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Felix Baumgartner's Supersonic Skydive Attempt

Posted by samzenpus on from the go-ahead-and-jump dept.

First time accepted submitter madcarrots writes "The Red Bull Stratos space jump is about to take place. The balloon is filling up and launch is expected around 10 AM MDT. Check out the live feed of the inflation process... it's beautiful!" After some delays it looks like the jump is finally going to happen. UPDATE: The jump was a success. Baumgartner is on the ground and apparently fine.

4 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Hydrogen? by hawguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why don't they use Hydrogen for things like this (one-time use balloon) and preserve more Helium for scientific and medical use (and for safe party balloons)?

    Or is helium depletion no longer a pressing problem with the current natural gas boom?

    Hydrogen has been largely discredited as the root cause of the Hindenberg disaster, is it possible to use it safely in a high altitude research balloon?

    1. Re:Hydrogen? by hawguy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Are you high or something? Or is scientific stuff only the stuff you approve of?

      Well, I'm more interested in the medical usage - about six months ago, my dad had to reschedule an MRI, the imaging center said that there was a shortage of helium needed to run the unit. He had a non-critical need for his MRI so rescheduling was not a problem, but I have to think that the 30 million cubic feet of helium that they are venting to the atmosphere in this thrill ride would keep a lot of MRI machines running.

      http://www.fiercemedicalimaging.com/story/helium-shortage-threatens-access-mri-services/2012-09-23

  2. Re:ha! by Splab · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For me Red Bull sure is doing a lot for pushing science - granted, it's mostly "How can I make this go faster with less safety" - but the result of their various experiments are helping the greater good, just think about all the advancements in the field of patching people up after "Hey, Y'all watch this" moments.

  3. Re:Redbull by bytesex · · Score: 4, Interesting

    He was also in a pressure suit the severely limited his motion. Maybe he was just too busy to talk, trying to figure out how to get certain things done.

    --
    Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.