Opinions about the Felix Baumgartner jump

[Monokurobo]

Yes but it almost everything is begining from sience. Many people made something new but don't know for what it can be, then someone can turn it for big things.

[FictionRyu]

Gotta suck how it is his mentor who holds that record. I bet Felix was kicking himself in the ass when he found out he was 17 seconds away from breaking that record.

It's not like he's only allowed to ever try for it once. I wouldn't be surprised if he made another attempt or so in the future.

I know, I was just saying. I know if I was him and found out that I didn't break all four of the records I set out to break and I was only 17 seconds away from it I'd be frustrated. But at the same time I'd be motivated to keep trying. It was an incredible jump either way.

[zmurrell]

I've learned a lot from my mom

Mom ma's boy

[Tonopah]

The fact is that the exact same thing was done 50 years ago. While it's definitely impressive to think about a human body breaking the sound barrier, it's really not that much of a technical marvel. You go up high enough where there's no wind resistance and you jump out. It's pretty simple stuff.

The difference between then and now being a government funded project undertaken by the military and a privately funded endevour undertaken by a civilian. I think the distinction is noteworthy. The same applies to privately funded space travel to low Earth orbit. 65 years of military rocket research - and trial and error - and private firms are only now fielding reliable vehicles for ISS cargo and garbage service trips. Kitty Hawk to The Sea of Tranquility in less than 80 years. The possibilities are limitless.

Baumgartner inspired countless children by simply jumping out of a balloon carriage. No harm, no foul.

PS: Redbull is nasty tasting swill but I'll buy a case just to show support for science related adventurism. (the Euro-scolds in this thread convinced me to do it.)

EDIT: "A lot of people are calling Red Bull Stratos a "stunt". That is completely wrong–Red Bull Stratos was a space mission involving all of the logistics, engineering, and science involved in such a mission. SpaceShipOne was the first successful commercial manned space flight. Red Bull Stratos was the second. Baumgartner may not get astronaut wings for his flight, but he more than deserves them."

[burgingham]

It was an advertising stunt. I think that is what it means and it is nothing more. You should read up a little on the vita of the Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz. He does this for the attention of his product, not for science.

That is exactly why this is a bad thing and such programs need to be funded by governments and not by private corporations. The moment this thing isn't giving him the public attention he wants anymore he will cancel all fundings. Just imagine Curiosity. Right now not many people follow anymore what that little probe is doing on Mars. Red Bull would have already abandoned the mission in such a scenario instead of continuing the much necessary scientific research it is doing in all silence up there.

Mateschitz himself said this is part of his sports program btw. Has nothing to do with space travel or science. It is about extreme sports for him, because that stuff sells.

Not even gonna comment on that buying Red Bull stuff. Never pictured you as a capitalistic drone. "Must buy advertised product!" (insert robotic voice there) That guy does not need your support. He is sitting on roughly 5 billion € private wealth.

[Wolfang]

TOnopa, you still play?

[dagrimreefah]

That is exactly why this is a bad thing and such programs need to be funded by governments and not by private corporations.

HAHAHAHA and you believe the government would embark on this endeavor for the sake of science!?!? Such a wrongfully trusting, naive person you are Burg...

Yes, let a bunch of bureaucrats inefficiently fund the thing with taxpayer/inflated central-bank printed fiat money (thus not caring about saving costs and giving every incentive to waste money) so they can use it for political attention rather than some investors privately doing it as cost effectively as possible (since you know, its THEIR money and not a bill footed to the taxpayers) so a few companies can harmlessly get some advertising? You're just a straight up, full blown human-rights hating, state worshiping communist aren't you, Burg?

I wonder Burg, what makes you think that this particular group of people that call themselves "the government" are such omnipotent benefactors. I really hope you wake up to the reality that government is just a group of people, like me and you, like Redbull, like Dietrich Mateschitz. The only difference in this company called "government" and private companies is that this company has been given a monopoly on coercion, they are allowed to be final arbitrators in conflicts (even including conflicts involving themselves LLLOOOLLLL) and they are allowed to steal your money from you (tax). They still have greed, they still want to make money and they still wish to get recognition. They just have a lot more of other people's resources at their disposal to squander, redistribute and waste while achieving it.

My point: Private companies have to worry about costs and profit (i.e the most efficient use of scarce resources possible) to sustain. Government doesn't. Government can and does waste and waste and waste.

Plus, Dietrich Mateschitz didn't raise funds for this jump all by himself. A slew of sponsors and investors did.

[brohammed]

Afaik one sure outcome of this is some knowledge about how safety (in cases of emergency) for astronauts (or stratonauts) can be made better in future. The husband of one woman of the Columbia crew is in the team researching suits.

This right here is the main purpose of the whole operation, besides advertising.

I applaud felix bumgardner for his courage.

And, you know, we could debate libertarianism and big/small government for ages, but let's not. They're both good for their own thing, those things being short and long term goals.

[burgingham]

@Dagrimreefah:

You sir are an idiot for calling me naive and then releasing such a pile of bullshit there. I study these things for almost 7 years now, I urge you to get in contact with some political theory please before blabbering your nonsense again. In particular you should look up the word "normative" in the political dictionary. That categorizes the kind of statement I made.

You just put together a bunch of words you do not even know the meaning of. You cannot cram taxpayer, fiat money, stealing etc. pp. into one sentence without offering any explanations.

My position has not the slightest resemblance to communism. I am not surprised though that the cold war years still have left such scars on the political education of Americans. You guys are still not admitting your entire poltical way was doomed from the very beginning even now that it is all going to hell.

I can only laugh at your statement the government is a group of people btw. You are the one being naive here. Please, really get in contact with some theory. In connection to the last statement I would recommend social contract theories like Rousseau, Locke and Decartes.Then you would realize that you yourself legitimize that "evil" government, you as a person give them their power and nothing of what they are doing is un-legitimized. You allowed them to do what they are doing. Also, you might learn that governments are an extension of society as a whole and not a group of people in any sense of the word.

Some John Rawls might not hurt you either to get some common sense about theories of justice into that emtpy balloon of yours you call a head.

How anybody can be so naive as to trust the intentions of a capitalistic corporation these days is beyond me and a whole other topic. You must have been asleep the last 5 years when it should have become even clear to the last redneck that these things are not working in any way libertarians such as yourself always preached they would.

Man, at least Jorb has some theoretical background on that shit, but that nonsense you spew is disgusting to read. When such uninformed drivel is the position of the majority I am not surprised anymore why so many countries are going downhill.

[Tonopah]

The differences in ideology and philosophy between government statists and libertarians (western classical liberalism) runs deep and wide. I'm not sure how we square the circle on it.

I don't think science was advanced by jumping from a balloon carriage. The jump does suppose the use of emergency escape capsules from low Earth space, but little more than that. ISS's lowest point in orbit is 199 miles @ 15,000 mph while Baumgartner jumped from a geo-stationary balloon at a height of 24 miles.

Russia and NASA have conducted thousands of tests related to space travel and its effect on human and insect physiology - so Baumgartner's data collection is probably worthless/useless.

"Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack." GGSP

Adventurism is freedom.