This project is cursed:
French skydiver's hopes deflate as balloon escapes
Updated Tue. May. 27 2008 8:06 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
French skydiver Michel Fournier's massive helium balloon appeared to break free from its moorings Tuesday, soaring into the sky and deflating his hopes to set a new world record for highest jump.
It was the second straight day that Fournier's hopes were cut short.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080526/skydiver_freefall_080527/20080527?hub=CanadaAM
They just (well around 9:45 pm EDT) had the first Mars photos come in at NASA TV. It was pretty exciting, especially for all of those engineers. The first pictures were actually of the machine parts (solar array, foot) to make sure everything had deployed correctly but they later had some shots of the Mars landscape...flat but with some interesting wave patterns in the topography.
They'll get fresh images about every two hours from the orbiter above Mars so they'll probably be something exciting in tomorrow's paper. Yes, I read those paper things.
I wonder how long it will take him to get to that altitude in a balloon. I mean, it's dark at 4 am and one would think it'd be better to jump during daylight hours. But maybe it takes a couple of hours to get 25 miles (still don't quite believe it is possible).
He was supposed to jump today above Canada. I would think he'd have done it by now but I can't find any news about it. There must be some video of this unless it ended tragically. By the way, who is going to stay in the balloon or does it just drift into space?
I'm not condoning the business these folks were in (and it sounds like a business because he was paid) but the guy is just 25 years old. A five year sentence is a big chunk of his young life.
I have the impression that this will be a generic hand impression, not unique to the computer owner so how useful will this be? And if I balance a laptop, it's on my lap, not on my hand...I mean, if you balanced a laptop on your hand, how could you use the touchpad and keyboard?!
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This project is cursed:
French skydiver's hopes deflate as balloon escapes Updated Tue. May. 27 2008 8:06 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
French skydiver Michel Fournier's massive helium balloon appeared to break free from its moorings Tuesday, soaring into the sky and deflating his hopes to set a new world record for highest jump. It was the second straight day that Fournier's hopes were cut short.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080526/skydiver_freefall_080527/20080527?hub=CanadaAM
Because of high winds this jump has been put off until tomorrow, 5 am Canada time.
They just (well around 9:45 pm EDT) had the first Mars photos come in at NASA TV. It was pretty exciting, especially for all of those engineers. The first pictures were actually of the machine parts (solar array, foot) to make sure everything had deployed correctly but they later had some shots of the Mars landscape...flat but with some interesting wave patterns in the topography. They'll get fresh images about every two hours from the orbiter above Mars so they'll probably be something exciting in tomorrow's paper. Yes, I read those paper things.
I wonder how long it will take him to get to that altitude in a balloon. I mean, it's dark at 4 am and one would think it'd be better to jump during daylight hours. But maybe it takes a couple of hours to get 25 miles (still don't quite believe it is possible).
Just found out that the news stories are wrong and he is jumping early tomorrow (Monday) not today.
He was supposed to jump today above Canada. I would think he'd have done it by now but I can't find any news about it. There must be some video of this unless it ended tragically. By the way, who is going to stay in the balloon or does it just drift into space?
But you gotta love geeks dancing! It's so rare to see and they seem to get so much joy out of it. (post from a geekwatcher)
I'm not condoning the business these folks were in (and it sounds like a business because he was paid) but the guy is just 25 years old. A five year sentence is a big chunk of his young life.
Unfortunately, you have to be a subscriber to have access to the article. I'd be interested in seeing it at some point.
I have the impression that this will be a generic hand impression, not unique to the computer owner so how useful will this be? And if I balance a laptop, it's on my lap, not on my hand...I mean, if you balanced a laptop on your hand, how could you use the touchpad and keyboard?!
Another reason I don't have a cell phone. Don't want it, don't need it, don't miss it.