Am I the only person who does not give a shit?

>> ^kymbos:

Am I the only person who does not give a shit?


I don't give a shit anymore

Over four minutes of freefall? Then why show less than fifteen seconds of it?

>> ^kymbos:

Am I the only person who does not give a shit?


Yeah I didn't get how this was such a big deal. Way more impressed with our little robots on Mars.

>> ^kymbos:

Am I the only person who does not give a shit?


It's a human being doing something incredible and breaking boundaries. Isn't that worth something?

What if this had happened before the Columbia disaster and the data about how you can bail out in the upper atmosphere had been used to save those lives (i.e they bailed out just before the ship tore apart)?

I think it's a wonderful and worthy stunt and funded out of all those Red Bull drinks

Science for jocks.

A real man would do this without a spacesuit.

Lose the parachute too. Squirrel suit only. >> ^Gutspiller:

A real man would do this without a spacesuit.

>> ^Deano:

>> ^kymbos:
Am I the only person who does not give a shit?

It's a human being doing something incredible and breaking boundaries. Isn't that worth something?
What if this had happened before the Columbia disaster and the data about how you can bail out in the upper atmosphere had been used to save those lives (i.e they bailed out just before the ship tore apart)?
I think it's a wonderful and worthy stunt and funded out of all those Red Bull drinks


No, it's a stupid advertising gimmick. It isn't science or new or even interesting. It's been done and proven. USAF did exactly this in 1960. This just added a few hundred feet to their altitude. Russian probably did it sooner.

So no it's not a human breaking any boundaries or any thing novel. It is just advertising paid for by product sales. No different from a TV commercial expect it tricked you into talking about their product.

To me, it's like those hotwheels loop-de-loop videos, except less visually arresting. Even with those you can get some 'Science!' out of it, but it's still a marketing activity.

A stupid advertising gimmick? A marketing activity? Except for the fact that everybody who has tried beating the record since Kittinger in 1960 has died attempting it...

Not really sure I can agree with the sceptics on this one.

*quality.

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Hybrid.

>> ^joedirt:
It isn't science or new or even interesting. It's been done and proven. USAF did exactly this in 1960. This just added a few hundred feet to their altitude.


A few hundred feet? Try an extra 30000.

>> ^kymbos:

To me, it's like those hotwheels loop-de-loop videos, except less visually arresting. Even with those you can get some 'Science!' out of it, but it's still a marketing activity.

Less visually interesting? Are you on crack? Look at that view. I would kill for the opportunity to do something like this.

I don't really believe there's an awful lot of science going on, but that's fine, it's not really about science.

Personally, if this is how Red Bull want to spend their marketing dollars, I say good on them. They sponsor a lot of cool and interesting stuff around the globe. I'm still not buying their product, but it's a lot better than being told that red bull gives you wings.

*length=00:01:31

Not 4:41 by any stretch.

A pity as I wanted to see more of the fall.

As for care/no care... I hadn't heard about all the previous starts they abandoned due to weather, so this all came on of a sudden for me.

I think it's pretty cool, jumping out at the edge of space with a parachute. I'm also perfectly happy for companies to spend their advertising dollars doing this sort of 'sciency' stuff over jackass crap any day.

The duration of this video has been updated from 4:41 to 1:31 - length declared by spoco2.

So many cynical people in this thread. Stop being such miserable bastards and just enjoy something

Come on guys this is pretty freakin cool! No human being has ever done this before! Upwards and onwards for the human race!

Seems like the core of the question is if human achievement requires branding.
I wonder- has anyone ever checked if any of those (max speed, max height, ...) actually carry the brand-name they were achieved under with it?

Is it like the redbull height record or the virgin speed record? The malboro weather balloon?

I guess as long as that does not hold true I can aprecciate the idea and work, doesnt mean I have to like this shitty video representation of it though.

Even the longer, 4:25 video only shows a few seconds of the actual jump - not much more than Kittinger's record-breaking jump. Maybe Red Bull or Discovery or someone else is holding all the good footage for a later video? It seems a shame to go through all the effort and expense to do the stunt, and then not get decent footage.

>> ^Gutspiller:

A real man would do this without a spacesuit.


That real man would hit the ground limp with rock-solid, defrosting balls and quite the story to tell after his coma!

>> ^Mauru:

Seems like the core of the question is if human achievement requires branding.

No, but it does require money. This was not a cheap endeavour and sponsorship is one of the more reliable ways of paying for it.

>> ^Mauru:

I wonder- has anyone ever checked if any of those (max speed, max height, ...) actually carry the brand-name they were achieved under with it?
Is it like the redbull height record or the virgin speed record? The malboro weather balloon?


The records themselves (outside of being catalogued by Guinness) are not branded. I assume the apparatus used to break the record is mentioned.

It would have been better if he had actually broken the sound barrier...but he didn't. If it was hand grenades or horse shoes the almost would have counted.

He officially reached mach 1.24 (833.9 mph)...

>> ^Stu:

It would have been better if he had actually broken the sound barrier...but he didn't. If it was hand grenades or horse shoes the almost would have counted.

What is the point of you? This is a great human accomplishment and should be celebrated without any reservation. Enough petulant whining about it being too corporatized or insufficiently scientific. Get that dick out of your mouth and revel in the remarkable things mankind is capable of.

Less self-indulgent cynicism, more energetic humanism.

Would take more courage than I have to do this, regardless of the safety mechanisms in place. Good on him for trying it and thanks for the view.

Re the cynicism, some people feel a need to justify their own lack of achievements by devaluing the achievements of others. I'm not saying that this is something that should define the lives of people, but it sure isn't worth talking down about and if one simply held no interest in the feat, they wouldn't have commented.

The article I read had completely wrong information. They said he was just under 760 and that he didn't break it. Stupid wrong news people...rabble rabble rabble!!>> ^mrsid:

He officially reached mach 1.24 (833.9 mph)...
>> ^Stu:
It would have been better if he had actually broken the sound barrier...but he didn't. If it was hand grenades or horse shoes the almost would have counted.

My guy has a parachute, an oxygen mask guess yours forgot to strap his on after he took off his spacesuit.

He also used the friction of the air to warm up nice and toasty.

>> ^chingalera:

>> ^Gutspiller:
A real man would do this without a spacesuit.

That real man would hit the ground limp with rock-solid, defrosting balls and quite the story to tell after his coma!

>> ^EvilDeathBee:

So many cynical people in this thread. Stop being such miserable bastards and just enjoy something


NO FUCK THAT. I'm not putting up with being told what I should and shouldn't be enamored of. Now I'm going to go watch Firefly and have a good cry!

I actually watched an hour or so of the ascend and my nerves were killing me the whole time. Just imagine sitting there by yourself, not able to quadruple-proof your parachute case, not being entirely sure whether the cold and the wind will damage the mechanism and then jumping nonetheless.

I get how you can not give a shit about it, but saying this is not an accomplishment is just nuts.

Breaking the sound barrier creates a lag between pooping your pantaloons and hearing it.

Yeah but what I want to know is, for someone supposedly so cool, why did Kittinger have his t-shirt on back-to-front when he greeted Baumgartner?

You also get a fun surprise when you open your parachute ...
>> ^quantumushroom:

Breaking the sound barrier creates a lag between pooping your pantaloons and hearing it.