Space Jam

So, I have to be honest here... I had no idea this little thing called the Space Jump (or Red Bull Stratos project) was even happening yesterday.  Sundays are football days in my household, so when my parents called and asked if I was watching the live feed from the jump, I thought they were nuts.  WHY?  Why would I be watching that over The NFL Today on CBS? 

When there was a commercial break, I figured I would turn it on to see what all of the fuss was about.  I was captivated.  This tiny capsule was transporting a human into space via what can only be described as a giant, oversized balloon.  WHAT. THE. HELL?  I had to watch.... 

 

I must say, it was quite boring for the first hour and a half as Felix Baumgartner was just floating up into the sky with no real activity.  Sure, there were multiple camera views, shots of the earth and what not, but...we have all been on a plane.  It just was not that exciting....

Once he hit about 90,000 feet, then it started to get more interesting.  You could start to see the curvature of the earth through the wide lens camera angles, and when they showed the camera view from the bottom of the capsule looking up, it was pitch black.  Space.  How cool is that?!

I found myself starting to fear for this guy's life when he surpassed the target jumping altitude of 120,000 feet and ground control was still in the process of attempting to trouble shoot an issue he was having with his heated visor.  Then, I started to feel bad for him, knowing that he might actually get all the way up there and not even be able to jump....or that he might get stuck in that capsule, just drifting off into space.  Later, I was informed that the capsule would be returning to earth in one piece and, worst case scenario, they would simply return the capsule to earth with Felix inside. 

Turns out, if you connect a parachute to any kind of object, you can just pretend to fly and then return to earth at your command.  This is of course a joke, but it does pose the question: why are there no parachutes available on commercial airliners?  SERIOUSLY?!

Finally, when Felix had floated above 128,000 feet, they began to go through the check list and deflate the giant balloon to start descending.  That check list was the most nerve racking part of all of this.  1/2 the time it was difficult to determine whether or not Felix was really paying attention, or if he was simply just saying, "yes, roger that," to get on with show...

When the door to the capsule finally did open and he stepped out onto the tiny ledge, standing on top of the world, that is when the stupidity of what was happening settled in.  This guy could totally die doing this.  F!  So, I kept watching. 

I continued to watch as Felix leaned over and began to tumble.  Actually, that is putting it lightly.  He was literally spinning out of control.  He was falling at upwards of 800 mph and, because the air is so thin at that altitude, it appeared as though he was plummeting faster than the speed of sound to his death. 

What was really kind of wild was when Felix did enter the earth's atmosphere again.  You saw him falling with no purpose, breaking the sound barrier, when all of a sudden - BOOM.  He regained total control and began free falling like sky divers tend to do.  It happened so quickly, it was almost unbelievable.

After that, everyone in ground control seemed a little bit more enthusiastic about what was happening.  Felix had broken multiple records, but he did fail to break the record for longest free fall.  Which, coincidentally enough, is held by the man who acted as Baumgartner's mentor throughout this mission.  I am sure Kittinger is secretly happy to have held on to one of the records!

As crazy as it was to watch all of this and comprehend that someone actually had this dream, saw it through.....and survived, even more insane was the fact that Felix landed so gracefully on the ground, on his feet, without falling down.     

Think about that for a minute....  About 5-10 minutes prior to landing on earth, you were sitting in a capsule, floating into space, on top of the world.  You then jumped, falling faster than the speed of sound.  Once the parachute opened, it was smooth sailing to the ground, despite receiving incorrect wind coordinates from those whose sole task was to get you back to earth safely and in one piece.  Finally, you landed on your feet, back to reality.

For the sake of science, I hope we were able to gather relevant data for the future of space travel and safety - or maybe even air travel altogether - which it does appear they were able to do.  Because if not, are we all bat shit crazy for contributing to this nonsense?!?!