Freefall at 690 mph!! LIVE!

rich56k

Red Bull is at it again, jumping out of a capsule at 120,000 feet (thats about 23 miles!!), rather than me try to describe this - it's worth a peek - scheduled to occur in less than 30 minutes (pending weather).

The cameras and other tech are worth the price of admission alone!

http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/

http://www.redbullstratos.com/technology/

http://www.redbullstratos.com/technology/cameras-communications/

-rich56k

Icebear

Dammit. This is the second time he's had to abort. Gotta be driving him nurtz.

rich56k

Icebear wrote: »

Dammit. This is the second time he's had to abort. Gotta be driving him nurtz.

Yep, especially after being strapped in and the balloon inflated ... latest is they're shooting for this Sunday a.m.

Sooner or later it'll happen and hopefully I'll be watching live.

After seeing their last couple of "New Years. No Limits." events live (the Travis Pastrana rally car jump off the Long Beach pier approx. 300 feet to land on a barge in the bay; and the snowmobile/motorcycle (almost) side-by-side jump in San Diego) which while pretty spectacular to witness they're engineered so very little can go wrong and the risk of death is minimal.

Travis:
http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Video/Travis-Sets-the-Bar-at-269-Feet-021242807325245
Side-by-side:
http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Video/red-bull-new-year-no-limits-021243144414887

This latest event is (to me anyhow) more than a few notches above in the risk category.

What then will they do next year??!!

-r

ian408

I think it's amazing that Red Bull has continued to sponsor things like this (and in so many different sports). What a challenge. And certainly
not in the same league as what has been done previously.

puzzledpaul

Now a go - just gone thro' 44k ft

rich56k

puzzledpaul wrote: »

Now a go - just gone thro' 44k ft

Yep - history is being made live as we post!!

See it live:

http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/

ian408

Discovery Science Channel is broadcasting live also.

rich56k

ian408 wrote: »

Discovery Science Channel is broadcasting live also.

Cool - the more coverage the better!

I wonder about the lack of face heat they just mentioned - and what would happen if the suit malfunctions ?

Will he just have to come back down in the capsule?

As you mentioned earlier the $$$ this must have cost is incredible - I know the ramps they built for the San Diego jump was well over a million dollars - thats a lot of Red Bull being bought!

ian408

If he was having a suit failure, I'd have thought he'd be bailing out almost immediately.

And I don't think it's possible to come down with the capsule. Maybe down to a safe jump altitude but not all the way.

rich56k

ian408 wrote: »

If he was having a suit failure, I'd have thought he'd be bailing out almost immediately.

And I don't think it's possible to come down with the capsule. Maybe down to a safe jump altitude but not all the way.

Good point - it looks like he's well past the point of no return!!

Now this is reality TV - I'm just happy to see this live - just that shot from outside the capsule aimed down to the earth gives me the chills (well I am afraid of heights and this goes way beyond that!!)

ian408

Blows me away. It's an incredible endeavor.

I wonder how Joe Kittinger feels? He's held the record for 52 years now and I'm sure he didn't expect to see it broken in his lifetime at that rate.

ian408

And the obligatory camera stuff. The IR and long lens photography is amazing (ground to capsule stuff).

rich56k

ian408 wrote: »

And the obligatory camera stuff. The IR and long lens photography is amazing (ground to capsule stuff).

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!clapthumbthumbclap

Absolutely incredible!!!

What a feat - and yes the technology is a story all its own!

Note: the first person to reach him on the ground was the still photographer!!!

Red Bull takes it's imagery very seriously!

WOW (just had to say it again!!)

ian408

You can be sure Red Bull will get as much airplay as they can. But still, it was such an amazing feat. I cannot wait to see what the BBC comes up with.

rich56k

ian408 wrote: »

You can be sure Red Bull will get as much airplay as they can. But still, it was such an amazing feat. I cannot wait to see what the BBC comes up with.

Well that was an inspiring way to spend a Sunday morning, thanks for the chat!