Fearless Felix

Felix Baumgartner is a sky diver. On July 25th, in an effort that had the look of a NASA launch, Baumgartner ascended in a helium filled balloon to 96,640 over Roswell, New Mexico. Wearing a very sophisticated pressure suit, he jumped from the ascent capsule and hurtled back to terra firma. Reaching a speed of 536 mph - mach .80 - in freefall, Baumgartner arrived back on earth about eleven minutes later. Nearly four minutes of that was in freefall, the rest under parachute.

Stuff like this fascinates me. I like the idea of pushing the envelope. In this case, the considerable resources required to mount Baumgartner's audacious freefall mission came from  corporate sponsors like Red Bull energy drink. Too bad most corporations aren't willing to step up in the same way when it comes to truly serious civilization scale challenges like global climate change.


Here is a link to Baumgartner's webpage, including some very cool animation that provides an entertaining glimpse into Baumgartner's experience. http://www.redbullstratos.com/gallery/?mediaId=media1719780923001

Here's an updated video of Felix Baumgartner's adventure... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYw4meRWGd4#t=480