UPDATE 3: Looks like we will have to wait until Sunday at the earliest:
UPDATE 2: Launch was canceled Tuesday due to strong winds. Try again tomorrow?
UPDATE: Follow the live feed on YouTube. As of 10:15 PT, the launch looks like a go, with Baumgartner getting into the capsule.
I’m still not sure if the upcoming Red Bull Stratos Jump is something really special, a complete PR stunt, a budding hoax, or at the very worst, the first live execution on the Internet. There is certainly no shortage of promotional prep work being done for the planned space jump by Felix Baumgartner, but the whole idea that the dude may have his eyeballs melt or something horrific like that makes the whole thing something I will probably skip when it happens live, now on Tuesday due to weather complications.
For a lot of details, Engadget has a great writeup here. Which spells out some of the risks, which include great harm that could come to Baumgartner’s body if bad things happen, like a suit tear, or an unstoppable spin.
Will you watch? Where do you come out on this stuff? I have been spending a lot of time lately being amazed at how Red Bull, the kind-of-weird energy drink, spends boatloads of cash to do things like sponsor far-out mountain bike escapades all in the name of YouTube bike porn. Good fun. But the space jump seems… a bit out there, in my opinion. As the blog post clip below notes, Felix will be wearing five high-def cameras so if anything goes wrong… the web will be the first to know.
Good luck Felix. I hope this is a thrill and not something bad.
Advanced high-definition cinematography cameras will beam real-time images of Felix Baumgartner’s every move in the Red Bull Stratos space capsule, providing interior and exterior points of view during the mission. And when Felix jumps, he’ll be wearing five high-definition cameras, giving you the feeling you’re right there with him in the descent.
In addition to documenting the record-breaking jump Felix’s experience will also be captured by powerful long-range and infrared cameras on the ground, as well as by a helicopter hovering near his flight path. The live stream of Felix’s jump will be available on redbullstratos.com, on partner sites and carried by more than 50 TV and Internet channels around the globe, in advance of a BBC documentary this fall.
Jay Nemeth (FlightLine Films), the mission’s director of high-altitude photography, and his team have been working to meet the challenges of the lethal stratosphere for the last five years. The Red Bull Stratos capsule and Baumgartner’s pressure suit have more HD cameras than most 45-foot TV production trucks. “We have basically created a flying video production studio,” Nemeth said.
Who ensures secure signals from the capsule back to earth? Riedel Communications, renowned for its advanced fiber, intercom and radio technology – provides the entire communications solution for the mission, integrating both wireless and wired digital intercom systems. Riedel furnishes the fiber-based video and signal distribution as well as the wireless video links to the capsule’s onboard cameras – enabling stunning pictures to be delivered from the Red Bull Stratos capsule to ground control.
