Yes, I was one of the millions of people that had to stop everything and watch Austrian Skydiver/Basejumper/All Around Bad-Ass Felix Baumgartner jump from more than 24 miles up this morning:
I saw a Tweet in French sail by at one point that compared it to Disneyland- 2 1/2 hours to get there and then only four minutes or so of an actual jump but, spiky Frogs aside, this was one hell of an achievement and, as they've been quick to point out, has some potentially scientific applications for bailing out at super high altitudes/space even (though it's to be noted, his balloon more or less stopped ascending before he jumped out. Not sure how a space bailout would work if you're in a capsule/shuttle hurtling very fast towards the ground.)
This was cool- I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it inspirational but it comes close. We seemed to be past the era where people did amazing things just, more or less, to see if they could- hopefully Felix Baumgartner will inspire others to conquer new challenges and to test the limits of human possibility.
Now does anyone now where I can get a Red Bull?
UPDATED: Here's some of the headcam footage from the jump. Pretty cool stuff.
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