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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.

12 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Redbull by bobstreo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Has identified the limits of server capacity.

    1. Re:Redbull by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 5, Informative

      Before the server dies, here is the direct youtube link to the live feed - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrIxH6DToXQ

    2. Re:Redbull by dtmos · · Score: 5, Informative

      the operator at the control center has a little bit of unfocused goofiness.

      You mean Joe Kittenger, the man who holds the existing record, the man Felix trusts implicitly, and possesses the only voice that Felix wants to hear in his capsule?

      When you are old enough to need bifocals, you'll appreciate the difference between "unfocused goofiness" and just trying to see.

    3. Re:Redbull by malakai · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Something was still off between those two on communications. I think Joe was trying to put him at ease, probably had direct view of his heart rate and other things we couldn't see. But I think Felix was having a fight or flight moment. I actually worried something with his suit pressure was wrong because he was acting like he had nitrogen narcosis ( or the equivalent at opposite extremes of pressure). He was slow to respond, and sometimes didn't respond or acknowledge at all. I can't help to think if this was a NASA or military exercise, they would have stopped the egress checklist and switched to a "is our pilot ok" checklist. It was painful to watch.

      --
      -Malakai
      A Dragon Lives in my Garage
    4. Re:Redbull by Sulphur · · Score: 5, Funny

      When he was asked to confrim that his pressure suite is inflating he just sat there and didn't respond (nothing to do apparently). Kittinger asked repeatedly and only then after some secondes (20, 30?) he got an answer.

      Briefly time became two dimensional.

    5. Re:Redbull by trout007 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm certified as an Enriched Air diver and you are a bit confused. It's the partial pressure of Oxygen that will kill you. The safe limit we dive to is 1.6 atm partial pressure of O2. This means that you could breath pure O2 in about 20 ft of water. Below that it's toxic.
      In spacesuits they breath pure O2 at about 3-4 psi. The reason is if you put in other gases your mixed gas pressure will be too high and you can't move in a flexible suit. If you go too low you are in trouble too.

      --
      I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
  2. Yay. Slashdot is up to date and current finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    FINALLY... A Slashdot posting that doesn't appear AFTER the event! :-)

  3. Re:Famous last word by jrmcc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nope - "Redbull gives you wiiiiiings!"

  4. Re:Speed_of_sound 1,236 km/h by rochrist · · Score: 5, Informative

    The speed of sound varies with air pressure. At 100,000 ft, the SoS is actually 680mph.

  5. Re:Yay. Slashdot is up to date and current finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Things like this are good to show your kids to demonstrate what a Real American can do with guts and determination and also to show them the indomitability of the American spirit and how we don't need to take any God damn shit from the Chinks, Japs, Eurotrash etc.

    If he had have died it would have additionally shown your kids that jumping off high things is very dangerous.

    So really it's win/win.

    Except he is Austrian.....

  6. Re:Yay. Slashdot is up to date and current finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Get back in your kangaroo and piss off. No one cares about your pedantry.

  7. Re:Hydrogen? by Xylantiel · · Score: 5, Informative

    My impression from the previous discussion on this was that helium shortage is a fictional crisis. Medical usages don't do helium recovery, which is where most of the loss occurs. Also the main source of helium - as a by-product of natural gas extraction - just vents most of it because its not worth capturing it. So complaining about "misuse" is nonsense. If one is really worried about a helium shortage one should be pushing for recovery in its biggest usage context and stockpiling. Neither of these are being discussed, so apparently this isn't actually serious.