Red Bull Stratos

[Triple J]

Awesome!  Skydive from 120,000 feet and break the sound barrier in free fall.

For those that haven't seen Kittinger's 1960 jump from just under 103,000 feet (there's a Discovery special on it)...it was amazing. I can't imagine the feeling of being alone on a balloon at that height. 

http://www.redbullstratos.com/

[KnightofNi]

that must have been a very odd feeling. complete solitude and open to everything.

when i first saw the thing on discovery about the jump i was a bit freaked out. the more i thought about it the more i liked the idea. not only are you doing something that others havne't. it's also just you and your gear. no room or time for second thoughts or fear by the time you get into the basket.


anyone feel like skydiving? lol

[Triple J]

no room or time for second thoughts or fear by the time you get into the basket.

No room agreed...plenty of time as you float up though. 

[KnightofNi]

No room agreed...plenty of time as you float up though. 

haha, yes. but by that point you are all in.
no sense in getting nervous then. you should spent the time thinking of all the moves you will be pulling off on your 5 minute free fall.

[Monsterlover]

5 minute somersault

[KnightofNi]

5 minute somersault

which leads to 5 min of 

and then hiooping that it doesn't hit you as you are landing. lol.

[NuTTs]

I saw a bit of a documentary/commercial about the event on Red Bull tv. Looks excoting

[mitt]

new graphic



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/science/16tier.html



mitt

[Grampa]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity

[Triple J]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity

That's why he is going so high...less dense air = less drag = more speed. 

[Grampa]

That's why he is going so high...less dense air = less drag = more speed. 

I had thought terminal  velocity maxed out  at 120... that's why I looked it up.

120 may be light speed for Randall..... but it's a far cry from  breaking the sound barrier in the real world 

[derby]

bummer...

http://www.redbullstratos.com/JumpOnHold.aspx

Oct 18, 2010

Red Bull GmbH and Red Bull North America Inc have decided to stop the Red Bull Stratos programme with immediate effect.
Felix Baumgartner had been scheduled to undertake a stratospheric balloon flight to 120,000ft (36.5km) and attempt a freefall jump that would, for the first time, reach supersonic speeds, as well as deliver valuable scientific data.
Despite the   fact that many other people over the past 50 years have tried to break Colonel (Ret) Joe Kittinger's altitude record, and that other individuals have sought to work with Red Bull in an attempt to break his record, Daniel Hogan claims to own certain rights to the project and filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit earlier this year in a Californian court.
Red Bull has acted appropriately in its prior dealings with Mr Hogan, and will demonstrate this as the case progresses. Due to the lawsuit, we have decided to stop the project until this case has been resolved.

[Kopfjager]

That's just plain make the beast with two backsed up. They have been working on this project for a couple of years. Why is this coming up now? 

[pennyrobber]

What a prick. Mr. Hogan, hater of all things cool.

[erkishhorde]

Says a little more.
http://austrianindependent.com/news/Sports/2010-10-13/4900/%27Red_Bull_Stratos%27_grounded_by_lawsuit

Actually, this one is a bit better.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/27/26753.htm

Not much "recent" stuff after November. Guess it won't be happening anytime soon.