Remember Felix Baumgartner? The guy who jumped from a balloon 24 miles up? New video;

[A HERETIC I AM]

Just published video from the "GoPro" camera people. Very cool.

Balls the size of the state he landed in.

Edit to add this; The guy he is talking to beginning at the 1:15 mark is Joe Kittinger, the last man to jump anywhere close to that high, and until just a second after Felix jumped, the record holder.

[tblue37]

1. My daughter was the head field doctor for that jump.

She is now the flight surgeon for Virgin Galactic.

I'm soooo proud of my baby girl!

[Earth_First]

2. No kidding...

that's an interesting situation that she's in.

I'm sure there is no shortage of excitement in her line of work associated with Virgin Galactic.

Kudos to the proud parent!

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. Holy smokes!

Yanno...ya gotta love DU.

You never know who is a member and who is reading your posts!

That is so totally cool! You must be very proud of her.

Has she published anything regarding the jump and her duties? I would be very interested in reading an account from her perspective.

If she hasn't, may I suggest you encourage her to do so?


Totally, COMPLETELY fascinating.

[tblue37]

10. She publishes constantly. I honestly don't remember whether she has

gotten publications yet out of her work on that jump, but if she has, they would have been technical stuff--having to do with medical monitoring equipment.

Her publications are not "stories" about being involved in cool events, but rather technical analyses of research. For example, she is one of the official authors--but the main actual writer--for an article based on reasearch concerning how diurnal rhythms are affected in people working at the polar research facility, and how that data might be relevant for astronauts and their abilty to perform their work without being impaired by the disruption of diurnal rhythms during long-term space missions.

But, yeah, she has her dream job, and I am thrilled for her.

She also used to be one of the doctors on hand at Kennedy in Orlando when the space shuttle took off and landed. Kid's only 32, but she is boarded in both emergency and aeorospace medicine. She did her emergency medicine residency in Orlando and aerospace med residency in Houston. She was also a Fulbright fellow, taking a graduate degree in social policy at University College in Dublin.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Wow.

Just a solid....wow.

Please don't for a second think that I might not be interested in her technical writing. Quite the contrary.

Your post ....how do I say this without being melodramatic?...

Put a lump in my throat!

Again, you must be very proud. She sounds like an exceptional young woman.

I know for a fact I missed my calling. I attribute that to the understanding that I found mathematics difficult. I should have applied myself because if I had, I would be working for Boeing or similar on big things that leave the atmosphere.

That's what I wanted to do when I was in High School.

I also wanted to get high!

One won out over the other.

But I don't have too many regrets.

People like your daughter give me hope for this country. I have two Nephews of a similar vein.

[tblue37]

16. I did a quick google. She did help write and give several jump related papers at the meeting

of the aerospace medical association (ASMA) about medical risks and mitigation for the jump, among other topics. Part of the point of the jump was to learn what to do for situations in which people might have to bail out at high altitudes if something goes wrong during space flight.

As head field doctor, she was the lead on the medical recovery ground team--the team that was to rush over and check him and deal with any emergency situation if it came up. She was also part of the medical team that figured out necessary modifications for the monitoring equipment he was hooked up to during the jump.

She was present at every preliminary jump. Ironically she had to miss the final jump--because that took place on the very day she landed back in the US after a month in Moscow, where she was the physician for our American astronauts as they trained on the Soyuz space capsule prior to their trip to the space station.

Frustrating, of course, after being so involved all through the project, but she was needed in Moscow that month.

I have to sleep right now, but tomorrow I will send you a link to a pic of her and another doctor as they observe one of the preliminary test jumps--which were nit as high, but which were scary high anyway!

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. I look forward to that!

You have my utmost respect for raising such an incredible daughter, and she has my undying envy for being able to be involved in an industry I dreamed of being in.

Totally, truly, incredibly cool!

[RainDog]

9. kudos all around n/t

[WinkyDink]

11. WOW! You SHOULD be proud!

[SheilaT]

4. I got to watch the entire thing that day, starting with

the ascent of his balloon. For quite a while I couldn't figure out who in the world the old guy was in the control center. Finally some piece of information came through about who Joe Kittinger is, and I thought it was just the best thing in the world that he was there.

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. Dude, that actually brought tears to my eyes.

"I wish you could see, what I can see. Sometimes you have to be up really high... to understand how small you are. (salutes) I'm going home now."

If that's not worthy of a hitch in your breath... you're cold and dead inside, and no longer a young child full of Wonder.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Then you may also enjoy this vid of James May's ride in a U-2

James May of "Top Gear" fame gets a ride in a U-2 to over 70,000 feet.

I like the bit when they are looking down at an airliner cruising at altitude and he says "We are as high above him as he is above the ground".

His other comment near the end is also rather inspiring;

"If everybody could do that once, it would completely change the face of global politics, religion, education....everything."

We need more men like Felix Baumgartner. And more like James May, for that matter.

Fewer Jeremy Clarkson's though. I've learned he is an asshole.

[geomon666]

6. I was watching it live on YouTube

Along with the record breaking 8 million people. It was amazing and one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. If I remember correctly, I tried to do the same....

but I was on the road and had a crappy internet connection.

I got frustrated and quit.

Still, the various videos produced from it make up for that!

[Logical]

13. I have never understood the BIG BALLS phrase. Odd to me. nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. Fair enough. Allow me to elucidate;

Quite frankly, I would have used the phrase if Felix was a woman.

As far as I am concerned, the expression goes to awarding the individual more courage than the average person possesses. This goes for men as well as women.

The way I look at it, it has little to do with testosterone or the actual size of an individuals gonads, rather the ability and/or the proclivity to expand on the individual limits of courage.

How many people do you know that would even consider the concept of jumping off a platform 26 miles in the air, much less actually do it?

If you know anyone, then that person has balls the size of New Mexico.

[jsr]

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