Red Bull Stratos Near Space Jump

[♠SARKID♠]

Felix Baumgartner will be attempting his near space freefall dive today.  Broadcast starts 1700(Z).  Should be awesome!

http://www.redbullstratos.com/live

[♠SARKID♠]

45 minutes to launch.

[A.Member]

This is truly amazing.  I wish him well.

[Walkman]

Gah! Launch aborted for today.

[lordmonar]

looks liked the aborted for today.

[Cool Mace]

Big let down for today. Let's hope it works out for tomorrow.

[a2capt]

It was sitting there so nice and then the trademark NM wind said "no, not today. Poof."

[♠SARKID♠]

What a shame.

[NIN]

It was sitting there so nice and then the trademark NM wind said "no, not today. Poof."

I'm surprised the Meteorology guy gave his "go" for that launch.  After a 5 hr delay, anybody with *any* knowledge of ballooning should be aware that the winds tend to *increase* during the day as the sun heats the atmosphere, which is why balloonists *generally* don't fly during the day.  A couple hrs after sunrise and a couple hrs before sunset are usually ideal ballooning conditions from a "launch & recovery" standpoint.

The worst part is, after you commit to filling the balloon, you're stuck.  The balloon is not reusable and it is easily damaged. They have a 2nd envelope, but still.  You start to fill it, you're committed to throwing that envelope away either on the runway or downrange after the flight.

The winds an hour before they started the webcast were "Calm" according to the AWOS/METAR. (that "calm" may have been "calm per the AWOS anemometer on the airfield, but not calm per our highly sensitive ballooning instruments," so surely YMMV)  The TAF, however, claimed that the forecast winds were 9kts and climbing as the day went on.  I would not have committed to launch in the face of that forecast with a max ground wind limit of 4mph.  Guess thats why I'm not a weather guesser.

[a2capt]

That surprised me too,  having flown into Roswell several times, I found the best time to be within an hour of Sunset, if it wasn't a stormy afternoon and it sure made for the mornings to be a nice time to leave before getting your butt kicked by density altitude.

[Flying Pig]

You know....  I just cant get excited about it.  This was done higher, 50 years ago.  Problem is, nobody (in regular society) knows anything about Kittenger.  Video will be way cool though.  but the event itself doesnt do anything for me. 

[A.Member]

You know....  I just cant get excited about it.  This was done higher, 50 years ago.  Problem is, nobody (in regular society) knows anything about Kittenger.  Video will be way cool though.  but the event itself doesnt do anything for me.

Um, no, it wasn't.  And everyone following the story knows about Kittinger...he's Baumgartner's advisor!

[Critical AOA]

Yep, Kittinger did it from 19 miles compared to Baumgartner's planned 23 miles.  Still, with the advances in technology and all over the years (1959 vs. 2012), I would still give Kittinger more credit.  Either way, my highest ever jump of 14,500' (2.75 miles) pales in comparison though I thought I was a bad arse at the time.

[A.Member]

Yep, Kittinger did it from 19 miles compared to Baumgartner's planned 23 miles.  Still, with the advances in technology and all over the years (1959 vs. 2012), I would still give Kittinger more credit.  Either way, my highest ever jump of 14,500' (2.75 miles) pales in comparison though I thought I was a bad arse at the time.

I take nothing from Kittinger's jump at all.  If anything, the fact that his record has stood this long is testament to just how great it a feat it was.  The dude is a stud and I hear he owns a very large wheelbarrow.

[NIN]

I take nothing from Kittinger's jump at all.  If anything, the fact that his record has stood this long is testament to just how great it a feat it was.  The dude is a stud and I hear he owns a very large wheelbarrow.

I have met him, and can attest to this fact.  And that he has a nice "polished wood and chromed metal" one for formal events.

[NIN]

Either way, my highest ever jump of 14,500' (2.75 miles) pales in comparison though I thought I was a bad arse at the time.

Two at 21,000 for me. Quick check of the logbook reveals 772 over 10, 500 (2 miles, give or take)

But 120,000? Yeahhhhh..

