Free Fall from Space... Live feed.

[Captain Zissou]

NRW-  You do know that Baumgartner was a famous base jumper, right?  He has jumped off the Petronas towers in Malaysia, Taipei 101 in Taipei, the Jesus satue in RIO (which was the record at the time for the lowest base jump ever), and he has experimented with a carbon fiber wing that he used to cross the english channel and race a plane WITHOUT AN ENGINE.  Felix has done just about everything you can do that involves a parachute.  Look up his top 10 jumps for references.  He said this is his greatest jump ever, so I believe him.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I honestly don't know anything about him, but it wouldn't surprise me that this was his best jump - to be so high that you see the curvature of the earth the way he saw it.... 

Let me rephrase a little for clarity - I'm not impressed with the feat.  His jump doesn't take any special talent or skill, just a lot of money.  The height of the jump itself was fairly impressive, but the next guy with a few mil to burn, as I said, will probably come from orbit.

I'm not trying to take anything away from him, it's just that you or I could do the same thing with the proper funding.

[Adam W]

^wow. I think I'm officially no longer the most cynical person on this forum 

[BridgeTroll]

I honestly don't know anything about him, but it wouldn't surprise me that this was his best jump - to be so high that you see the curvature of the earth the way he saw it.... 

Let me rephrase a little for clarity - I'm not impressed with the feat.  His jump doesn't take any special talent or skill, just a lot of money.  The height of the jump itself was fairly impressive, but the next guy with a few mil to burn, as I said, will probably come from orbit.

I'm not trying to take anything away from him, it's just that you or I could do the same thing with the proper funding.

Maybe if someone pushed you out...lol

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I honestly don't know anything about him, but it wouldn't surprise me that this was his best jump - to be so high that you see the curvature of the earth the way he saw it.... 

Let me rephrase a little for clarity - I'm not impressed with the feat.  His jump doesn't take any special talent or skill, just a lot of money.  The height of the jump itself was fairly impressive, but the next guy with a few mil to burn, as I said, will probably come from orbit.

I'm not trying to take anything away from him, it's just that you or I could do the same thing with the proper funding.

Maybe if someone pushed you out...lol

I doubt it.  I've been tandem jumping about a dozen times and have loved it from the first one.  There was no fear.  I'm also one of those idiots that like jumping from bridges.  I've only been ticketed once, in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids that got tired of waiting in traffic on the way to the beach - we were about 3/4 up - in a word, awesome.

[BridgeTroll]

I honestly don't know anything about him, but it wouldn't surprise me that this was his best jump - to be so high that you see the curvature of the earth the way he saw it.... 

Let me rephrase a little for clarity - I'm not impressed with the feat.  His jump doesn't take any special talent or skill, just a lot of money.  The height of the jump itself was fairly impressive, but the next guy with a few mil to burn, as I said, will probably come from orbit.

I'm not trying to take anything away from him, it's just that you or I could do the same thing with the proper funding.

Maybe if someone pushed you out...lol

I doubt it.  I've been tandem jumping about a dozen times and have loved it from the first one.  There was no fear.  I'm also one of those idiots that like jumping from bridges.  I've only been ticketed once, in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids that got tired of waiting in traffic on the way to the beach - we were about 3/4 up - in a word, awesome.

lol... I have jumped from a few things myself... but a few feet, or hundred feet, or even thousand feet... pales in comparison to 128k and 800+ mph... just sayin...

[ben says]

I honestly don't know anything about him, but it wouldn't surprise me that this was his best jump - to be so high that you see the curvature of the earth the way he saw it.... 

Let me rephrase a little for clarity - I'm not impressed with the feat.  His jump doesn't take any special talent or skill, just a lot of money.  The height of the jump itself was fairly impressive, but the next guy with a few mil to burn, as I said, will probably come from orbit.

I'm not trying to take anything away from him, it's just that you or I could do the same thing with the proper funding.

I agree.

People kept calling him courageous. I disagree. Jumping out of the pod definitely took los cojones, so to speak, but he was clearly an adrenaline junkie from the start.

If the guy was really courageous, he'd donate his "earnings" to charity.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

lol... I have jumped from a few things myself... but a few feet, or hundred feet, or even thousand feet... pales in comparison to 128k and 800+ mph... just sayin...

I haven't seen or read any interviews, but in a full suit and mask, I think you'd lose all concept of speed during the freefall - it's not like there's anything around to judge yourself, just a big, brown sphere getting closer and closer. 

Now if he were to pass an F-18 that was in a dive.....

With regards to the height, all it takes is one step, whether you're a few hundred or a few hundred thousand feet up, you just wait longer before deploying your chute.

[Bridges]

Geez people.  Neil Degrasse Tyson was right, we stopped dreaming. 

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Geez people.  Neil Degrasse Tyson was right, we stopped dreaming.

How so?

[BridgeTroll]

in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids

Aircrew candidate by chance?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids

Aircrew candidate by chance?

3 of the 5...  my roommate and I were at AT school.

Someone wasn't intelligent enough to not admit to using a certain grassy substance prior to enlistment which made a lot of opportunities unavailable - nuke and aircrew were the two that I wanted but couldn't get waivered.

