Sunday Night Links: The Supersonic Skydive Edition

Posted on by

I’ve been kinda watching this record breaking skydive for a while and now it has finally happened:

Felix Baumgartner stepped into the void nearly 128,000 feet (39,000 meters) above southeastern New Mexico Sunday at just after 12 p.m. MT (2 p.m. ET, 1800  GMT), then landed safely on the desert floor about 20 minutes later. His harrowing plunge shattered the skydiving altitude record, which had stood for more than 50 years, and it notched a few other firsts as well.

During his freefall, for example, Baumgartner became the first skydiver ever to break the sound barrier, which is about 690 mph (1,110 kph) at such lofty heights. And this happened on a special day — today is the 65th anniversary of the first supersonic airplane flight, which was piloted by American Chuck Yeager in 1947 aboard the Bell X-1 rocket plane.

“I know the whole world is watching now, and I wish the world could see what I see,” Baumgartner said just before the leap. “And sometimes you have to go up really high to see how small you really are.”

Preliminary results of the jump showed Baumgartner spent about 4 minutes and 20 seconds in freefall (a record without a drogue parachute). His maximum speed was 833 mph (1,342.8 kph), said Brian Utley, an air sports official watching over event.

Very cool!

Now, on to the links…

ChrisWy: Remember how Joe Biden blamed the deficit on Bush putting two wars on the credit card?
WWTFT: Putting a Label on Barack Obama
TheCL: War on Freedom
The Eye: Veep Debate Evaluation 
WixomWeb: Feds uphold voter ID law — but not for this election…

CH2.0: Is The American Culture Gone Forever?
SJ: Joe Biden’s debate performance accomplished Team Obama’s goal
BdKS: Post-Debate Wrap Up
Bunker: Debate ‘Moderator Raddatz Visited Biden at His Residence in March
CoF: Putin to Obama – Take That Nuclear Arms Treaty and Stuff It!

Spellchek: BLS B***S***?
FCBZ: Benghazi Cover-Up Update: State Dept. Confirms That Marines on 9/11/12 Were Protecting U.S. Embassy… in Barbados
MTTM: Not For Sale
Gator: Obama Regime Didn’t Reach Benghazi For 17 Days Because They Were Waiting On Visas
Jen: Fans ought to thank Kid Rock

The LC: Part-time prep for part-time president
The TCN: VP Joe Biden Caught Lying in Debate – The Short List
Teresa: Lincoln Laughing or Rolling Over in His Grave?
LaS: Empty Suit Sets Economic Record
CP: Who Shares Your Values?
PR: Obama’s Foreign Policy – Stick Our Heads In The Sand
Zilla: Obama Doesn’t Have A Big Enough Bus

Comments
  • Jim at Conservatives on Fire October 14, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Honestly, I have never understood people who jump out of perfectly good airplanes or in this case a balloon.

    Thanks for the link, Steve.

    Link
    • steve October 14, 2012 at 9:49 pm

      Me either…

      Link
  • John Carey October 14, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    I actually think this was pretty cool. Can you imagine the rush. Thanks for the link Steve.

    Link
    • steve October 15, 2012 at 5:49 am

      I read somewhere that Baumgartner’s biggest difficulty training for his jump was claustrophobia. Being in his suit in the small capsule for the long ride up freaked him out.

      I, on the other hand, would freak out standing on that tiny platform staring at the curvature of the earth.

      *update* Found it: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/12/tech/claustrophobia-skydiver/index.html

      Link
  • Bunkerville October 15, 2012 at 8:26 am

    Thanks for the link. Apparently the Red Bull worked.

    Link
  • Martin October 15, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    Cool stuff. Thanks for the link.

    Link
    • steve October 16, 2012 at 5:42 am

      you are very welcome.

      Link
  • KingShamus October 17, 2012 at 12:00 am

    Humans do amazing things. Go, Felix, go.

    Thanks for the linkage.

    Link
    • steve October 17, 2012 at 5:54 am

      Yes we do.

      Link