Watch Felix Baumgartner's jump live-Page 2| Off-Topic Discussion forum |

mazdeuce HalfDork
10/9/12 1:05 p.m.

I love that people do this.
Bummed that the drop was scrubbed.

Keith Tanner MegaDork
10/9/12 1:14 p.m.

In order for him to be considered for a speed record, doesn't he have to repeat the run within an hour in the opposite direction? That's the one I want to see.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid UltraDork
10/9/12 1:16 p.m.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

I don't think it's supposed to be a speed run as much as it's supposed to be breaking the sound barrier with a human.

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/9/12 1:18 p.m.

And this would be the second time as most media outlets forget, even though Joe Kittinger is working on this.

pinchvalve UltimaDork
10/9/12 1:19 p.m.

So you can take a balloon into space? WTF was all of that space race crap in the 60's then? Why did we pour billions into Atlas Rockets when the solution was down at the local papermart?

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/9/12 1:54 p.m.

pinchvalve wrote: So you can take a balloon into space? WTF was all of that space race crap in the 60's then? Why did we pour billions into Atlas Rockets when the solution was down at the local papermart?

You can take them up to the edge of space, so the Russians could have used one for Gagarin's flight and the US could have used one for Alan Shepard's flight, but that's about it.

And helium is expensive and absolutely finite, once released it floats into space and never comes back

PHeller UltraDork
10/9/12 2:01 p.m.

The balloon is ultra thin and light, and they give it just enough helium to pull the pod into the stratosphere. It looks funny at the ground because its this huge balloon with just a little bit of helium in it. At jump height it will be the largest balloon (not blimp) in history (I think because I'm not able to find actual information that supports this).

vwcorvette Dork
10/9/12 2:02 p.m.

pinchvalve wrote: So you can take a balloon into space? WTF was all of that space race crap in the 60's then? Why did we pour billions into Atlas Rockets when the solution was down at the local papermart?

Can't mount a nuclear weapon on those balloons and get them where you want them with any precision would be my guess!

Keith Tanner MegaDork
10/9/12 2:12 p.m.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: I don't think it's supposed to be a speed run as much as it's supposed to be breaking the sound barrier with a human.

I find that disappointing. I really wanted to see that backup run. Bungee cord or rocket pack?

alfadriver PowerDork
10/14/12 10:03 a.m.

Bump- apparently, they are going to jump this morning- both Discovery and Velocity are covering it. Winds are down, and the ballon is being filled right now.

mapper Reader
10/14/12 10:03 a.m.

Looks like it's on. They're filling the balloon now.

alfadriver PowerDork
10/14/12 10:29 a.m.

And the ballon is released!!!

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/14/12 10:46 a.m.

I guess it's going to ascend more slowly as he goes higher because he's already up to 20kft.

hotrodlarry HalfDork
10/14/12 10:46 a.m.

He's at 22,000 and climbing.

wonder how this is gonna end....

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/14/12 10:55 a.m.

30kft now.

alfadriver PowerDork
10/14/12 11:04 a.m.

40k ft

JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
10/14/12 11:12 a.m.

HLN just mentioned that Joe Kittinger is going to be talking to Felix both on the way up and on the way down. I think it's classy when a former record-holder is there to support the guy trying to push his envelope a little further. It's the opposite of those A-holes from the '76 Dolphins who get together and have a party every time the last undefeated NFL team loses.

And Baumgartner's jump will in no way minimize what Kittinger did, either. I'm sure every centimeter of Felix's fall has been painstakingly computer modeled and theorized 10,000 different ways. When Joe went up in 1960 they probably yelled from the ground "Oh, by the way, you're going to have to jump" right about the time they were letting the balloon go.

jg

alfadriver PowerDork
10/14/12 11:15 a.m.

In reply to JG Pasterjak:

Joe is the ONLY one talking to Felix. Sort of like when only astronauts talk to astronauts. The coverage shows them both all the time.

Quasimo1 New Reader
10/14/12 11:16 a.m.

50K feet now. What is his jump target? 120K feet?

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/14/12 11:20 a.m.

He'll need to go higher than 102k ft to break the record.

Ascent is way slower now.

JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
10/14/12 11:20 a.m.

alfadriver wrote: In reply to JG Pasterjak: Joe is the ONLY one talking to Felix. Sort of like when only astronauts talk to astronauts. The coverage shows them both all the time.

Yeah. Finally got the feed working. That's cool. I guess Joe's probably the most qualified to tell Felix to do with his brontosaurus-sized balls on the way down.

jg

ProDarwin SuperDork
10/14/12 11:22 a.m.

Is there a way to stream this from a PS3? I'm having a hell of time finding a way

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/14/12 11:24 a.m.

The stream is on Youtube, tried that?

JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
10/14/12 11:24 a.m.

ProDarwin wrote: Is there a way to stream this from a PS3? I'm having a hell of time finding a way

Not sure, but if you have cable, HLN is cutting in quite frequently. CNN and Fox both have their Sunday morning shows on and haven't been going to coverage at all yet.

jg

GameboyRMH PowerDork
10/14/12 11:25 a.m.

They just dropped 60lbs of ballast to speed it up.