A Facebook friend said "Felix didn't like the spot and asked for a go-around."

[NIN]

Supposedly on for tomorrow morning.

[NIN]

Correction. Sunday, 0800 EDT.

[Huey Driver]

Watching right now - http://www.redbullstratos.com/live/

[tsrup]

Running through egress checklist now,

Now's the time to tune in folks if you haven't already.

[lordmonar]

On the Ground!  Way to go Felix!

[AngelWings]

That by far is the most baddest ass thing I've ever seen someone do!

[lordmonar]

That by far is the most baddest ass thing I've ever seen someone do!

I loved it!  Stand in the door, disconnect your O2, salute (flip off) the world and take a little step forward!

[NIN]

The aerospace discussions around this one would be ENDLESS.

[Silent Panther]

The aerospace discussions around this one would be ENDLESS.

And all of a sudden, my squadron is doing AE this week. That was truly an amazing feat! To know that he did it three hours from me made it even cooler.

[lordmonar]

The aerospace discussions around this one would be ENDLESS.

I'm gonna drag my rig out of the garage and take it to the meeting for a little free fall AE discussion. 

[Critical AOA]

Well, I for one am not too happy about all of this.  Now when I tell the ladies that I used to skydive and once jumped from a height of 14,500', they will just laugh at me and throw out Baumgartner's altitude.  [darn] you Felix!  [darn] you!

On a serious note, I am glad he succeeded overall and set some new records.  I am also glad that he pulled a bit high and as a result Joe Kittinger still owns one record.

And speaking of Kittinger, I read that at the post jump press conference that he offered a one fingered salute to all of the naysayers who had predicted Felix would fly to pieces if he went that fast.  That old guy rocks!

Congrats to both of these extraordinary gentlemen. 

[NIN]

The aerospace discussions around this one would be ENDLESS.

I'm gonna drag my rig out of the garage and take it to the meeting for a little free fall AE discussion.

Let me know if you want my PPT on the subject.  Having done "The Aerodynamics of Sport Parachuting" a number of times for CAP, its a barn burner

[lordmonar]

The aerospace discussions around this one would be ENDLESS.

I'm gonna drag my rig out of the garage and take it to the meeting for a little free fall AE discussion.

Let me know if you want my PPT on the subject.  Having done "The Aerodynamics of Sport Parachuting" a number of times for CAP, its a barn burner

Send it!

lordmonar@yahoo.com

[NIN]

Send it!

lordmonar@yahoo.com

26mb. I'll send you a link

[lordmonar]

Send it!

lordmonar@yahoo.com

26mb. I'll send you a link

Messaged Received. All data good.  Thanks Out!

[SarDragon]

Stratos jump successful!

[starshippe]

   thats a "long time to hang in the sky" as john denver would put it...
   i found this u tube link   Red Bull Stratos - Felix Baumgartner (freefall from the edge of space) [Full jump HD]
   but did not see any video from the jumper. are there other links with his video? mighta been a bit cool for a video cam on the way down.

bill

[♠SARKID♠]

Freaking. Awesome.
Didn't get to see it live, working today, but found this copy of the raw footage.

Felix Baumgartner Record Jump-Egress and Fall

[♠SARKID♠]

Then and Now

[Майор Хаткевич]

Then is WAY more impressive. Their technology is so archaic by our standards now...I don't think ANYONE today would jump the same way as they did.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Found some of the "helmet cam" footage:

http://io9.com/5951746/first+person-footage-from-felix-baumgartners-space-jump-will-make-your-head-spin?tag=space-jump

[a2capt]

From the surface of it .. you have to laugh.
From the reality of it, that's not quite true.

[Rauburg]

Kittinger still holds the record for the longest free fall time and I am really glad that he still has a place in the record books.

[NIN]

Kittinger still holds the record for the longest free fall time and I am really glad that he still has a place in the record books.

Mostly due to the difference between drogue-fall and freefall.