[BridgeTroll]

in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids

Aircrew candidate by chance?

3 of the 5...  my roommate and I were at AT school.

Someone wasn't intelligent enough to not admit to using a certain grassy substance prior to enlistment which made a lot of opportunities unavailable - nuke and aircrew were the two that I wanted but couldn't get waivered.

rofl... I lied... did 20 as an AW...

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids

Aircrew candidate by chance?

3 of the 5...  my roommate and I were at AT school.

Someone wasn't intelligent enough to not admit to using a certain grassy substance prior to enlistment which made a lot of opportunities unavailable - nuke and aircrew were the two that I wanted but couldn't get waivered.

rofl... I lied... did 20 as an AW...

I had probably the worst experience that one could fathom, and the really f-d up part was that I enjoyed structured nature of it, but I couldn't handle the lack of responsibility / critical thinking.  A quick timeline:

Boot camp at Great Lakes - loved it.  My first winter out of the southeast and the mind games that went into it - awesome.

Arrive in Pensacola for A-School and spend 8 months waiting on a class to open - cleaning the barracks for 8 months sucks.

Finally start A-School, but decided to take the AT(o) instead of AT(i) or wait another 4-8 months for a class to open. - really wanted to get out of the Barracks - for those that don't know what I'm talking about, if you were stationed there, but not in a school, you were 'stationed' at the barracks and your day consisted of cleaning the barracks (6-2) & standing duty when needed.  Pretty much sucked.

Almost 2 years into a 4 year commitment, I end up in J'ville in an S-3 Squadron (not a land base as I wanted, see the schooling note above) that had just gotten back from deployment, so what did I get to do as they wound back down - that's right another 8 months of cleaning.....  1st Lt at your service, sir.  Only this time, I get the 11-7 shift which pretty much fucked my weeks.  In that entire time, a spot in the shop never opened, and we were scheduled to do work-ups on the Truman.  Basically a 3 month deployment to St. Thomas which was pretty cool, but again, 3 months of split shift cleaning.

At 38 months I applied for and was granted early discharge with the additional months added to my reserve status. 

Basically I spent the better part of 4 years learning how to wax floors and fold clothes, but join the Navy see the World....  meh.  See the terlit sparkle.   

Postscript, my younger brother, through talking to me and based on my experience joined the Air Force - to stay close to home - his first duty station - Osaka, Japan.  He's now been all over the world, including 2 stints in Afghanistan and is currently a TI in San Antonio. 

FML. 

I had a 98 ASVAB, and wanted to drive a sub, he a 70 something and wanted to stay home.

[BridgeTroll]

in Pensacola, but it was me and 4 other squids

Aircrew candidate by chance?

3 of the 5...  my roommate and I were at AT school.

Someone wasn't intelligent enough to not admit to using a certain grassy substance prior to enlistment which made a lot of opportunities unavailable - nuke and aircrew were the two that I wanted but couldn't get waivered.

rofl... I lied... did 20 as an AW...

I had probably the worst experience that one could fathom, and the really f-d up part was that I enjoyed structured nature of it, but I couldn't handle the lack of responsibility / critical thinking.  A quick timeline:

Boot camp at Great Lakes - loved it.  My first winter out of the southeast and the mind games that went into it - awesome.

Arrive in Pensacola for A-School and spend 8 months waiting on a class to open - cleaning the barracks for 8 months sucks.

Finally start A-School, but decided to take the AT(o) instead of AT(i) or wait another 4-8 months for a class to open. - really wanted to get out of the Barracks - for those that don't know what I'm talking about, if you were stationed there, but not in a school, you were 'stationed' at the barracks and your day consisted of cleaning the barracks (6-2) & standing duty when needed.  Pretty much sucked.

Almost 2 years into a 4 year commitment, I end up in J'ville in an S-3 Squadron (not a land base as I wanted, see the schooling note above) that had just gotten back from deployment, so what did I get to do as they wound back down - that's right another 8 months of cleaning.....  1st Lt at your service, sir.  Only this time, I get the 11-7 shift which pretty much fucked my weeks.  In that entire time, a spot in the shop never opened, and we were scheduled to do work-ups on the Truman.  Basically a 3 month deployment to St. Thomas which was pretty cool, but again, 3 months of split shift cleaning.

At 38 months I applied for and was granted early discharge with the additional months added to my reserve status. 

Basically I spent the better part of 4 years learning how to wax floors and fold clothes, but join the Navy see the World....  meh.  See the terlit sparkle.   

Postscript, my younger brother, through talking to me and based on my experience joined the Air Force - to stay close to home - his first duty station - Osaka, Japan.  He's now been all over the world, including 2 stints in Afghanistan and is currently a TI in San Antonio. 

FML. 

I had a 98 ASVAB, and wanted to drive a sub, he a 70 something and wanted to stay home.

yep... that was effed up.  That stuff can happen when the "pipeline" gets clogged.  Your apparent joy of jumping from things may have made you a good rescue swimmer.  I was a good enough swimmer but after tasting the thrill of jumping out of perfectly good helicopters... I opted for the P-3.  Took a year of training before getting to an active squadron... then went to more places than most can imagine... and never spent a day on a ship! (Unless 10 days aboard a submarine counts)