Not sure what to think. Kind of like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, guinea pig born every day I guess. Hope it helps some sort of research somewhere.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=raiFrxbHxV0

Well, if nothing else it has demonstrated that it might be possible to 'bail out' of the ISS, survive reentry, and land with some probability of success... B)

I watched that live on the Internet last year.  Watched him as his balloon climbed to nearly 128,000 feet then he stepped out on a small ledge on the balloon and jumped.  This is the first time I saw it with the camera on him.  Gives you an idea as to what he went through.  I remember the commentators were showing video from helicopters and from the ground and said a couple of times that he's out of control.  Oh my God I hope he pulls out of it in time.  In actuality, he wasn't out of control at all and it was just for show.

 

The only reason he jumped was to break all world records (probably forever) but I'm sure the jump provided valuable information to NASA and others in the event Astronauts had to abandon ship for some reason.

 

This is the one year anniversary of the jump.  Pretty darn neat.  Thanks VeryBumpy for the reminder.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Well, if nothing else it has demonstrated that it might be possible to 'bail out' of the ISS, survive reentry, and land with some probability of success... B)

The ISS is in orbit, you'd need de-orbital thrust and a re-entry vehicle to survive the scorching heat of re-entry. A space suit couldn't survive the temps of re-entry.

Perhaps one day they will develop suits that would withstand reentry without burning the wearer to a crisp.

 

It was fascinating though to see just how fast he was traveling while still in (relative) vacuum, and how he wasn't able to stop the spinning until he got enough 'bite' in the atmosphere...

 

...and just how rapidly he lost speed with the wind resistance as he fell lower and lower.