[A.Member]

This was simply awesome and should be an AE point of discussion at the every squadron.   This is the type of thing that gets people motivated and the opportunities for such records are becoming increasingly rare.

Has anyone seen any follow up interviews?  I'd like to get his thoughts on the spin and what he did to recover.  I heard that he thought he was going to black out and even the live footage cut away for a bit (assuming he was in trouble). 

What an amazing first step.   Holy cow. 

[SARDOC]

This was simply awesome and should be an AE point of discussion at the every squadron.   This is the type of thing that gets people motivated and the opportunities for such records are becoming increasingly rare.

Has anyone seen any follow up interviews?  I'd like to get his thoughts on the spin and what he did to recover.  I heard that he thought he was going to black out and even the live footage cut away for a bit (assuming he was in trouble). 

What an amazing first step.   Holy cow.

I saw one interview where he stated that it took over thirty seconds to recover from the spin, the blood was rushing to his head, and he almost felt the need to deploy the drogue chute...but he knew doing that he would lose the ability to break the sound barrier.

[A.Member]

...but he knew doing that he would lose the ability to break the sound barrier.

That brings up an interesting point.  I don't recall the timing exactly but I wonder if he regained control before or after breaking the sound barrier.  There are some interesting aerodynamics involved in breaking the sound barrier and I wonder if that played a factor in his recovery?  Or maybe it was all luck!

[a2capt]

"In response to Red Bull Stratos, Slim Jim has sponsored the shortest freefall of all time."

[JeffDG]

"In response to Red Bull Stratos, Slim Jim has sponsored the shortest freefall of all time."

I hate when people do stuff like this and don't bother with basic physics....0.006 seconds involves a free-fall of just over 1/100th of an inch.

[a2capt]

but .. but .. then the whole gimmick wouldn't work on animation

[JeffDG]

but .. but .. then the whole gimmick wouldn't work on animation

Just make it 0.1s...that's about 4" of free-fall.

[NIN]

I had an opportunity this weekend to do a little impromptu Aerospace Education related to Red Bull Stratos, high altitude ballooning and parachutes.

A gentleman, his son and his son's classmate were at my DZ to learn more about parachutes.  The entire fifth grade class at the kid's school down on the Cape are conducting a high altitude balloon science project.  The 120 5th graders are divided up into functional teams: payload, imaging, balloon, parachute, recovery, tracking, telemetry, public affairs, launch, internet, etc.

My DZO knows my background, so she had me give them a quick tour.  I've done this for CAP and scout groups in the past.

I immediately led them over to the parachute loft where we got up-close and personal with some round parachutes, albeit much larger than they were going to be using. The young lady was on the "parachute" team and was doing research for her team on this trip.  The son was on the telemetry team, and mostly along for the ride. 

These two kids were very well versed in the specifics of Red Bull Stratos, and were able to talk  about the layers of the atmosphere, the temperature and pressure demands of the flight, etc.  The young man got all excited when I started quizzing him about their instrumentation and tracking approach and told him I was a ham radio operator and knew a thing or two about APRS and direction finding (*they're going to use a SPOT tracker as the backup tracking system*).  He was really stoked when he spotted a Altitrack much like Felix's (albeit, with 18,000 ft as the top end, unlike Felix's 120,000 foot one)

I was a little stunned to be talking about deployment characteristics, nomenclature, and construction techniques with a 5th grader, and have this young lady not only soak it all in, but throw me some very, very interesting curveball questions.  At one point, we were discussing suspension lines and the characteristics of the different types of line (they're using 550 cord purchased from a surplus store) and she started to ask me about the flexibility and brittleness of different suspension line material (HMA & spectra) at low temperatures. I had to feign ignorance as to the specific characteristics in that environment, since all of my experience with these materials only goes to 20,000 ft or so, but I was able to give her some info on where to start looking for info.

It was neat to see 5th graders be so well-versed in the subject matter at hand.  I did not hurt that the gent was a former Naval Aviator F-14 jock and now drives 737s for Southwest, so he wasn't exactly "aviation clueless."