9 replies to this topic

[TROWAHC]

anybody else fell like they would want to do this in a 35 to 100 tonne mech

[Fabe]

That was awesome,I'm glad I didn't miss it.

[Egomane]

He is not even close to the edge of space.

Baumgartner jumped from the "near space" region, which is 20 to 100 km above surface. The actual edge of space is the so called Kármán line at 100 km. Baumgartner was a full 61 kilometers below that.

Still impressive!

Edited by Egomane, 14 October 2012 - 11:11 AM.

[stripped]

What purpose did it serve anyway? To prove that the theory of gravity is true? Could have be done easier I guess..

[TROWAHC]

stripped, on 14 October 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

What purpose did it serve anyway? To prove that the theory of gravity is true? Could have be done easier I guess..

Did Christopher Columbus when he sailed around the world? Did the Wright Brothers when they built the first flying machine? Did NASA when they sent the crew of Apollo 11 to land on the moon? No. So why did they do it? To prove it could be done.

So the purpose if any, is to show that human ingenuity and will knows no bounds. Inspiration for then next generation (and coolness) can sometimes be purpose enough.

[Catamount]

TROWAHC, on 14 October 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

Did Christopher Columbus when he sailed around the world? Did the Wright Brothers when they built the first flying machine? Did NASA when they sent the crew of Apollo 11 to land on the moon? No. So why did they do it? To prove it could be done.

So the purpose if any, is to show that human ingenuity and will knows no bounds. Inspiration for then next generation (and coolness) can sometimes be purpose enough.

Science, exploration and pushing limits are great for their own sake, and fundamentally advance humanity even as applications take time to come along, something certain people obviously fail to realize, but in this case, the jump actually had immediate applications.

NASA and companies who work with them want the results of this test because the data is going to be used to develop better space suits, better parachutes and other better equipment and better protocols to handle exposure of astronauts to high altitude and/or high acceleration conditions (including human exposure to supersonic conditions) in a range of situations, in order to improve astronaut safety and functionality.

Everything from spacewalks to normal atmospheric re-entry to -heaven forbid- the need to abandon a spacecraft at high altitude, will all be potentially improved because of data collected.

Edited by Catamount, 14 October 2012 - 03:01 PM.

[stripped]

TROWAHC, on 14 October 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

Did Christopher Columbus when he sailed around the world?

He didn't. He intended to ("I have to find another way to India" - thus: Indians) but failed "epically": He stumbled upon land later known as America. Magellan however did sail around the world (and many followed).

TROWAHC, on 14 October 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

Did the Wright Brothers when they built the first flying machine?

Nope. The first flying machines were built way before..late 18th century. They "just" improved existing theory and know-how. Cf. Otto Lilienthal or Karl Jatho or Alexander Moschaiski or...

TROWAHC, on 14 October 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

Did NASA when they sent the crew of Apollo 11 to land on the moon?

Yes! They proved the theory that man can land on other planets (or celestial bodies, since the moon is no planet). Beforehands the Russians proved that man can flee earth (and gravity).

Catamount, on 14 October 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Everything from spacewalks to normal atmospheric re-entry to -heaven forbid- the need to abandon a spacecraft at high altitude, will all be potentially improved because of data collected.

I think he should have entered the atmosphere then, right? 40 Kilometres isn't really outer space, so technically he jumped off of a really large sky scrapper.. Parachutes are tested via satellites and stuff, aren't they?

Don't get me wrong, I like science and am pro-Mars-mission whatever. But that jump was just...a jump. Yay.

Long story short: 50 million Euro blown..powered by Red Bull.

[stripped]

Addendum: "India" meant "Japan" back then. So Columbus did discover "really big islands" west of Japan.

[Mania]

I would love to break the sound barrier in my Raven, would have to be a rather ginormous parachute though!

Technicalities aside it was a historic event that will help to expand knowledge, science, and technology for all of us.

Magellan was quoted as saying that Columbus inspired him, the lunar landing directly inspired companies like Intel not to mention micro-electromechanical systems, supercomputers and microcomputers, software and microprocessors, those were also created using technology developed by NASA over the past half century. While the Wright brothers didn't originally "invent flight" that step launched us into what modern day flight is today. Da Vinci's drawings probably inspired the Wright brothers who actually had the technology to build a device of flight.. and thing of some of the great physicists such as Einstein who came up with concepts that could be tested then but were proven later when technology had the ability to test it.

Why climb Mt. Everest.... because it's there.. and we can! My mech salutes Fearless Felix for this great achievement!

[Catamount]

stripped, on 15 October 2012 - 07:55 AM, said:

I think he should have entered the atmosphere then, right? 40 Kilometres isn't really outer space, so technically he jumped off of a really large sky scrapper.. Parachutes are tested via satellites and stuff, aren't they?

Don't get me wrong, I like science and am pro-Mars-mission whatever. But that jump was just...a jump. Yay.

Long story short: 50 million Euro blown..powered by Red Bull.

You should actually study what he did a little more before commenting on it. No, he shouldn't have jumped from out-of-atmosphere because he would have been going exponentially faster and it would have killed him, given the limitations of his equipment. The goal here was to study the effects of supersonic flight on the human body, and to test spacesuit and parachute advancements, all of which could be done usefully with this experiment.

When the data from this is used to improve this technology further, then maybe a higher jump could be safely attempted. Until then, you're free to try it with present technology; have fun snapping your neck.

Quote

The first flying machines were built way before..late 18th century.

No, there were gliding machines. Actual powered flight involving humans came about, in two different places (the Wright brothers had competition), in the early 20th century.

Quote

Yes! They proved the theory that man can land on other planets (or celestial bodies, since the moon is no planet). Beforehands the Russians proved that man can flee earth (and gravity).

Which served no practical purpose, whatsoever, at the time (and still doesn't today, though it may finally soon). They gathered data and did something for the sake of gathering data and doing something, just like was done with this jump.


Furthemore, a lot of science has both time and money spent on it long before practical applications come along. There wasn't a practical application for a lot of the work of Rutherford, Bohr, Einstein, Darwin, Mendel, Fourier, Arrhenius, or many other scientists, until decades after that work was done. This work, everything from quantifying EM absorption characteristics of CO2 to laying the ground work for quantum theory and discovering the nuclear atom, representing nothing, absolutely nothing at all, but curiosities. We expanded knowledge and tested limits for its own sake, and eventually uses did come along, because believe it or not, humans just generally knowing more is always something that we will find practical application for.

You may not appreciate science and discovery or the testing of human and technological limits for its own sake (or maybe you do, and it's been expressed poorly), but history has shown that it does have value.

Edited by Catamount, 15 October 2012 - 10:38 AM.