65 years ago today, Chuck Yeager right stuff-ed his way through the sound barrier in Glamorous Glennis.
Today, me and a couple million other people are watching a live YouTube feed of Felix Baumgartner ascending 23 miles over Roswell, New Mexico to attempt to do the same thing, only without the plane...
EDIT: Just watched the whole thing.
Check that...
I just used a global communication network to watch video footage and
telemetry streamed in real time from the edge of space, where a man
privately sponsored by an energy drink company leaped into the black sky
and went supersonic without an aircraft.
What a fascinating modern world we live in!
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35 comments:
It's freaky to hear that the balloon is 1/10 the thickness of a sandwich bag. The whole thing is impressive.
Just did a quick read of Joe Kittinger's bio on wikipedia. Dude's a total bad-ass himself. No wonder Felix wanted him on the other end of the radio.
I visited Kill Devil Hill this summer. Didn't look like the famous pictures even a little bit, but the coast a few miles up sure did.
From "nobody ever did that before" to commercial passenger airline flight was a mere 11 years. The growth speed of the internets was positively glacial in comparison.
One of my Uncle's was a kid when the Wright's first flew, and he was still alive to watch Armstrong on the moon.
He said he couldn't believe he'd seen both.
If he succeeds, he'll be the second guy to do it...
Bill Weaver was the first- Not intentionally...
http://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/roadrunner_blog/?p=188
Well, he just landed. Thanks -- I caught this post and switched to the live feed a couple of minutes before he voluntarily exited a perfectly good capsule. :-)
At the same time, I had a football game streaming live over my laptop (radio feed) at the same time. Everything's amazing, and nobody's happy.
Down and safe!
Man....what a ride!
And he lands like a boss. Nicely played, sir, nicely played.
And Arlen Spector didn't live to see it.
Thanks, followed your link over to watch. Fascinating. I've watched video of Kittinger exiting the gondola and now I've seen Baumgartner hop off the platform 52 years later. All on the same consumer grade number cruncher!
The modern world, I am in awe.
Right after he jumped I noticed MY hands were sweating. You are so right Tam, this is a fascinating modern world we live in.
128,000 feet. Suspended from Saran Wrap.
And the guy who's records you're breaking is helping you.
Like a Boss indeed.
I love living in the future! :)
Made the whole family watch the live feed. Now I'm waiting to see the video from the 3 HD camera that were on his suit...
We visited the Wright Brothers' Memorial just a couple weeks ago. In a mere 60 years we went from first powered flight to landing on the moon. In the 60 years since ... well, the government pretty much took over the space program and we've regressed. The shuttle program has been grounded, and NASA larged defunded.
Now that we have folks stepping up, going on their own, building it themselves, (up yours, Obama) we are exploring our limits once again.
Cheers to Red Bull and all the folks with the intestinal fortitude that made this happen!
Caught the step off at chow, then CNN talking heads came back on and the workers were closing up shop. He'd just touched down when I finally got back to the room and got the live feed back.
That last view, straight down, before he stepped off, whoo, what a doozy!
Yeah, caught the link on a WW2 history forum I browse (we're all geeks, I guess), ended up watching the last few minutes of checklist and the jump on the wife's laptop while eating lunch. His statement "I'm goin home" sorta seemed a bit ...I dunno...."bland", to me. I woulda said something like "Hey, I can see Russia from here!" or "Dude...someone's stealing your rims!" or "Geeeeeeeeeeronimo!" or (best idea yet) "Dammit...I gotta pee!"
Seriously, though, excellent job to all involved! And I heard that they've confirmed, he broke the sound barrier! So that's 4 records broken in one jump!
That was straight up badass right there...
He didn't build/do that by himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aw shoot...really getting tired of THAT meme
BRAVO to the American can-do spirit!
Steve
Kinda surprised he didn't have to say "Redbull gives you wiiinnnnggggzzzz!"
Surprised he didn't have to say "Redbull gives you wiinnngggzzz!"
How can a man even walk with stones that big?
Truly outstanding!! And thumbs up to Chuck and Joe.
I think this Twitterererer had the best comment of the day: "And thus began the energy-drink arms race that culminated in the Brawndo Sun-Jump tragedy of 2174."
https://twitter.com/dansinker/status/257548032164384768
Crazy bastard. Amazing.
"...*I* and a couple million other people..."
PB
PB,
It's pronounced "ver-na-kyoo-lur". ;)
From "nobody ever did that before" to commercial passenger airline flight was a mere 11 years. The growth speed of the internets was positively glacial in comparison.
Having gotten my technical education in the barnstorming days of the .com boom, I have to disagree. I think it's progressive at about the same pace. I'm just sincerely hoping if I ever have kids, they'll resort to shooting the bastards before we ever have the Internet equivalent of the TSA.
Progressing, progressing, dammit.
"I just used a global communication network to watch video footage and telemetry streamed in real time from the edge of space, where a man privately sponsored by an energy drink company leaped into the black sky and went supersonic without an aircraft."
And THAT'S what capitalism gives you.
I didn't see a Russian Cosmonaut jump off a balloon to break the sound barrier.
-Rob
Felix Baumgartner reached 1223 ft/sec. That means that he achieved a Power Factor of about 2.1 million.
Let's all congratulate Felix for making Major in a big way!
"It's pronounced "ver-na-kyoo-lur". ;)"
Ah. And here I thought it was just pronounced "rong". :o)
"Ah. And here I thought it was just pronounced "rong". :o)"
Everybody else leave the fucking room. Now, please.
Okay.
Is it just me and PB?
Good.
Now...
Where in the goddam hell do you get off, after lo these many years reading this space, patting yourself on the back and thinking I don't know which pronoun to use?
I used EXACTLY THE PRONOUN I MEANT TO USE.
I did successfully complete third grade English, I can assure you.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. And the next bastige that pipes up when I use the contraction "ain't" deserves every goddam thing they get...
Now that just ain't right...
...on so many levels.
PB
I'm sorry, things are pretty high stress here right now, although I don't choose to discuss it in public.
I might be on a short fuse if someone goes taking a red pen to my computer screen.
I know. Plenty of high stress to go around for us all right now; I come by here to relieve mine and end up adding to yours with humor mistook for criticism. I'm the one that's sorry.
A red pen indeed. Hell, the cadence of the comment bitching me out (in private; heh!) was itself a thing of beauty.
Hope your stress and mine ease up.
Thank goodness no one piped up with "you're cute when you're angry". There might have blood drawn.
Call if you need to, we can discuss mollasses cookies and the state of the union.
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