I've stepped off a helicopter before, and was absolutely astounded at the acceleration rate. In fact, I involuntarily screamed the first time!

There's no air to stop you! For the same reason, you can't control your spin because there's no air to push against.

FWIW yesterday was also the 65th anniversary of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier. He reenacted the event by breaking sound barrier as passenger in an F15....at the age of 89!

Being a General has its perks! :)

I thought the Yeager story was totally cool. That guy is one of my heroes. He absolutely should have been one of the "Mercury Seven". No question.

I heard he forgot his iphone in the capsule. :( :D

This is so cool. It would be nice to have a transcript of the communications. I couldn't understand a word that was being said.

Seriously...how the heck did he control that spin? Watching it live with the sun glinting off of his suit it was like looking at a pulsar,

+1
His autobiography is a terrific read. Incredible what he's achieved and right on with the hero stuff.

Could'nt imagine what was going thru Baumgartner's mind... falling.... falling.... 3 minutes plus more eternity.... still falling....................

I saw Yaeger on CNBC today and sadly, he came off kind of like an ass.

Basically he called the Red Bull Stratos project a stunt that had been done before and wasn't an acheivement worthy of him even acknowledging it.

It kind of came off like him saying setting a world record time in the 100M dash doesn't matter because he drives faster than that in his Ford Escort all the time.

Yaeger came across as petty and kind of senile - it was odd for someone widely regarded as a hero :(

The link to the CNBC spot:
Skydiver Shatters Record, Legend Chuck Yeager Comments - CNBC

That is too bad. If it was so easy the record would not have lasted 50 years or what ever it was.

If anyone can be excused for being bitter it's Chuck. Now he's old, on the verge of being forgotten so...yeah he's more bitter.

How was this anything BUT a stunt? Seriously? Yeager pushed the limits to advance flight/space travel for all mankind. Yeager--and guys like him--often had no idea what the hell they were getting into, yet he did it anyway.

This guy pushed the limits to advance...Red Bull. Sure, a notable individual accomplishment, but in a month nobody will give a flip, because in the end it contributes nothing to future human achievement.

Maybe this is just semantics, but I would classify this as anything but a stunt (meaning a daring act done to attract attention). It's that ALSO, but I think it's a whole lot more. When Joe Kittinger set the record in the 60s it was part of an Air Force project designing high-altitude bailout equipment for our ever-higher-flying aircraft and spacecraft. Now, with several commercial enterprises moving towards manned space flight (and space tourism) using smaller and lighter craft (because weight is the enemy of flight in general and getting into space in particular), personal bailout equipment for high-altitudes is again relevant. Kudos to Red Bull for putting in the resources to push the envelope - and yes, for certain they wouldn't have done it if they weren't going to profit. That doesn't mean it wasn't a very cool and important feat.

On another note, years ago I was at the Sun-n-Fun airshow in Lakeland, FL, and through a connection got hooked up with a free ride in a 1929 New Standard biplane with four other people. We were walked to the plane and introduced to the pilot - Joe Kittinger! Being a skydiver at that time, I was the only one there who knew who he was and blurted out a loud expletive, which rather surprised the other passengers. Then I explained who they were about to go for a ride with.... He's a good man, and it was great to see him participating in this historic event.

I had a hard enough time stepping out of a Cessna to do a simple tandem jump. Couldnt even imagine something like this. Balls of titanium.

I have to agree also that it wasnt just a stunt. There was a whol;e lot of support systems behind this jump, which I'm sure can be used in future research.