone up in the space shuttle in a second if asked.
ReplyDeleteFSP I LOVE your avatar! Bubbles forever!
ReplyDeleteMy stomach did three somersaults just watching that video. Felix is insane but I am so proud of him! This is so exciting!
ReplyDeleteIn August 1960 U.S. Air Force Captain (now Colonel retired) Joseph Kittinger jumped from 102,000+ feet for the world record parachute jump prior to yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe Navy team set a manned balloon altitude record of 104,000+ feet in May 1961. That team stayed with the gondola through the decent.
For those of you that watched yesterdays effor Col. Kittinger was the communicator for the mission. He was the man leading Felix through his checklists.
Awe- inspiring. And he's got the nerve to be cute, too,
ReplyDelete