The countdown has begun for Felix Baumgartner's epic jump from the edge of space!

I wonder what is going through the mind of Felix right now? I cannot conceive jumping from the edge of space and attempting to break the sound barrier.

My guess is he's had this on a loop for the last 2-3 hours.

reply to post by MightyQuincunx


They have fore balloons anchored down and one blimp,And i think its his target to aim for
but i am not sure
I looked at the other jump from the sixtys and i think you can see these in that too
you see one of those ballons at 1min 33 seconds

ps i would just like to thank those that took the time to teach me how to embed these youtube links

so here you are

a BIG thankyou to all you made it seem easy

reply to post by sevensheeps


I'm pretty sure he'll be fine, it is still exciting nonetheless. 21st century technology, computer models, high-tech materials and all that jazz, but no one has ever breached the sound barrier in free fall , at least that we know of, a new frontier indeed.

the pressure suits for comparison:

Joe Kittinger



Felix Baumgartner

reply to post by talklikeapirat


Now that is one hell of a reply.

Nice and clear mate


If you see that suit he's wearing (the 2012 one), what progress we made man. 'Just' four layers of material protecting him!

Unbelievable little thing is the duct tape on the old suit

reply to post by sevensheeps


If I was about to jump from a balloon from space, and some dude walked up to me and duct taped my suit together...I would have told everyone to piss off and went home. There's no way that would have been ok with me, haha.

DAT view of his test jump!

48 minutes and counting again people!

Mission Update

Wind conditions improved. 30 million cf balloon is being laid out. Felix Baumgartner's suit up procedure is complete. Launch @ 11:15 MDT.

reply to post by sevensheeps


I noticed the tape too. I wonder if it matters what colour it is? The old suit does look rather flimsy (rather like the equipment they used to go to the moon).

reply to post by MmmPie


Close but not close enough lol

He's European so it's be a little less M'erica F# yeah


But you're close

reply to post by MmmPie


Hahaha indeed

It clearly shows the power of Duct-tape



Myth Confirmed!

this whole thing is a conspiracy to get us to sit and stare at the live feed every half hour
they just changed it from 11 to 11:30

reply to post by sevensheeps


I've read the article about Kittinger's jump a few years back and i remember clearly this 'special' feeling i had while reading it. This special feeling ...i get it when i'm standing all alone on a mountain top, the feeling of absolute freedom.

The duct tape is awesome enough, MacGyver would be proud.

In the early morning of August 16, 1960, Kittinger’s balloon began its ascent into the sky. The gondola rose at 1,200 feet per minute. It would take over an hour and a half to reach his target height. His pressure suit was designed to inflate as he rose in order to maintain a survivable pressure. But thirty minutes into his ascent the suit malfunctioned. His right glove failed to inflate properly—a circumstance that could easily kill him, or at the least, permanently damage his right hand. Knowing if he told flight control about the malfunction they would likely abort the mission, he continued upwards without mentioning the leak.

One hour and thirty one minutes into the flight, Kittinger had reached the maximum altitude. He had no control of his right hand which had swollen up to twice its normal size. The balloon was not in the optimal position over the landing zone, so he had time to contemplate his height as the gondola drifted for 11 minutes.

Irrefutable Badass for sure!

What time is he going to jump?

looks like they are getting ready

I was going through the timeline for the jump, maybe I'm missing something...the ascent model says he will be going up approx. 100 miles per hour...to 70,000 feet, I'm pretty good at Math, at that rate it will take 700 hours to get up there? I see the big increase at around 35k feet but still...700 hours, I have to have something wrong. Please tell me where I'm wrong, it's going to be in my head until I get an answer and I;m at work

The mainpage says the countdown clock stopped. Does that mean the 12:15 Central Daylight Time jump time changed again?

Originally posted by bl4ke360
What time is he going to jump?

According to CNN they will be launching him at 1:40pm EST (11:40am MDT)
It will take him 2 to 2 and a half hours to get to the height he needs. 15 mins later we'll know if he's a pancake.

So we're looking at a full 3 hours right now before we know anything.....and thats assuming it doesn't get postponed again.

Originally posted by Wheelindiehl
I was going through the timeline for the jump, maybe I'm missing something...the ascent model says he will be going up approx. 100 miles per hour...to 70,000 feet, I'm pretty good at Math, at that rate it will take 700 hours to get up there? I see the big increase at around 35k feet but still...700 hours, I have to have something wrong. Please tell me where I'm wrong, it's going to be in my head until I get an answer and I;m at work

Your math is definitely off, because you didn't convert feet to miles. Also I thought it was going to 120,000 feet?

They just said on the news that it will take him 2 hrs 45 mins to reach the height of 23 miles. Not sure how long it will take them to fill the balloon - that's one big balloon and they'll need lots of puff to blow it up

Probably looking at another hour to fill the balloon - so pace yourselves and don't eat all the popcorn now!

reply to post by bl4ke360


There it is, I knew I was doing something wrong, I was thinking 70k miles Yea, the top of the ascent is 120k feet

I have to do some cooking!

Be back in a bit, I'll keep one eye on this thread and the other on my food.


Keep me update