# Parachuting from 23 miles up. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872 "2012-10-06T02:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/41 "2012-10-09T16:19:58Z")
I was sure they would cancel the launch after the delays this morning. I sure hope they go! [The latest blog post](http://www.redbullstratos.com/blog/post/33232313672) from the Red Bull Stratos team says they could still cancel. Edit: The countdown is back on. Good news! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/42 "2012-10-09T16:51:12Z")
I guess I don’t get it…what does this guy get (aside from an entry in the Guinness Book)? If he dies, he’ll join the guy who croaked (eating cockroaches at a bug-eating contest in Florida). ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/43 "2012-10-09T16:55:24Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I guess I don’t get it..what does this guy get (aside from an entry in the Guinness Book)? > If he dies, he’ll join the guy who croaked (eating cockroaches at a bug-eating contest in Florida). Pushing the boundary. It’s what we humans are good at. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/44 "2012-10-09T17:08:20Z")
Thanks for killing my morning with this time-suck…especially the “where will he land?” part of the site. (Hopefully I did the math right on the winds aloft forecasts.) Looks like he’s in the capsule and they’ve started inflating the balloon. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/45 "2012-10-09T17:08:21Z")
I wonder if he’s listening to _Dayvan Cowboy_ by Boards of Canada. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A2zKARkpDW4/hqdefault.jpg "Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zKARkpDW4) The video has footage of Kittinger’s drop in '62. I can’t wait to watch this tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/46 "2012-10-09T17:18:33Z")
So what’s happening? The live broadcast page says clock stopped but the twitter feed says that Felix has entered the capsule. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/47 "2012-10-09T17:18:50Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Thanks for killing my morning with this time-suck…especially the “where will he land?” part of the site. (Hopefully I did the math right on the winds aloft forecasts.) > > Looks like he’s in the capsule and they’ve started inflating the balloon. I know…they keep expecting me to do stuff here at work. How am I supposed to watch the launch with all their work-related distractions? I based my landing guess on the approximate distances traveled on the first two jumps and the prevailing wind, although I didn’t check the uppers. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/48 "2012-10-09T17:21:59Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > So what’s happening? The live broadcast page says clock stopped but the twitter feed says that Felix has entered the capsule. I’m wondering that too. I see activity, but is the balloon actually being inflated? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/49 "2012-10-09T17:27:42Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#): > > I know…they keep expecting me to do stuff here at work. How am I supposed to watch the launch with all their work-related distractions? > > I based my landing guess on the approximate distances traveled on the first two jumps and the prevailing wind, although I didn’t check the uppers. I cleverly transposed my X and my Y coordinates when plotting the winds aloft. And it doesn’t look like you can change your guess once you’ve entered it in. Oh well, what would I ever do with a 12,000 dollar watch anyway? A whole lot of guesswork in my estimate, anyway, considering I don’t know how long Felix was going to hang out in the capsule, how long it’d really take the balloon to ascend through each wind layer, and how long it’d take him to both freefall and drift under canopy. I’m almost more interested now to see where he lands than watching his descent or the rest of it. Pretty cool, all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/50 "2012-10-09T17:32:47Z")
> **[10 Years of Red Bull Stratos](https://www.redbull.com/int-en/projects/red-bull-stratos)** > > . Live feed. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/51 "2012-10-09T17:33:14Z")
Just found out a bout this on my daily sports paper – and now I’m hooked on the live feed & not even sure why. Jeeez! is there anything crazy/nuts that **RedBull** _won’t fund_? Sure there must be a ton of people out there making up for the fact that I’ve never even tried the stuff. Countdown under 3 minutes as I type! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/52 "2012-10-09T17:33:41Z")
The web site is counting down to the start of its broadcast: 2 minutes! ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/53 "2012-10-09T17:33:50Z")
Ooh there is a countdown. Hope this is the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/54 "2012-10-09T17:39:13Z")
Looks close to launching. Lot of big iron (a few 747s?) near them, on the apron, FWIW. Surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/55 "2012-10-09T17:42:45Z")
Well, shit. Edit: Hope they’ve a spare envelope, if it’s true that they can’t just roll the thing up on an abort. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/56 "2012-10-09T17:43:13Z")
Aborted. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/57 "2012-10-09T17:43:44Z")
Mission Aborted for today ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/58 "2012-10-09T17:45:27Z")
Yeah disappointing. Will they make an attempt tomorrow? ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/59 "2012-10-09T17:45:33Z")
Damn it. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872/60 "2012-10-09T17:45:54Z")
Good related post [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=5651&highlight=Parachute](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=5651&highlight=Parachute) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parachuting-from-23-miles-up/636872.md?page=4)