Felix's helmet heating apears to be broken. They've also cut the radio talk between Felix and Joseph.
Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
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Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#42Could someone explain to me whether this is a marketing stunt and nothing more or whether there is some substance behind this? Put another way: Will any scientists or engineers (at least potentially) learn something interesting from this? It's cool no matter what, but it would be even cooler if there were some substance behind it.
This article argues yes, there is more than marketing: http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/10/felix-baumgartner-stra...
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#43Could someone explain to me whether this is a marketing stunt and nothing more or whether there is some substance behind this? Put another way: Will any scientists or engineers (at least potentially) learn something interesting from this? It's cool no matter what, but it would be even cooler if there were some substance behind it.
Besides proving our thoughts on what happens to the human body going through the speed of sound, there's an aspect of safety as well.
If successful jumping at 120,000 feet, that means that NASA could deploy these same space suits as an exit plan for astronauts in an emergency.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#44Could someone explain to me whether this is a marketing stunt and nothing more or whether there is some substance behind this? Put another way: Will any scientists or engineers (at least potentially) learn something interesting from this? It's cool no matter what, but it would be even cooler if there were some substance behind it.
Apparently there are some innovations in pressure suit design going on here. This will be the first time we have a supersonic skydive. This jump would be useful in verifying their models. Use cases of supersonic sky dives... pretty much limited to space launch aborts.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#45Where is the outside camera located?
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right, it's an ad at the end of the day. But there are much worse (debatable) products that spend money on really shitty ad campaigns. So this isn't really bad. I personally respect Red Bull for having found a niche (crazy adventure sports of all sorts) and making possible whole careers in these amazing sports. At the end of the day, not a lot of people believe you NEED Red Bull to make this jump, but thousand…
I agree, but then I get worried that the same kids don't understand what sponsorship means, and that they'll assume that drinking Red Bull is what people like this do, and then they'll start up a very unhealthy and addictive habit (drinking lots of Red Bull). Which is pretty bad.
I think you underestimate kids' intelligence. I would worry about constant bombardment from the TV, and product placement in all their favorite shows far more than an event like this :)
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#47Joseph Kittenger's Project Excelsior jump: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excelsior
wow. is he that white haired guy in base station?
seems he was also that guy who has set the previous freefall record in the 60s.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#48Does someone know the reason behind the poor quality of audio coming from Felix? You'd think they had the resources to put in a decent microphone, and data transfer -- judging by the high quality video -- shouldn't be a problem.
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right, it's an ad at the end of the day. But there are much worse (debatable) products that spend money on really shitty ad campaigns. So this isn't really bad. I personally respect Red Bull for having found a niche (crazy adventure sports of all sorts) and making possible whole careers in these amazing sports. At the end of the day, not a lot of people believe you NEED Red Bull to make this jump, but thousand…
I agree, but then I get worried that the same kids don't understand what sponsorship means, and that they'll assume that drinking Red Bull is what people like this do, and then they'll start up a very unhealthy and addictive habit (drinking lots of Red Bull). Which is pretty bad.
Because no one other than you can see through the marketing spin?
Re: Red Bull Stratos Skydive Rescheduled for today
#50Felix's helmet heating apears to be broken. They've also cut the radio talk between Felix and Joseph.
yea I heard that too, and then the live feed stopped working as they were talking about the problem... freaked me out! But the feed is back on now.... Was the heating fixed?
(edit: the feed cutting was probably just me, just saying it was an unfortunate time for it to do so)
edit 2: They just said that the problem is specifically for the visor (to prevent fogging and icing), not the whole helmet... They still haven't found out what's wrong.