Red Bull Stratos- jump from the stratosphere record attempt.

[Zico]

Anyone else watching this? If not here's a wee heads up. ;)

He is currently at aprox 40k feet and rising fast.

Live link here- Live Broadcast | Red Bull Stratos (http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/)

[donKey jote]

Yep I stumbled upon it by chance.
Let's all see if he desintegrates,eh? :s

[Zico]

Yep I stumbled upon it by chance.
Let's all see if he desintegrates,eh? :s

Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine. :/

[donKey jote]

ooh but what if his head hits the sound barrier before his feet do... won't he be ripped to bits? :s

[Zico]

Doesn't he have a tiny chute which will only deploy at a certain speed to slow him down, keeping him at a safe velocity?

[Mark]

I don't think so. The idea is to go as fast as he can.

[Zico]

I don't think so. The idea is to go as fast as he can.

Yeah, scrub that... I thought I'd read that somewhere but cant find it, maybe I dreamed it. :D

[donKey jote]

the commentary is good... going through all the previous tragedies for the nth time :s

[donKey jote]

jump before it bursts! :s

[Zico]

C'mon!

[donKey jote]

I wish NASA would also send live coverage :)

[Dave B]

Jump!

[race aficionado]

Holly molly!!!

Is this for real?

Is this live?

Wow!

He jumped and he is still falling (over 4 minutes now) and now the shoot-it didn't snap off thank goodness!

Wonderfully nuts!!!

AMAZING video coverage

Thanks for posting - I had no idea and the timing was perfect.

[donKey jote]

shute open!

[Zico]

Wow! WHat a fantastic feat to witness live. Go Felix!

[donKey jote]

perfect touchdown !

[race aficionado]

frik'n amazing!

Felix, I salute you !!
Dam! you are nuts! Whew!

[Dave B]

Bit of a nervous moment when he started spinning but an amazing feat!

[donKey jote]

next he should do a bungee :p

[janvanvurpa]

next he should do a bungee :p

He's probably kicking himself now. :idea: What a lost opportunity. :arrows:

[Zico]

It has been confirmed that he actually hit 833.9 MPH, now that is just insane!

The BBC are doing a documentary on this and have been following it for 5 years. I'm led to believe there were also camera's on his suit so here's hoping it will show the full descent from his perspective.




... and for those that missed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MT1DhcQg0Os

[Dave B]

I started watching it, got bored and went up to Tesco to get some food. Everybody is talking about it on Facebook now. At the time eating appeared more important than watching such a magnificent historical event. This guy was free falling and I was starving. Kind of wished I had seen it now but nevermind. :)
Order a takeaway next time :p

[Mark]

Kind of the same here, was watching it live, it was just a balloon, nothing exciting, had to put the bairn to bed then when I got back it was all over.

[wedge]

Kind of the same here, was watching it live, it was just a balloon, nothing exciting, had to put the bairn to bed then when I got back it was all over.

Do Go Pro's work in the stratosphere?

Perhaps the shot of him jumping off in HD might have helped. In that second I held my breath with my heart in my mouth and that brief moment when he was spinning and no contact.

[janneppi]

I read somewhere that the capsule dropped some 90km east of where he landed. I didn't think it would have drifted that far away.

[Mark]

It's gone into space! I'm surprised it was only 90km.

[D-Type]

I've only seen what's on the news. Can somebody please explain the function of the 20-odd people in "Mission Control"?

[anthonyvop]

What is the big deal? Been done before.

This Is The Man Who Made The First Supersonic Parachute Jump, Just Not On Purpose (http://jalopnik.com/5951233/this-is-the-man-who-made-the-first-supersonic-parachute-jump-just-not-on-purpose?utm_source=jalopnik.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation)

[dj_bytedisaster]

I think there's a difference between unintentionally falling out of a plane at something like 60.000 or 70.000 feet and willingly stepping out of a perfectly servicable craft at 128.000 feet and just whacking down in free fall for over 100.000 feet, which is more than the blackbird's service ceiling.